Oxford spin outs are UK leaders

Oxford University has been ranked first in the UK for turning academic research into spinout companies.

Oxford ranked top in terms of volume of spin outs with 193 and was also the site for most active cluster.
Currently there are 90 spin outs working in the Oxford Council area.

Those Oxford spin outs have gathered £1billion in external funding in 2020/21.

The report, Spotlight on Spinouts, from data analyst firm Beauhurst and sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering, identified 193 Oxford University spinouts from 2011. This was ahead of Cambridge University in second place with 137, with Imperial College London and University College London ranked third and fourth, with 106 and 88 spinouts respectively.

Through the University’s commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation (OUI) 31 new companies were created during the 2020/21 academic year.

OUI’s own analysis indicates that Oxford’s output is one of the highest in the world over the period, second only to ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Investment levels are also at their highest on record, with Oxford companies securing over £1bn in external investment over 2020/21.

The report also shares insights into spinouts across the UK, including university equity stakes. It demonstrates that Oxford University has taken a mean average of 24.3% in equity across its spinouts since 2011. The University’s fact-based approach to equity, which applied until 2021, agreed equity holdings in line with a general trend across all UK universities. In 2021, across all UK universities, the average stake was 20.6% and is in line with the University’s new equity position of 20%.

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