--- title: 'OCV''s Catalyst v2 Application (Summer 2026) at Open Core Ventures' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ocv-s-catalyst-v2-application-summer-2026-open-core-ventures-united-states-f8hgh3qxmsn5' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-12' --- # OCV's Catalyst v2 Application (Summer 2026) at Open Core Ventures - **Company:** Open Core Ventures - **Location:** United States - **Posted:** 2025-01-06 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/opencoreventures/jobs/5410671004 ## Job description The Open Core Ventures (OCV) [Catalyst Program](https://www.opencoreventures.com/catalyst) is a 3 month OSS project incubator aiming to support open source maintainers in the growth of their open source projects. Projects such as developer tools, artificial intelligence infrastructure/implementation, and data transformation (or any that solves a real problem and has potential for commercial viability) will be considered for Catalyst and will receive support and mentorship from OCV team. There is potential for top-performing projects to become OCV companies at the end of the program — 4/11 Catalyst projects became OCV companies, or their authors became OCV CTOs, in 2025. Participants in Catalyst will collaborate with OCV and their batch to establish and work towards clear, measurable objectives, focusing on metrics such as contributor growth, community expansion, and increased adoption. OCV provides $10,000 to support the growth of Catalyst projects, and it is not expected that authors work on their project full-time during Catalyst (most participants hold full-time positions while in Catalyst). OCV is committed to advancing the growth of open source through providing the sponsorship resources and aims to amplify the impact of open-source projects and position them for long term success. Eight project authors will be accepted Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and are due by June 28, although may close sooner if all eight spots are filled. Catalyst v2 kicks off on July 14, 2026. ## About Open Core Ventures ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Open Core Ventures (OCV) is a venture capital firm that starts commercial open source software companies by recruiting founders around promising open source projects and providing initial funding and operational support. - **Entity Type**: Private (Venture Capital Firm) - **Headquarters**: Remote (HQ in the United States) - **Founded**: 2020 - **Founders**: Sid Sijbrandij (Co-Founder and Executive Chair of GitLab) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Venture Capital, Open Source Software, Startup Incubation - **Target customers**: Open source project maintainers and contributors (B2B, Founder-focused) - **Mission or purpose statement**: "To enable more people to become founders" and to make it so "the majority of venture-funded software companies are open core companies." [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/) ## Products & Services - **Company Incubation Program**: OCV identifies open source projects with traction, recruits a founding CTO and CEO, incorporates and funds the company with $2M, and provides operational and strategic support until the company raises an external seed round. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/about) - **Catalyst Program**: A program for associates to run the incubation and growth of open source startups. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/about) - **Public Handbook**: An ever-growing handbook of practical advice created specifically for open core companies by experienced open core founders. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/) ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (Private firm) - **Key Metric**: OCV companies have raised over $40M in Seed+ investment following OCV’s initial funding. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Sid Sijbrandij (GitLab CEO), Rich Aberman (WePay founder, former YC Visiting Partner), Chris Hubbell (former Fund Strategy Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, former General Partner at ICONIQ Capital) [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/about) - **Growth Signals**: The firm is actively hiring for multiple roles including CTO, Full Stack Engineer, Investor, and Talent Lead, indicating a scaling phase. [boards.greenhouse.io](https://boards.greenhouse.io/opencoreventures) ## Competitive Advantages - **Unique Model**: OCV does not invest in existing companies. Instead, it starts companies from scratch around open source projects, recruiting founders rather than waiting for pitches. This is a "new approach to venture" that turns the traditional model on its head. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/) - **Founder Expertise**: Founded by GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij, a champion of the open source community and a pioneer in scaling remote organizations. The team includes veterans from WePay, Andreessen Horowitz, and Y Combinator. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/about) - **Proven Playbook**: OCV provides a blueprint and operational support, with 50% of OCV companies closing follow-on funding within 12 months. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/about) ## Strategic Focus - **Current priorities**: Identifying open source projects with "massive potential" and recruiting technical founders to launch new OCV companies. The firm is focused on scaling its incubation model and expanding its team across engineering, investing, and talent functions. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/) - **Direction for growth**: To make open core the standard business model for venture-funded software companies, creating more open software and enabling more contributors. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/) ## Why Work Here - **Culture highlights**: OCV's five core values are Boldness, Transparency, Resourcefulness, Inclusion, and Documentation. The firm operates with a public handbook and a culture of open communication, turning the traditional venture model on its head. [handbook.opencoreventures.com](https://handbook.opencoreventures.com/ocv-employees/culture/values) - **Remote/hybrid/office policy**: Fully remote. The headquarters is listed as "REMOTE" and jobs are open to candidates in CA, CO, NY, TX, FL, GA, MA, NJ, PA (with a strong preference for SF Bay Area for some roles). [boards.greenhouse.io](https://boards.greenhouse.io/opencoreventures) - **Notable perks or engineering culture**: The firm is small (10 employees) and highly specialized, offering the chance to work alongside top-tier investors and operators from GitLab, Andreessen Horowitz, and Y Combinator. The work directly impacts the open source ecosystem by lowering the barrier to entrepreneurship. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/open-core-ventures) ## Sources 1. [opencoreventures.com](https://www.opencoreventures.com/) 2. [opencoreventures.com/about](https://www.opencoreventures.com/about) 3. [boards.greenhouse.io](https://boards.greenhouse.io/opencoreventures) 4. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/open-core-ventures) 5. [handbook.opencoreventures.com](https://handbook.opencoreventures.com/ocv-employees/culture/values) ## Other roles at Open Core Ventures - [Investor - Open Core Ventures](https://feeny.ai/job/investor-open-core-ventures-open-core-ventures-san-francisco-bay-area-0jm6dcgagjjw) — San Francisco Bay Area - [Full Stack Software Engineer - Open Core Ventures](https://feeny.ai/job/full-stack-software-engineer-open-core-ventures-open-core-ventures-located-in-wwekxcpcj6n1) — Located in CA CO NY TX FL GA MA NJ, PA - [Open Source Software Author/CTO](https://feeny.ai/job/open-source-software-author-cto-open-core-ventures-remote-s0c98rmqnww3)