Fundraising Fox

Maria Rotilu

Investor

Founder & General Partner at Openseed VC · Principal at Octopus Ventures

United Kingdom

About

An operator-turned-investor who scaled products and teams at Uber and Branch in emerging markets, completed an MBA at Oxford where she led the Oxford Seed Fund, and co-built Octopus Ventures' £10m First Cheque Fund for Europe. She has reviewed over 7,000 startups and invested in more than 70 across Europe, the US, and Africa.

LinkedIn ↗X / Twitter ↗
Latest on 𝕏

Maria Rotilu @mariarotilu

To think we are in its early stages. Insane. The idea of this being a trillion dollars ARR company in a decade is wild but trajectory? Likely! https://t.co/584f1Hcp1A

Jun 9, 2025 · ♥ 1

Maria Rotilu @mariarotilu

I wish all of the engineering and PM resources that went to Genmoji went to Apple intelligence. I just want a smart enough GPT to replace Siri and a decent agent that helps me navigate my mobile workflow - *intelligently*

Jun 9, 2025 · ♥ 4

Maria Rotilu @mariarotilu

At @OpenseedVC, we back experienced operators before they raise from VCs. 60+ operators , PMs, engineers, founders, help our companies go from zero to one. This isn’t a thesis. It’s who we are.

Jun 9, 2025 · ♥ 2 · ⇄ 1

Experience

  1. Openseed VCFounder & General Partnercurrent2023 — presentGreater London, England, United Kingdom
  2. Octopus VenturesPrincipal & Fund Manager - Octopus First Cheque2021 — 2023Greater London, England, United Kingdom
  3. Hustle FundInvestor (MBA Internship)2021
  4. Oxford Seed FundManaging Director2020 — 2021Oxford, England, United Kingdom
  5. Branch InternationalGeneral Manager2017 — 2020Lagos State, Nigeria
  6. UberCountry Manager2016 — 2017Nigeria
  7. Deloitte ConsultingSenior Consultant | Strategy and Innovation2016Lagos, Nigeria
  8. Deloitte ConsultingManagement Consultant2013 — 2016Lagos

Education

  1. University of OxfordMaster of Business Administration - MBA, Venture Capital2020 — 2021
  2. Covenant UniversityBachelors, Computer Science2006 — 2010

Skills & more

StrategyVenture CapitalInvestment ManagementInvestor RelationsOperations ManagementEntrepreneurshipFundraising

Languages English · Yoruba

From Maria's professional profile.

Same school

Also attended University of Oxford688

Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockMichael MoritzFormer Partner at Sequoia Capital; Senior Adviser at Sequoia HeritageBrad GerstnerFounder & CEO of Altimeter CapitalDominic JacquessonInvestor at Index VenturesErin Price-WrightInvestor at Index VenturesJan HammerInvestor at Index Ventures

+ 682 more

Also attended Covenant University11

Ore SowemimoPlatform & Community Manager at Oui CapitalMoyosore BabalolaInvestment Principal at Alitheia CapitalRebecca JohnsonDirector at BKR CapitalOdunayo EweniyiCo-Founder & General Partner at FirstCheck AfricaUwemedimo UwemakpanHead of Investments at Botswana Tech FundAyo ArikaweVenture Partner at Velocity Digital

+ 5 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Octopus Ventures69

Simon MurdochGeneral Partner, PhD at Episode1Conor ScanlanAssociate Partner at Nauta CapitalDafydd ProlePrincipal at Presidio VenturesAkriti DokaniaVenture Partner at Ridge VenturesGeorge WhiteheadPartner at ACF InvestorsSimon KingPartner at Octopus Ventures

+ 63 more

Also worked at Hustle Fund39

RaoulInvestor at Eudemian VenturesMike SherbakovGeneral Partner at The Veteran FundSarah RomankoAssociate at Geek VenturesYeo Chee HiongSenior Associate, Southeast Asia at Jungle VenturesElizabeth YinCo-Founder, General Partner at Hustle FundShiyan KohCo-Founder, General Partner at Hustle Fund

+ 33 more

Also worked at Oxford Seed Fund6

Michael TefulaPrincipal and Head of Product at Ada VenturesAvery BangPartner at Mulago FoundationAlexandra PerezAssociate at 2150Tom WilsonPartner at SeedcampTanvi SinglaAnalyst at Conviction VCMiruna-Ioana GirtuPartner at SyndicateRoom

Also worked at Branch International1

Andy RavrebyPartner at Amity Ventures