As artificial intelligence accelerates the pace at which new tech products can be developed and tested, a growing number of European startups are bypassing traditional venture stages and leaping straight into major rounds. OpenOcean, the early-stage venture capital firm known for its deep technical heritage, sees this as a moment of opportunity — and responsibility.

Startups are skipping steps, OpenOcean observes

Across Europe’s leading tech hubs — from London to Paris, Berlin to Helsinki — early-stage startups are raising increasingly large rounds, often before hitting typical Series A milestones. It’s a shift driven by technical founders in fast-moving sectors like AI and data infrastructure.

“We’re seeing this trend most clearly in technical sectors like AI, and especially in ecosystems that value capital efficiency like Paris, London, Berlin, and across the Nordics,” says Patrik Backman, General Partner at OpenOcean.

Startups like Mistral AI and Stability AI exemplify the new pace. “In both these cases, high-conviction in both the founding teams and the technology have created conditions where startups can leapfrog the traditional funding ladder,” says Tom Henriksson, General Partner at OpenOcean.

This shift presents investors with a clear dilemma: take on more risk by backing early, or face steep valuations and fierce competition by entering later.

“We believe the best returns come from backing exceptional teams early, before valuations spike,” says Backman. “While many mega-funds focus on later-stage deals with increasingly compressed outcomes, we focus on building value at the early stages.”

For OpenOcean, that value goes far beyond capital alone.

“A technical foundation is vital to supporting founders with strategic and operational input needed to turn early traction into lasting category leadership, much more valuable than just capital,” Henriksson adds.

Where acceleration works — and where it doesn’t

While sectors like AI and software are proving ripe for acceleration, OpenOcean stresses that not every industry can follow the same playbook.