What Ocean Ventures does

Cross Ocean Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2015 by General Partners Serhat Pala and Zeynep Ilgaz, immigrant founders from Turkey who previously co-founded Confirm BioSciences and TestCountry. Headquartered in San Diego with regional offices in Tallinn (Estonia) and Amsterdam (Netherlands), the fund targets international founders — primarily from Benelux, Nordics, Baltics, Switzerland, and the US — with European origins who seek to expand into the US market and raise a Series A from US investors within a 12–24 month horizon. The investment thesis is concentrated on three verticals: B2B SaaS (including business intelligence, low/no-code, IoT, blockchain, predictive analytics), Digital Identity (data security, KYC, verifiable credentials), and Digital Health (diagnostics, wearables, VR/AR, telemedicine).

The fund invests at the seed stage, preferring companies with an MVP and either post-revenue traction or demonstrable product-market fit; for digital diagnostics and therapeutics, it requires technical validation in the form of grants or regulatory approvals. There are no proprietary software products or technology platforms — the offering is investment capital paired with hands-on mentoring from operators who have themselves navigated immigration, US scaling, and exit. As a venture fund, Cross Ocean Ventures earns revenue through standard fund management economics (management fees and carried interest on exits) governed by LPA agreements; specific fund size, AUM, and LP composition are not publicly disclosed.

Deal flow is sourced through direct outreach and the partners' founder networks across Europe and the US, supplemented by co-investments with accelerator programs such as Techstars, Stadia Ventures, and EndeavorLAB. The team comprises two General Partners, three Venture Partners (Alex Altomare, Scott Jablonski, Qun Xu), a Board Advisor (Bill Eigner), an Analyst (Haydar Nur), and a Research Specialist (Kenan Pala), supporting an active but boutique investment pace. Recent disclosed investments include ROOK ($1.7M, March 2023), PicUP ($1.5M, February 2023), and Primeclass.ai ($10M, June 2023).

Name

Ocean Ventures

Legal name

Cross Ocean Ventures

Website

https://oceanventures.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cross Ocean Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2015 that invests seed capital in B2B SaaS, Digital Identity, and Digital Health startups from Europe seeking US market expansion and a US-led Series A within 12–24 months.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Early-Stage Investment Fund

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Early-stage venture capital
• Seed-stage investments
• B2B SaaS funding
• Digital health investing
• Startup advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Gurugram

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fund Management / Investment Returns: As an early-stage investment fund, Cross Ocean Ventures generates returns through equity investments in portfolio companies, typically taking ownership stakes in exchange for capital deployment. Returns are realized through subsequent funding rounds, acquisitions, or IPOs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ocean Ventures (operating as Cross Ocean Ventures) is an early-stage venture capital investment fund that provides seed-stage capital and strategic advisory to European and international startups seeking to expand into the US market. The fund invests across B2B SaaS, Digital Identity, and Digital Health sectors, focusing on companies with MVP or post-revenue traction that are positioned to raise a Series A from US investors within 12-24 months.

Product overview

Cross Ocean Ventures is an early-stage venture capital investment fund, not a technology product company. It does not offer software products or services—its offering is investment capital and advisory support for international startup founders seeking to expand to the US market.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• crossoceanfund: Investment fund brand used on blog posts and announcements

Products and services

• Cross Ocean Ventures Early-Stage Investment Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio companies positioned to raise Series A from US investors in 12-24 months

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Frontline Ventures: Frontline Ventures is an early-stage venture firm specifically focused on European founders building global businesses, with explicit support for US market expansion. Highly comparable to Cross Ocean Ventures in thesis (European roots, US ambition), stage (early/seed), and target founder profile.
• Point Nine Capital: Point Nine is a seed-stage European VC focused on B2B SaaS, marketplaces, and digital health, investing across Europe with global ambitions. Comparable in stage, sector focus, and cross-border orientation, with deeper geographic breadth and a longer track record.
• Speedinvest: Speedinvest is a European early-stage VC with sector-focused funds spanning B2B SaaS, FinTech, and digital health. Comparable in stage and sector overlap (B2B SaaS, Digital Health), and serves many of the same European geographies Cross Ocean targets.
• Notion Capital: Notion Capital is an early-stage VC investing in European B2B SaaS, with a strong track record supporting founders scaling internationally. Directly comparable in stage, sector focus (B2B SaaS), and cross-border ambition.
• LocalGlobe: LocalGlobe is a UK-based early-stage VC with global ambitions for its portfolio companies, investing across sectors including B2B SaaS and digital health. Comparable stage and founder-support orientation, though primarily UK-anchored.
• Seedcamp: Seedcamp is one of Europe's longest-running early-stage seed funds, investing across European geographies including Benelux, Nordics, and Eastern Europe. Comparable in stage, sector breadth, and European focus, with a much larger portfolio and stronger brand recognition.
• Hoxton Ventures: Hoxton Ventures is a London-based early-stage VC that backs European founders building global businesses, including US expansion. Comparable in stage, thesis (European founders, global scaling), and cross-border orientation.

Broad incumbents

• Atomico: Atomico is a large, established European VC that invests across stages and sectors, including B2B SaaS and digital health. Comparable in cross-border thesis and European roots but operates with much larger fund sizes and broader stage coverage than Cross Ocean.

Emerging players

• Indie.vc: Indie.vc (now part of Earnest Capital) is a US-based fund that takes a non-traditional, founder-friendly approach to early-stage capital. Tangentially comparable in targeting underserved founder segments, though differs structurally (non-equity revenue participation model).

Others

• Endeavor (nonprofit, not VC): Endeavor is a global nonprofit that supports high-impact entrepreneurs with global scaling support, similar in mission to Cross Ocean's emphasis on helping immigrant founders bridge into US markets. Not a direct investor peer but an adjacent ecosystem enabler.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Oceanventures_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments6 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Ocean Ventures