History

We bring hard-earned insights, wisdom and a robust network to our portfolio companies.

Who we are

The Okapi GPs each have 20+ years of VC and/or founder & tech exec experience. We bring hard-earned insights, wisdom and a robust network to our portfolio companies.

3 partners with unique and complementary skillsets.

Investing Experience

  • Early to the party – CrowdStrike, DuoSecurity, Parchment, Connectifier, BabyList, et al
  • 3 partners – 20+ years experience each
  • Top performing early-stage VC for over a decade
  • Dozens of company boards
  • Active investor through 3 boom/bust cycles
  • Active engagement for dozens of exits (& a few wind downs…)

Operating Experience

  • Founder to IPO – NASDAQ: TFSM)
  • Founder to M&A – Resume.com
  • Scale from 1 – 300+ Employees – TFSM, Mophie, et al
  • Fortune 500 Company Counsel, BD, Corp Dev & Strategy – Intel, Mattel
  • Buy & Sell Side for transactions $1 – $500M+

Origins of Okapi

Our firm identifies with these unique and interesting animals—their progeny have long gestation periods and are quite precocious at birth (just like our portfolio companies!) and they are described as having “unique characteristics allowing them to thrive in dense jungle”—and if venture capital is not dense jungle, we don’t know what is.

Our first fund was a “field of dreams” fund in that we were told by a small group of local business leaders “if you build it, we will invest”. Well, we shared their vision for a seed and early-stage VC fund focused on information technology and life science investments so we did and they did and the rest, as they say, is history having closed our first fund in May 2006.

Our reputation is our differentiator

Okapi goes above and beyond most VC’s. They understand the challenges that every CEO/Founder experiences and helps to successfully navigate them. Their deep knowledge of the venture world enables me to navigate the markets for the best outcomes.

Matthew Wright | CEO & Founder