OSS Capital
Venture capitalActively deployingSan Francisco · Pre-Seed–Series A · 6 people tracked
Also known as OSS CAPITAL, LLC
Investment thesis
OSS Capital invests exclusively in early-stage commercial open source software (COSS) startups on a global basis. The firm draws on a network of 50+ COSS founders behind companies such as GitLab, Elastic, and Red Hat to help founders scale. A core belief is that COSS companies can be far more capital-efficient than the historical norm — where leading firms raised $300M+ to reach $100M in annual revenue — arguing future leaders can reach similar scale with just 10-30% of that funding and grow into profitable public companies. It aims to broaden open source adoption across every category.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 25, 2026.
Team · 6 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 30 of 34 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×13Developer Tools ×12SaaS ×12Enterprise Software ×9Data & Infrastructure ×8Deep Tech ×5Cloud Computing ×4Crypto & Web3 ×4
HQs:United States×9Germany×2Canada×1
Investments · 34 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2024 · 12023 · 42021 · 27 dated
Formbricks is an open source survey platform focused on privacy that lets teams create surveys to understand their customers.
Data & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsSaaS
Peer Richelsen(Co-founder)
Liquid AI builds device-native foundation models (LFMs) designed to run efficiently on processors outside data centers, such as phones, laptops, and cars, under latency, privacy, and hardware constraints.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareBrookline, US
Daniela Rus(Co-founder)Mathias Lechner(Co-founder & CTO)inRamin Hasani(Co-founder & CEO)inAlexander Amini(Co-founder & CSO)Louis Hunt(Executive Officer)Stephen Pagliuca(Director)
Board seatJoseph Jacks· per SEC Form D
Co-investorsBold Capital PartnersDuke Capital PartnersGlasswing VenturesIsaiISAI GestionLink Ventures+4 more
Aitomatic builds DanaOS, an on-premise "Engineering Intelligence" platform that captures experts' tacit operational knowledge as a governed "Cognitive Ontology" and runs it as autonomous agents that perceive, diagnose, and act on industrial systems.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningSemiconductors
Co-investorsCapria VenturesBloomberg Beta
Aleph Alpha develops specialized language models and AI solutions for enterprise and public sector organizations in Europe, prioritizing data sovereignty, regulatory compliance, and domain-specific customization on European infrastructure.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareHeidelberg, DE
Samuel Weinbach(Co-Chief Research Officer, Co-Founder)Ilhan Scheer(Co-Chief Executive Officer)inReto Spörri(Co-Chief Executive Officer)
Co-investorsBosch VenturesBurda Principal InvestmentsCavalry VenturesD11ZEarlybird DWES Management GmbH & Co. KGEarlybird Venture Capital+8 more
Bittensor is an open, decentralized network where independent subnets produce digital commodities and contributors are paid in the TAO token.
AI & Machine LearningCrypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureToronto, CA
Jacob Robert Steeves(Founder)in
Co-investorsCollab+CurrencyDigital Currency GroupLvna CapitalTruth Ventures
Ory provides API-first identity and access management (IAM) covering customer identity (CIAM), B2B enterprise SSO/SAML/SCIM, and identity for AI agents and machine-to-machine systems.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityDeveloper ToolsLondon
Carlos Enrique Samame Galdos(Executive Officer, Director)Deepak Prabhakara(Executive Officer, Director)Jeff Kukowski(CEO)
Co-investorsMMC Ventures
Cal.com provides scheduling software for sales teams to coordinate client meetings, demos, and discovery calls, with features like round-robin assignment, collective events, routing forms, and automated reminders.
Developer ToolsFuture of WorkHR TechSaaSSales Tech
Bailey Pumfleet(Founder)in
Co-investorsiThink VCLodge FamilyObvious VenturesBalaji SrinivasanFlex Capital Partners
CrabNebula provides cloud infrastructure for building, deploying, and distributing native and hybrid applications across multiple frameworks.
Cloud ComputingDeveloper Tools
Dagster Labs develops Dagster, an open-source data orchestration platform with a commercial cloud offering.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsSan Francisco, US
Nick Schrock(Founder)in
Co-investorsAmplify PartnersCoatue Managementf7 VenturesZero Prime VenturesGeorgianHuman Capital+2 more
DataStax provides enterprise-grade database infrastructure and AI development tools, including Astra DB (a NoSQL vector database built on Apache Cassandra), Hyper-Converged Database for on-premises deployments, and Langflow (an open-source low-code platform for building generative AI applications).
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Davor BonaciinJim Baum(Director)Clint Smith(Executive Officer)Billy Bosworth(Executive Officer, Director)Randy Gottfried(Director)Jonathan Ellis(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsAkkadian VenturesComcast VenturesCross Creek AdvisorsCrosslink CapitalInvestXKleiner Perkins+9 more
Documenso provides an electronic signature platform that allows users to create, send, and sign documents with enterprise-grade compliance built in.
Enterprise SoftwareLegalTechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Lucas Smith(Executive Officer, Director)Timur Ercan(Executive Officer, Director)
Extropic builds thermodynamic computing hardware designed to be significantly more energy efficient than GPUs for probabilistic AI workloads.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardware
Co-investorsHOF CapitalJulian CapitalValor Equity Partners
Extropic builds thermodynamic computing hardware, including thermodynamic sampling units (TSUs) designed to be more energy efficient than GPUs for probabilistic AI workloads.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsAustin, US
Guillaume Verdon(Founder)
Co-investorsAtacama VenturesBeyond CapitalBlack FlagHOF CapitalHyperguapJulian Capital+6 more
Forem is open source software for building online communities in any niche, powering DEV, a community where software developers share knowledge and collaborate.
