Our Model

We partner the best scientists from the world’s best university with the best business brains. We grow our companies with care and expertise; in a way that is systematic and scalable. We invest for real-world impact, not only financial returns. And we re-invest proceeds back into the next generation of original research and world-changing businesses.

Our Enterprises

Our enterprises address problems that affect people in life-changing ways: their health; the availability of food; the survival of the planet. Since 2015, we have received an automatic stake in all Oxford University science spinouts; more than 100 businesses, founded by over 200 of Oxford’s leading academics – and we have taken a leading role in creating and building over 70 of these; adding +55,000 sq ft of lab & start-up space to support them.

Today our businesses are worth over £2bn and have created +2,000 jobs.

For example:

• Vaccitech, co-creators of the Oxford vaccine, helped enable the development of a safe and effective vaccine in months rather than years.
• Base Genomics created technology that could make late-stage cancer diagnosis a thing of the past, saving lives, and sparing unnecessary suffering.
• YASA is pioneering ways to travel without the need for fossil fuels.
• Caristo has found a means of predicting heart attacks nearly a decade in advance.
• PepGen is designing treatments for the most devastating genetic childhood diseases.
• First Light Fusion is making clean, virtually limitless energy a reality.

Our Unique Partnership with Oxford University

The University of Oxford is home to some of the world’s most innovative science thinkers, renowned for its world-leading research. We are Oxford’s preferred intellectual property partner: they own a stake in us, and we own a stake in all science spinouts.

Consequently, we have unrivalled and privileged access to Oxford’s academics, research, and IP, enabling us to identify cutting-edge ideas and advances in technology that have the potential to change the world. Together we have created a phenomenal science-business ecosystem.

Our Business-Building Expertise

We match Oxford science with exceptional business-building talent from around the world – seasoned C-suite executives, with scientific expertise, who want to make a difference.

Our approach to company creation is bespoke – guided by the scale of the unmet need, the complexity of the science, and its potential to solve the world’s toughest problems. We apply carefully curated models and playbooks to inspire, accelerate and optimise impact.

Our Investment Approach

Our investors believe in our science and our vision; world-changing businesses ultimately deliver world-class returns.

We are a company, not a fund – and this makes us unique. It means we are not restricted by typical arbitrary timelines; we focus on impact; we are flexible, and we make decisions based on the nature of the problem and the needs of the science.

It means we can allocate capital in ways that allow innovation to flourish, and we go way beyond just investing in individual businesses.

• We invest in original research and breakthrough scientific ideas early to solve the really tough problems no one else is willing or able to tackle.
• We invest from initial idea to IPO and beyond, and as required to maximize the impact of the science.
• We invest in the infrastructure needed to nurture our businesses. For example, aware of the huge lack of lab and start-up capacity (especially wet labs for life science businesses), we have added over 55,000 sq ft of dedicated space, and we rent that space fully fitted on very flexible terms, unavailable elsewhere. Also, through our Enterprise Labs Programme, we are establishing a unique community that will educate, inspire, and guide our newest businesses through the first phase of the building process.

Our vision is a world where the best scientists and brightest business minds combine to solve our biggest challenges at unprecedented speed.

We’re working to create that world, and we’re doing it in a way that we’ll be proud of in years to come: diverse, inclusive, and sustainable.

Oxford Science Enterprises. For all our tomorrows.