Oyster Bay

Founder Christoph Miller and partner Felix Leonhardt lead investment decisions. Miller brings 25-plus years in the food and beverage sector, while Leonhardt was previously an Oyster Bay portfolio founder who exited a social business in 2020. The firm states all team members invest their own capital into Oyster Bay funds, which suggests decisions are collaborative rather than centralized in a single CIO.

Oyster Bay sources through the food and ag-tech networks of its partners and by encouraging founders to engage six-plus months before fundraising. The firm invites cold submissions via its website and Typeform, which are reviewed by the full investment team. Given its narrow sector focus, a significant portion of deal flow likely comes from repeat founder relationships and industry referrals.

Oyster Bay operates as a venture capital firm, not a family office. It raises external funds and invests on behalf of limited partners. The entire investment team co-invests their own money alongside those LPs, which aligns incentives but does not make the firm a family-office structure.

Oyster Bay prefers to lead rounds and typically holds a board seat or active advisory role. The firm states it will follow on for the next two rounds after an initial investment. Initial checks range from €1M to €5M, with substantial reserves allocated for pro-rata or super-pro-rata follow-ons.

Oyster Bay invests exclusively within the food value chain and explicitly avoids companies it lacks a thesis for. If the team does not understand a subsector, they will not invest until they have researched it deeply. This implicitly rules out generalist software, fintech, and most non-food climate-tech categories.

Principal Divya Murthy previously led investments at ProVeg Incubator, a global food-tech accelerator, before joining Oyster Bay. The firm's proximity to that ecosystem — and Murthy's 10-plus years in impact investing and M&A — creates a sourcing and diligence bridge into European seed-stage food startups.

Ragne Maasel joined Oyster Bay as Head of Impact and ESG, moving from LHV, Estonia's largest domestic financial group. She leads the firm's internal impact framework and works with portfolio companies on sustainability processes. All prospective investments must demonstrate a positive societal impact according to this framework.