BlueOcean Ventures

BlueOcean Ventures is a Geneva, Switzerland-based venture capital firm founded in 2007 by four partners — Faris Sabeti, Emmanuel de Watteville, Sacha Haymoz, and Thomas Zehnder — who collectively bring decades of experience building, managing, and coaching high-tech startups. The firm concentrates exclusively on early-stage medical device and life science companies across Europe, deploying check sizes of $1 million to $5 million at seed and early stages across 23 investments to date. BlueOcean leads rounds and has backed companies spanning healthtech, biotech, and diagnostic robotics. Fund II — which became the first tokenized medtech VC fund through its STO platform SwissVCToken — invested in five companies: Ava (named Switzerland's best startup in 2017/2018), Rheon Medical (adjustable glaucoma drainage device), Volumina Medical, Luciole Medical, and Abionic. Other portfolio companies include MIKAJAKI (ophthalmic diagnostic robotics, CHF 2.4M+ pre-Series A), nPloy, and CyanoGuard. Co-founder Sacha Haymoz previously co-founded PharmARC, a 300-person firm sold to IMS Health in 2012; Emmanuel de Watteville has coached over 200 high-tech startups since 2003. BlueOcean Ventures targets untapped market segments where capital scarcity and clinical complexity create a barrier that experienced domain partners can bridge. The firm supports portfolio companies with an extensive expert network and industry contacts, aiming to place capital where it addresses unmet medical needs rather than crowded, well-funded niches.