Oxford Sciences Enterprises
TypeVenture Capital
IndustryVenture Capital
PredecessorIP Group
Headquarters
Oxford
,
UK
Key people
Charles R. Conn David Norwood
Websiteoxfordscienceenterprises.com

Oxford Sciences Enterprises is an early-stage venture capital firm with over $800M in AUM based in Oxford, UK.[1] It operates in partnership with the University of Oxford, as the university's preferred investor, several prominent financiers back the firm, including Google Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Tencent, Huawei and Invesco.[2][3] The firm uses academic research from the university's science departments to form commercial businesses, also known as spin-outs.[4][5][6]

Founding & Management

The company was founded in 2015 by David Norwood, who was previously the founder of the IP Group, which initially invested only in spinoffs from the university's chemistry department.[7] Oxford Sciences Enterprises initially raised £600m from investors, which included Lansdowne Partners and Google Ventures.[8][9][10][11] Google Ventures partners Tom Hulme and Dr Krishna Yeshwant also joined OSI's advisory board, along with Google AI researcher Demis Hassabis, founder of DeepMind.[8][12]

Charles Conn, previously CEO of the Rhodes Trust and former McKinsey partner, was appointed CEO in March 2019. Former Google CFO Patrick Pichette joined him as Chair of the board.[7] However, Conn departed in November 2019 and Pichette shortly after. OSI's CFO became acting CEO until the appointment of Alexis Dormandy, another former McKinsey partner, in October 2020[13]

Structure

OSE is structured differently from other venture capital firms, being an evergreen patient capital, privately held company and not bound by an LPA .[14][15][16] As such, the company holds long-term investments, pursuing a patient capital model. OSI differentiates itself from classic venture firms because of its relationship with the university.[17] Unlike most university-linked venture firms, Oxford University is a shareholder in the company, with OSI receiving half of the university's stake in the intellectual property of a spinout.[18]

OSE works with the university's technology transfer office, Oxford University Innovation, which helps manage the intellectual property and patent estate of the university.[19]

In July 2019, The company announced an investment from Chinese telecommunications company Huawei owns £4.1m in OSI shares (approximately 0.7% of the total fund).[20]

References

  1. ↑ "$474M Fund Will Support Oxford University Spinouts". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "Backing from Google Ventures drives Oxford Uni spinout fund past £300M target". FierceBiotech. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. ↑ Walker, Owen (19 January 2020). "Oxford Sciences Innovation parts ways with chief executive". Financial Times.
  4. ↑ "The Valley of Death: the students vying to be millionaires". The Telegraph. 18 March 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "UK universities getting better at commercialising research". www.newelectronics.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "City tycoon Spencer backs £70m blood-testing start-up Osler". Sky News. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Oxford Sciences Innovation Plc appoints new CEO and Chairman; prepares for next phase of growth | University of Oxford". www.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  8. 1 2 Burn-Callander, Rebecca (19 June 2015). "Google and Charles Dunstone back Oxford University spin-out fund". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  9. ↑ "Metaboards secures $5 million in funding led by Oxford Sciences Enterprises". Business Matters. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  10. ↑ McKee, Selina (3 September 2018). "Evox raises £35m for exosome therapeutics". PharmaTimes. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  11. ↑ Ward, Andrew (10 May 2016). "Oxford biotech deals highlight stature of UK university spinouts". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  12. ↑ Price, Rob. "Google's European venture capital fund just made its second investment". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  13. ↑ "Oxford Sciences Innovation Plc appoints Alexis Dormandy As CEO".
  14. ↑ "The missing ingredient in innovation: patience". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  15. ↑ Ahmed, Murad (1 November 2015). "Patient capital overtakes VC for UK tech groups". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  16. ↑ Ahmed, Murad (November 2015). "Patient capital overtakes VC for UK tech groups". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  17. ↑ "Big deal: OSI grows to $730m - Global University Venturing". globaluniversityventuring.com. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  18. ↑ UK, Shona Ghosh, Business Insider. "An Oxford University artificial intelligence startup has raised £17 million to check code for errors". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 September 2019. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ March 2019, Clare Sansom20. "Nurturing the next biotech generation". Chemistry World. Retrieved 13 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ Fildes, Nic (October 2019). "Huawei buys access to UK innovation with Oxford stake". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
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