Open source software is having a moment – the number of projects are growing, as are the developers working on them. Importantly too, there has also been an evolution of business models in the space. Gone are the days when only Red Hat stood as an example of successful commercialisation; now, 40+ companies relying on open source technology at their core have reached $100M+ revenue, with high-profile IPOs in recent years like Elastic ($252M IPO), MongoDB ($192M IPO).
In this podcast we have a Seedcamp team takeover as our very own Sia and Kyran join Carlos to help us look back at how much momentum open source has been building in recent years along with the exciting ground still to cover in this space. They discuss reasons for renewed investor interest in open source, Seedcamp’s own criteria when assessing businesses in the space (such as founder-community fit), and the evolution of business models. The three also provide context on some of Seedcamp’s new investments in open source companies – including a full-text search engine, developer tools for data science, security solutions and hyperfast databases.
Tune in if you are an open source founder interested in hearing what VCs will be looking for in your space, a VC looking to determine the assets that make an open source company really stand out, or if you are simply interested in hearing more about some of our recent investments in this area.
If the above player doesn’t work for you, you can also listen directly from our Soundcloud page.
Listen to similar episodes like this:
- Catch up – Carmen Alfonso Rico on thesis-driven VCs, #CustomerLove and the immense value of brand and community
- Catch up – Legal Hour with Tom & Carlos – Legal structures to be aware of when setting up your next round
- Catch up – Cristina Fonseca, VP @ Indico Capital, on scaling enterprise SaaS & the future of European VC