Olive Tree Capital

Olive Tree Capital Research Investment Thesis Olive Tree Capital is a Boston-based venture capital firm founded in 2013 that operates as an evergreen investment vehicle — a unique structure combining the functions of venture capital, family office, growth investor, and secondary buyer under one platform. The firm invests in groundbreaking technology and life sciences companies guided by what it describes as the Golden Rule philosophy: backing entrepreneurs who share their passion, commitment, and vision for a better future. A defining characteristic of Olive Tree Capital is its flexibility. Unlike traditional venture funds constrained by fund lifecycle, asset class limitations, or fixed holding period requirements, OTC invests from an evergreen pool of capital without structure, size, or time horizon constraints. This allows the firm to participate across a wide range of deal types — from early-stage seed investments to growth-stage secondary transactions — with genuine long-term alignment with founders. Sector Focus Olive Tree Capital is broadly technology and life sciences focused, with investments across five primary verticals: Enterprise Software & Applications: The largest single investment category (19 investments), including enterprise SaaS, workflow tools, developer platforms, and vertical software. Notable names include Intercom, Middleware, Stack Auth, Govdash, Synnax, and Whalesync. Financial Technologies: The second-largest category (13 investments), spanning payments, lending, neobanks, and financial infrastructure. Notable names include Ramp, Xendit, Lean (MENA open banking), Thndr, LemFi, and Karbon Card. Healthcare & Life Sciences: A dual-track focus on digital health and pure biotech/life sciences. Digital health portfolio includes Serif Health, Asha Health, Fuze Health, and Raksha Health. Biotech/life sciences portfolio includes Affini-T, Excision BioTherapeutics, Birch Biosciences, Dren Bio, Kaleido Biosciences, and Output Biosciences — most of which are pre-revenue, research-stage companies. Frontier Technology: Investments in aerospace, advanced materials, and deep tech including Boom Supersonic, Spaceium, Perseus Defense, Phoenix Tailings (rare earth metals from mining waste), Maverick Metals (green metals recovery), Array Labs (Earth observation), and Regent (electric seagliders). Blockchain & Web3: A notable allocation to decentralized protocols and crypto infrastructure including Avalanche (AVAX), Axelar (cross-chain communication), Dapper Labs (NFT infrastructure), Dfinity (Internet Computer), Blocto, Alethea AI, and CypherD. Stage Focus Olive Tree Capital primarily invests at the Seed stage, which represents 27 of its tracked investments, followed by Series A (8 investments), Series B (3), and Series C (2). The firm has also participated in later-stage secondaries and growth rounds — reflecting its evergreen, asset-class-agnostic mandate. Average round sizes in their Tracxn portfolio: Seed ($3.99M average), Series A ($19.9M average), Series B ($28.1M average), Series C ($52.5M average). Check Size Olive Tree Capital does not publicly disclose individual check sizes. Based on round data, the firm participates as a minority investor in most rounds, writing checks estimated in the range of $250K–$2M at Seed and $1M–$5M at Series A. In some cases (e.g., Maverick Metals $19M seed), OTC has led rounds, suggesting lead capability with larger check sizes when conviction is high. Geographic Focus Primarily the United States (25 tracked investments), with a notable international portfolio spanning India (6 investments), Nigeria (4), UAE (2), and Brazil (1). The international portfolio reflects the team's global network — Managing Partner Yamen Al-Hajjar previously worked at Google's Gulf States office and co-founded Tarjim.ly (YC-backed), giving the firm strong MENA reach. Recent Activity Olive Tree Capital has averaged approximately 4 new investments per year since inception. Activity has moderated recently — 1 investment as of February 2026, and 5 in 2025. Most recent tracked investments: Phoenix Tailings (Feb 2026, Series B): Rare earth metals from mining waste. OTC participated in a $40.2M oversubscribed round alongside Eni Next, Geodesic Alliance Fund, Traxys, Aether VC, and MPower Partners. Maverick Metals (Apr 2025, Seed): $19M seed led by OTC for commercializing LithX green metals recovery technology. Co-investors: Y Combinator, Hanwha Group, Liquid 2 Ventures, Nomadic Venture Partners, Soma Capital. Pulse (Feb 2025, Seed): Enterprise category. Spaceium (Jan 2025, Seed): $6.3M seed for satellite propulsion company. Co-investors: Initialized Capital, Zeno Partners. Arva (Jan 2025, Seed): FinTech category. Portfolio Highlights Unicorns (7 total): Axelar, Xendit, Dapper Labs, Boom Supersonic, Indigo, and two others. IPOs: Uber (NYSE: UBER), Quanergy Systems. Acquisitions: Postmates (acquired by Uber), Alto Pharmacy (acquired), Magna, and others. Soonicorns: Lark Health, Twelve (carbon-neutral jet fuel), Ramp (private at $7.65B+ valuation), and others. Total tracked portfolio: 73 companies. Team Nichola (Nick) Eliovits, Managing Partner & CEO: Co-founded Olive Tree Capital in 2013. Background in finance and accounting from Boston University's Questrom School of Business. Began career in commodity markets at CPM Group (Wall Street). Led previous startup through acquisition. Also co-founder and Chief Business Officer at DermBiont (OTC portfolio company developing live biotherapeutics). Investment focus spans technology and biotechnology. Yamen Al-Hajjar, Managing Partner: Joined OTC in 2017. Prior role at Google as first Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager for the Gulf States. Co-founder and board member of Tarjim.ly (YC W17), an AI-powered language services platform. Brings deep MENA network and emerging markets deal flow. Joseph Lissak, Partner: Based in Boston. Investment focus areas not publicly disclosed. Mickael Chane-Du, Partner & Portfolio Manager (Life Sciences): Joined OTC in 2024. Leads private and public biotechnology investments. Also serves as Chief Strategy Officer at Adagene (NASDAQ-listed antibody biotech). Brings extensive buy-side and sell-side experience in US and European biopharma. Ashan Walpita, VP Finance & Operations: Manages firm operations since 2019. Isaac Btesh, Associate: Venture Fellow since June 2023. Background at Babson College (led crypto club). Focuses on DeFi and early-stage deal support. Investment Process Olive Tree Capital operates with a small but senior team of 6, suggesting a streamlined decision-making process. With two Managing Partners and multiple partners, investment decisions likely involve a small partnership/committee. The firm does not publish warm intro requirements but given its founder-first philosophy and small team, introductions through trusted co-investors (Soma Capital, Y Combinator) appear to be the primary deal sourcing channel. Co-Investment Network Over 373 investors have co-invested alongside Olive Tree Capital. Most frequent co-investor: Soma Capital (8 shared portfolio companies). Other notable co-investors: Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, Hanwha Group, Liquid 2 Ventures. Geographic Focus Primary focus is the United States with a strong secondary focus on MENA (Middle East & North Africa), India, and Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Kenya). The international portfolio is a differentiating feature.