Creator EconomyDeveloper ToolsMedia & EntertainmentSocial
Ben Halpern(Co-founder)Jess Lee(Co-founder)Peter Frank(Co-founder)
Co-investorsEverywhere VenturesTrousdale Ventures
Umbrel makes umbrelOS, a home server operating system with a one-click app store for self-hosting applications such as file/photo storage (Nextcloud), media streaming (Plex), Bitcoin and Lightning nodes, local AI models (Ollama, DeepSeek, Llama), home automation, and network ad-blocking.
ConsumerCrypto & Web3Hardware
NocoDB is a no-code platform that turns databases into a spreadsheet-like interface, letting users build database applications without writing code.
Data & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsSaaSPoole
Naveen R(Founder)inNaveen Rudrappa(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsDecibel Partners
North provides cloud cost management software that helps organizations optimize their cloud spending and licensing across public cloud providers.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingEnterprise SoftwareFintechSaaSNew York City, US
Yassine Açoine(Founder)in
Co-investorsAlpaca VCCompanyon VenturesCorigin VenturesExpert DOJOIneffable VenturesParadigm+1 more
Parallel operates AI-driven simulation games and extraction shooter games set in the Parallel Universe.
AI & Machine LearningGaming
Co-investorsBig Brain HoldingsCoinbase VenturesCollab+CurrencyParadigmWWVenturesAbstract Ventures+9 more
Plane is a payroll and HR platform designed for automation-first teams, offering open APIs, CLI, and MCP integrations so agents and software tools can directly manage payroll operations.
Enterprise SoftwareFintechFuture of WorkHR TechSaaSSan Francisco, US
Co-investorsY CombinatorB CapitalTrucks VC
Plane is a project and knowledge management platform that combines projects, wikis, AI-powered workflows, and customer support into a single workspace for teams and AI agents.
Developer ToolsFuture of WorkSaaS
Co-investorsSherpalo Ventures
Remix is a full-stack JavaScript web framework that provides server, router, data layer, UI components, and testing capabilities for building web applications.
Developer Tools
Co-investorsEnergy Impact PartnersSequoia Capital
ResearchHub is an online platform for publishing, funding, and discussing scientific research, where users can earn credits (RSC) to fund science and access research proposals and funding opportunities.
BiotechCrypto & Web3SaaS
Co-investorsSora Ventures
Tracel offers a full-stack AI solution that supports model development and AI infrastructure from research through production, automating repetitive parts of the workflow to reduce operational cost.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeep Tech
Co-investorsAviso VenturesBoxOne Ventures
Umbrel makes umbrelOS, a home server operating system with a one-click app store for self-hosting apps such as personal cloud storage, media streaming, Bitcoin/Lightning nodes, network ad-blocking, home automation, and locally-run AI models and agents.
ConsumerCrypto & Web3Hardware
Co-investorsFulgur Ventures
W4 Games provides enterprise professional services, platform ports, XR support, and premium support for teams using the open-source Godot game engine in production.
Developer ToolsEnterprise SoftwareGamingDublin 12 Ireland
Remi Verschelde(Director)Nicola Farronato(Executive Officer, Director)Fabio Alessandrelli(Director)Juan Linietsky(Executive Officer, Director)Darin Bifani(Executive Officer)Paul Haycock(Executive Officer)
Co-investorsLux CapitalSisu Game Ventures
Wasmer makes software universally available, providing solutions that enable developers and companies to maximize their potential through its platform and tools.
Cloud ComputingData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSector AgnosticSan Francisco, US
Syrus Akbary(Founder)in
Co-investorsY CombinatorZero Prime Ventures468 Capital
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesResearch Hub · anysilicon.com · Aug 20, 2026
Extropic · interestingengineering.com · Aug 3, 2026
Extropic · interestingengineering.com · Aug 3, 2026
Remix · mediabiasfactcheck.com · Jul 29, 2026
North · techinafrica.com · Jul 17, 2026
DataStax · fortuneindia.com · Jul 17, 2026
Aleph Alpha · tectonicdefense.com · Jul 17, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has OSS Capital made?
- OSS Capital has 15 tracked investments.
- What stage does OSS Capital invest at?
- OSS Capital invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What is OSS Capital's typical check size?
- OSS Capital typically writes checks of $50K – $5M.
- What sectors does OSS Capital focus on?
- OSS Capital focuses on Cloud Computing, Data & Infrastructure, Developer Tools, Enterprise Software, SaaS, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is OSS Capital located?
- OSS Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does OSS Capital lead rounds?
- Yes, OSS Capital leads investment rounds.
- Who does OSS Capital co-invest with?
- OSS Capital most often shares deals with Bold Capital Partners, Glasswing Ventures, Obvious Ventures, among 14 tracked co-investors.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamJoseph Jacks (OSS Capital) on the monetization of open source (EP.47)
On The Brink with Castle Island · Joseph Jacks
Joseph Jacks: OSS Capital, Intelligence, Open Source, COSS, Venture Investing | Ventura Labs Ep. 14
Ventura Labs · Joseph Jacks
Open Source VC Funding: Insider View from Joseph Jacks (OSS Capital) - Hacking Open Source Business
The Hacking Open Source Business Podcast · Joseph Jacks
The Stack Overflow Podcast: Heather Meeker, OSS Capital
Stack Overflow · Heather Meeker
E09 - Joseph Jacks, Founder of COSS Capital & one of the most well-known investors in open source
OpenTeams · Joseph Jacks
E02 How open source software is eating software with Joseph Jacks from OSS Capital
Sand Hill Road · Joseph Jacks
Images
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