Meet OpenOcean: From MySQL Roots to Backing Tools That Help Enterprises Adopt AI

Finland is known for putting the younger generation at the forefront of its tech scene, and its iconic Slush conference is run by students. But it doesn’t forget the people who put the country on the startup map, such as seasoned venture capitalist Tom Henriksson.

Now a general partner at pan-European VC firm OpenOcean, Tom has been involved with venture investing and startups since the mid-nineties, with some notable successes.

In particular, he and his current partners played a pivotal role in the creation and growth of MySQL. “And we had an amazing exit in 2008 to Sun Microsystems,” he recalled. The one billion exit “was one of those early European unicorn stories,” and led to the creation of OpenOcean.

With offices in Helsinki and London, the firm has grown its funds incrementally since its early days. “In April we had a first close of our fourth fund, about €100 million, and we’re trying to get to €135 million,” Tom said.

In a conversation recorded during Slush 2024, Tom talked about MySQL and his later involvement with MariaDB and Nokia, but also about his interest in data-intensive software.

While its meaning has evolved in the age of AI, data-intensive software is still a key area of focus for OpenOcean, alongside intelligent enterprise automation and marketing tech (martech).

Where OpenOcean is investing

OpenOcean’s strategy is influenced by the awareness that the foundational layer of AI is being built by companies such as Mistral AI that require large amounts of capital. “With a small fund, you, you can’t go in there,” Tom said.

“What we do see, however, as that innovation is proliferating super quickly, is that enterprises have a huge problem in adopting technologies, in particular AI, also in enterprise automation. So we love solutions that actually help enterprises take them into use.”

One side of this is horizontal. “Be it for instance, something that enables engineers to do the work of data scientists because there’s not enough data scientists, or be it something that enables you to implement technology without disturbing the engineering flow because then the iterations can be quicker.”

The other side is vertical, with applications that focus on use cases within a specific sector. “And you probably have access to unique data because you only work with that vertical,” Tom said, giving the example of Cambri. Backed by OpenOcean, the Finnish startup raised an €8 million Series A last October for its vertical value proposition.

Thanks to product launch data sets in the food and beverage sector, Cambri came up with an AI-enabled consumer insights and platform used by household brands such as Coca-Cola and Heineken that can predict if a new product will be successful.

This is a win-win, Tom said: It “reduces waste in the world because they’re not launching crappy products that nobody wants and put plastic out in the world, but obviously makes also the corporates more profitable and more efficient.”

Examples aside, Tom shared additional context that makes this episode a must-listen if you are hoping to raise funding from OpenOcean, or more generally curious about the Nordics. Spoiler alert, it will also leave you longing for an invite to the legendary poker tournament that the VC firm holds every year during Slush.