What BlueOcean Ventures does

BlueOcean Ventures is a Swiss venture capital investment firm founded in 2007 (actively investing since 2008) that manages two institutional funds dedicated to early-stage medical device and life science companies in Switzerland and Europe. The firm is headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates (Geneva), Switzerland, with its BlueOcean Ventures LP fund registered in Jersey, and operates with 51-100 employees. Its core products are BlueOcean Ventures I, a CHF 25 million private equity fund launched in October 2015, and BlueOcean Ventures II, the first tokenized medtech VC fund launched in October 2018 via the SwissVCToken STO platform and the BOV Token. BlueOcean typically invests CHF 200k to CHF 3M per company at Seed or Series A stages, with target pre-money valuations of CHF 3-10M, and has built a portfolio of 15+ companies including Rheon Medical, Abionic, Ava, CyanoGuard, Luciole Medical, and MIKAJAKI.

The firm's revenue model is standard venture capital economics: management fees charged on fund assets plus carried interest from successful portfolio exits. Fund I attracted Swiss and foreign family offices and Swiss pension fund Prévoyance Santé Valais (PRESV) as anchor LPs, while Fund II broadened investor access via tokenized ownership, accepting both cryptocurrency and fiat from qualified and accredited investors. Distribution is conducted through direct fund investments, co-investment arrangements with family offices, and the SwissVCToken platform. Go-to-market for deal flow relies on deep institutional integration with Innosuisse (Swiss Confederation's Innovation Promotion Agency), FONGIT (Geneva's premier incubator where GP Emmanuel de Watteville heads startup financing), and Swiss Federal Institutes EPFL and ETHZ, providing privileged access to university spin-offs and early-stage Swiss medtech innovation.

BlueOcean's competitive differentiation rests on its four General Partners (Faris Sabeti, Emmanuel de Watteville, Sacha Haymoz, Thomas Zehnder), who collectively have coached, created, managed, or financed over 200 high-tech startups. The firm positions itself as 'entrepreneurs supporting entrepreneurs,' providing hands-on board-level coaching rather than purely financial capital. Scientific advisors include Christophe Saam (founder of patent firm P&TS and Federal Patent Court judge) and Nikos Stergiopulos (EPFL professor with 20+ patents and founder of EndoArt, acquired by Allergan). Portfolio companies have achieved notable regulatory milestones including Rheon Medical's CE Mark and FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its eyeWatch glaucoma system, Abionic's FDA registration for the abioSCOPE allergy platform, and MIKAJAKI's CE marking for its ophthalmic diagnostic platform.

Name

BlueOcean Ventures

Legal name

BlueOcean Ventures SA

Website

https://blueocean-ventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

BlueOcean Ventures is a Swiss venture capital firm managing two funds dedicated to early-stage medical device, life science, and digital health companies in Switzerland and Europe. It invests CHF 200k-3M per company at Seed/Series A, with Fund II notably structured as the first tokenized medtech VC fund via SwissVCToken.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Plan-les-ouates

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Management Fees and Carried Interest: BlueOcean Ventures generates returns through management fees charged on the fund assets and carried interest from successful portfolio company exits. The fund structure attracts family offices, pension funds, and high net worth individuals seeking exposure to Swiss hi-tech early stage companies.
2. Tokenized Fund Revenue: BlueOcean Ventures II launched SwissVCToken, allowing token holders to gain profit from startup investments through a dedicated STO platform. The BOV Token is backed by real assets and based on the value of existing portfolio companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

BlueOcean Ventures is a Swiss venture capital investment firm that manages two private equity funds (BlueOcean Ventures I and II) dedicated to providing Seed and Series A capital to early-stage medical device, diagnostics, life sciences, digital health, and nanotechnology companies in Switzerland and Europe. Beyond capital, the firm's four General Partners provide hands-on strategic, operational, and board-level support, leveraging a broad network of experts and industry contacts. BlueOcean Ventures II is distinguished by being the first tokenized medtech VC fund, distributing exposure to investors via the SwissVCToken STO platform and the asset-backed BOV Token.

Product overview

BlueOcean Ventures operates as a venture capital investment firm managing two investment funds (BlueOcean Ventures I and II) dedicated to early stage medical device and life science companies in Switzerland and Europe. BlueOcean Ventures II is notable for being the first tokenized medtech VC fund, offering the SwissVCToken platform and BOV Token for qualified investors to gain exposure to the portfolio. The firm's investment strategy focuses on companies in medical devices, diagnostics, life sciences, digital health, and nanotechnologies, typically investing CHF 200k to 3M per company at seed or Series A stages with pre-money valuations of CHF 3 to 10 million.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SwissVCToken: STO platform dedicated to the sale of the BlueOcean Ventures II BOV Token, allowing qualified and accredited investors to indirectly gain profit from BlueOcean Ventures II's portfolio companies.
• BlueOcean Ventures I
• BlueOcean Ventures II

