# OSS Capital

OSS Capital is a Private Equity based in San Francisco, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2018
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** oss.capital
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/osscapital

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 314805
- **SEC file number:** 802-126645
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/314805

## About

OSS Capital is an exempt reporting adviser in San Francisco, CA. It focuses on venture growth equity investments in software and technology companies. The firm invests in these sectors.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- FinTech
- Blockchain
- Developer Tools
- Cybersecurity

## People

- Joseph Jacks — Founder
- Chelsea Wei — CFO

## Questions

### Who makes the investment decisions at OSS Capital?

Joseph Jacks, the founder, sits as the firm’s sole investing principal. There is no institutional investment committee — decisions are made by Jacks in consultation with the firm’s portfolio partners, who include Heather Meeker on licensing and intellectual property, Scott Williamson on product, and Justin Hoffman on go-to-market (per the firm).

### How does OSS Capital source deal flow?

The firm sources almost entirely through the commercial open-source ecosystem. Jacks’s network of more than 50 COSS founders — including the creators of GitLab, Elastic, and Red Hat — functions as a proprietary origination channel that flags emerging projects before they enter formal fundraising. The firm also draws inbound from developer communities that track open-source repository activity and contributor growth.

### Does OSS Capital invest exclusively in open-source companies?

Yes. OSS Capital self-describes as the only early-stage venture firm exclusively dedicated to commercial open-source startups globally. The firm does not make exceptions for proprietary-software companies, viewing the open-source licensing model as the core driver of capital efficiency and community-scale distribution.

### What investment stages does OSS Capital target?

The firm focuses on early-stage and seed rounds, with the capacity to follow into growth where the thesis holds. Declared rounds include seed financings at $14.1 million for Extropic and $37.5 million for Liquid AI, both of which represent pre-institutional scaling bets (per the firm). The firm’s public positioning emphasizes first-check leadership rather than passive participation.

### How does OSS Capital think about capital efficiency?

The firm’s stated thesis is that leading COSS companies can reach $100 million in annual revenue using 10–30% of the capital that earlier-generation open-source companies consumed — an average of $300 million per $100 million in revenue, by OSS Capital’s own analysis. It selects for business models where community-led distribution and permissive licensing compress customer-acquisition costs.

### What is the firm’s relationship to the advisors listed on its website?

The advisory group — which includes figures such as Kevin Wang (FOSSA CEO), Heather Meeker, and Scott Williamson — is not a ceremonial board. Advisors serve as portfolio partners with defined operational domains (licensing, product, go-to-market) and are compensated for their engagement with portfolio companies, effectively functioning as a variable-cost operating-partner bench.

## Related profiles

- [Ospraie Management](https://altss.com/profile/ospraie-management)
- [OSS Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/oss-ventures)

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Last updated: 2026-08-14T12:30:00.000Z

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