What Oceans does

Oceans (legal entity Oceans Management, LLC) is a New York-based, operator-led venture capital firm that leads and co-leads pre-seed and seed rounds and co-invests at Series A. The firm is built around a five-person partner team — Co-Founders and General Partners Steven Rosenblatt and Josh Rahn, Co-Founder and Chief People Officer Glenn Handler, and Founding Partners Sara Barek (Operations) and Brian Lew (Finance) — whose collective operating tenure spans Apple (Quattro Wireless / iAd), Facebook (NYC office opening, recruiting under Sheryl Sandberg), Google (global office expansion), Foursquare (presidency through scale), a16z (early NY check), Time Warner, and Clearforest/Thomson Reuters.

The firm targets technical and repeat founders building in AI Infrastructure, Agents, and Verticals; Space and Defense; Robotics; and Spatial technologies, with priority geographic markets in NYC, SF, and LA. Disclosed portfolio spans at least ten sectors and includes AI semiconductor (Etched), enterprise context graphs (Jedify), AI presentations (Matik), AI medical billing (AgentAI), post-acute care agents (Arya Health), retail energy (David Energy), legal matter management (Streamline), professional networks (Filament), space observation (Observable), and consumer social-to-real-world meetups (Rodeo). The firm self-reports 60+ investments since inception, 100+ founders in its community, 1000+ hires placed via the network, and $2T+ in market cap created by portfolio companies.

Oceans generates revenue through standard venture fund economics — management fees on committed LP capital and carried interest from portfolio exits — none of which is publicly disclosed. Its distribution motion is referral- and co-investor-driven rather than outbound, relying on founder referrals, LP networks, and recurring co-investment syndicates with a16z, Founders Fund, USV, First Round, Greylock, Lux, Menlo Ventures, Ribbit, Stripe, EQT Ventures, and an expanding roster of strategics (Snowflake Ventures, B Capital, Shield Capital, Cerberus Ventures, Inspired Capital, Foundry, GV). The firm does not maintain its own products, APIs, or proprietary technology platform.

Name

Oceans

Legal name

Oceans Management, LLC

Website

https://oceans.ventures

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Oceans is a New York-based, operator-led venture capital firm that leads and co-leads pre-seed and seed rounds and co-invests at Series A, backing technical and repeat founders in AI infrastructure, space and defense, robotics, and spatial technologies across NYC, SF, and LA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Oceans generates returns through equity stakes in portfolio companies at pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages. Returns realized through exits, IPOs, or secondary transactions. Fund structure includes management fees and carried interest typical of VC partnerships.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Oceans is an operator-led venture capital firm that leads and co-leads pre-seed and seed investment rounds and co-invests at Series A in technically oriented founders and repeat entrepreneurs. Beyond capital, it delivers hands-on operational support to portfolio companies across recruiting, go-to-market strategy, capital strategy, and company-building through pivots, down rounds, and scale. The firm charges Limited Partners management fees and earns carried interest/equity returns from portfolio exits under a standard VC fund structure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-Seed and Seed Investment Equity investment rounds led or co-led by Oceans at the pre-seed and seed stages for early-stage frontier-technology founders and startups in AI Infrastructure, Agents, Verticals, Space and Defense, Robotics, and Spatial computing. Includes post-investment hands-on operational support.
• Series A Co-Investment Selective co-investment at Series A rounds in portfolio companies and external deals, typically syndicated with co-investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, USV, First Round Capital, Greylock, Lux Capital, Menlo Ventures, EQT Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Equal Ventures, and others.
• Portfolio Operational Support Hands-on post-investment support for portfolio founders covering recruiting (zero-to-one hires, candidate interviews, closing), go-to-market (product-market-fit pressure testing and repeatable sales motion design), and capital strategy (fundraising, deal structure, runway modeling, board prep — the "CFO work you need before you can afford a CFO"). Includes long-term engagement through pivots, down rounds, and late-night founder crises.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• First Round Capital: One of the most active seed VCs in NYC and a listed Oceans co-investor. Directly comparable on founder community emphasis and seed-stage checks in NYC/SF markets.
• Uncork Capital: Seed-stage VC with an operator-friendly model and similar check size to Oceans. Directly comparable on stage focus and emphasis on founder support throughout company building.
• Forerunner Ventures: Operator-led venture firm focused on early-stage consumer and frontier tech. Comparable in operator DNA, seed stage, and emphasis on founder support over pure capital deployment.
• Inspired Capital: NYC-based early-stage VC led by former operators (Powell, Bornstein). Recently led the Windmill seed alongside Oceans' participation — directly comparable on stage, geography, and operator-led model.
• Primary Venture Partners: NYC-based early-stage venture firm investing at pre-seed and seed. Listed as a co-investor on Oceans' deals and operates with overlapping geographies and stage focus, making it a direct comparable.
• Lerer Hippeau: Operator-led NYC seed-stage venture firm with a similar thesis of backing technical founders and providing hands-on operational support. Most directly comparable peer given shared NYC focus, seed stage, and operator-led model.
• Eniac Ventures: NYC-based early-stage VC investing at pre-seed and seed. Comparable on geography, stage, and check size, with a similar operator-partner model.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Multistage venture incumbent and listed Oceans co-investor — Oceans' GP Steven Rosenblatt was one of a16z's first NYC checks. Relevant peer given ongoing co-investment overlap, though scale and stage reach are far broader than Oceans.
• Founders Fund: Multi-stage venture firm and listed Oceans co-investor focused on frontier technology. Comparable on thesis (Space, Defense, frontier tech) though meaningfully larger and later-stage.
• Union Square Ventures (USV): Established early-stage VC focused on networks and consumer — listed Oceans co-investor with a complementary thesis on network-effect businesses.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/oceansventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/oceansventures
• Instagraminstagram.com/oceansventures
• Facebookfacebook.com/oceansventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments79 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Oceans