Products and services

• BlueOcean Ventures I A private equity fund dedicated to investing in Swiss Hi-Tech early stage medical device and life science projects. The fund targets investments in companies with CHF 3-10 million pre-money valuation at Seed or Series A stage, with typical capital requirements of CHF 200k to 3M per company. It is offered to institutional investors, family offices, and qualified individual investors.
• BlueOcean Ventures II A tokenized private equity fund that invests in early stage medical device, diagnostics, life sciences, digital health and nanotech companies in Switzerland and Europe. BlueOcean Ventures II is the first tokenized medtech VC fund, distributed via the SwissVCToken platform with both cryptocurrency and fiat payment options for qualified and accredited investors.
• SwissVCToken Platform An STO platform dedicated to the sale of the BlueOcean Ventures II BOV Token, allowing qualified and accredited investors to indirectly gain profit from BlueOcean Ventures II's portfolio companies through tokenized ownership. Supports both cryptocurrency and fiat payment options.
• BOV Token A security token backed by real assets and based on the value of BlueOcean Ventures II's existing portfolio companies, enabling qualified and accredited investors to participate in the medtech VC fund through cryptocurrency or fiat payment options.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• SECAminorOthersSwiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association - Industry partner providing networking and industry association benefits
• Startup InvestminorOthersPlatform connecting investors with startups - industry partner for deal flow visibility
• Grant ThorntonminorOthersAuditor of BlueOcean Ventures II fund - provides independent financial auditing services
• FongitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwitzerland's premier innovation incubator based in Geneva. Emmanuel de Watteville serves as Head of Startup financing at FONGIT, providing deep deal flow access and startup support infrastructure
• P&TS (Patent & Trademark Firm)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSwiss patent and trademark law firm founded by Christophe Saam, BlueOcean's scientific advisor. Provides IP advisory services to portfolio companies
• OcorianminorOthersWorld-leading provider of fiduciary and administration services for fund operations
• EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing research talent and technology transfer opportunities. Multiple portfolio companies are EPFL spin-offs including Rheon Medical and Abionic
• ETHZ (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing research talent and technology transfer opportunities. BlueOcean founders and advisors have connections from ETHZ
• VentureLabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld-class startup support program Swiss Made - provides additional deal flow and startup development resources
• Innosuisse (Swiss Confederation's Innovation Promotion Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCandidates are sourced early as a result of BlueOcean's deep involvement with Innosuisse. Former Vice Chairman Faris Sabeti has large relevant network through this relationship

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wellington Partners: European venture capital firm investing across technology and life sciences, including medical devices and digital health. Comparable as a broader incumbent that competes with BlueOcean for European medtech deals, with larger fund vehicles and broader geographic reach.
• Sofinnova Partners: Paris-based European leader in life sciences venture capital across medtech, biotech, and digital health. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the same European medtech/life sciences category that BlueOcean targets, though operating at much larger fund scale.
• Forbion: Leading European life sciences venture capital firm focused on biotech and medtech. Comparable as a broader incumbent investor in the European medtech/life sciences category where BlueOcean competes for deals at the early stages.

Direct peers

• Endeavour Vision: Swiss/European venture capital firm focused exclusively on early- and growth-stage medical device and digital health companies. Directly comparable to BlueOcean given its medtech specialization, European footprint, and similar ticket sizes at Series A/B.
• Ysios Capital: Spanish-based venture capital firm focused exclusively on early- and mid-stage life sciences companies (biotech and medtech). Direct peer in European sector-specialist life sciences VC, with comparable fund sizes and stage focus to BlueOcean.
• Vesalius Biocapital: European life sciences venture capital firm specializing in early- and growth-stage medtech and biotech companies. Direct peer in the European early-stage medtech category, competing for similar Seed/Series A opportunities.
• Seventure Partners: Paris-based venture capital firm with a strong healthcare and life sciences franchise. Comparable as a European life sciences investor with similar stage orientation, though operating with a broader sector mandate than BlueOcean's medtech-only focus.
• BioMedPartners: Swiss/German venture capital firm specializing in early- to mid-stage life sciences and medical technology companies. Direct peer given overlapping European medtech focus, similar stage orientation, and comparable fund sizes to BlueOcean.
• EMBL Ventures: European life sciences venture capital firm affiliated with EMBL, investing in early-stage biotech and medtech spinouts. Comparable given its European focus and academic/incubator deal sourcing model similar to BlueOcean's EPFL/ETHZ/FONGIT pipeline.
• HBM Partners: Swiss-based healthcare-focused investment firm managing public and private medtech/biotech portfolios. Highly comparable to BlueOcean given its Swiss domicile and healthcare-only investment focus, though it operates at significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blueocean-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments17 records

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

Frequently asked questions about BlueOcean Ventures