Ken Pearlman

Ken Pearlman is a CFA charterholder with roughly 30 years of experience in research and investing across the materials, chemicals, electronics, and technology industries. He built his early reputation on Wall Street as a sell-side semiconductor analyst, serving as Executive Director of Semiconductor Research at CIBC World Markets, where he was named one of *The Wall Street Journal*'s "All-Star Analysts" in both 1999 and 2000 — a top-of-industry distinction for stock-picking and earnings-estimate accuracy.

He subsequently moved from public-markets research into private investing, managing private equity investment activity for Firsthand Capital (the San Jose–based technology-focused investment manager). There he concentrated on early-stage deals in semiconductors and clean technology, which became the thematic foundation for the fund he would later co-found.

In 2008 Pearlman co-founded Oceanshore Ventures alongside fellow Managing Director Eva Bjorseth (also listed in some sources as Eva Solheim). The firm was structured as a small early-stage vehicle providing "early stage operating capital" to technology companies, with a particular thesis around cleantech and energy hardware startups that needed access to international manufacturing, supplier, and technology networks. Public records show the firm's investment activity concentrated in the 2008–2012 window, and it appears to have been largely dormant since (the last recorded transaction dates to early 2012), so Pearlman's Oceanshore role today is best treated as legacy rather than an active, deploying fund.

• Stage: Early stage — the firm describes providing "early stage operating capital," spanning seed through Series A rounds in U.S.-based startups.
• Sectors: Concentrated in cleantech and energy hardware — solar photovoltaics, energy storage/batteries, alternative energy, plus semiconductors, electronics, and advanced materials, reflecting Pearlman's semiconductor and cleantech research background.
• What makes them say yes: A stated emphasis on companies that need "access to international networks of suppliers and technologists" — i.e., capital-intensive hardware ventures where global manufacturing and supply-chain relationships matter as much as the technology.
• Style: Small, concentrated portfolio (roughly five companies) that frequently co-invested alongside other venture funds rather than leading large rounds alone.