Oxford Science Enterprises raises £250 Million

By Nicky Godding

19 July 2022

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Oxford University

Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the independent investment company created to found, fund and build businesses via its partnership with the University of Oxford, has raised a further £250 million in funding. This brings the total amount raised by OSE to more than £850 million since inception in 2015.

These funds significantly deepen OSE’s capital pool and enables the company to identify further exceptional science from the University of Oxford, providing initial funding, hands-on support and access to expert networks and start-up infrastructure, to create new spinouts across Life Sciences, Health Tech and Deep Tech.

In addition, OSE will continue to support its existing and maturing portfolio, deploying increasingly large amounts of capital in later-stage funding rounds. This ability to provide scale-up capital is crucial for OSE to enable its businesses to advance through key development milestones, maximising their chances of success and increasing potential returns and impact.

Alexis Dormandy, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Attracting such high quality new and existing global investors reflects their enthusiasm for the strength of Oxford’s science and our plans to drive positive impact from it.

“Our companies are making remarkable breakthroughs from cancer, heart failure and infectious diseases, to climate change, food security and quantum computing. Over the next few years, we expect these companies will continue to make important progress; with our ongoing efforts, and the support of our shareholders, we look forward to helping them deliver impact and returns.”

The fundraise involved a diverse group of international investors, with strong participation from existing and new blue-chip investors, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, pension funds and asset managers.

Since founding in 2015, OSE has invested in more than 80 companies built on Oxford science, committing £0.5 billion itself and attracting over £1 billion from blue-chip, global co-investors. To date OSE has helped progress 27 companies from seed to Series A and 21 to Series B and beyond, including 2 IPOs and 5 trade exits.

In addition to funding, OSE provides strategic business-building and operational support to its portfolio companies, including access to a global network of entrepreneurs and advisers, and has added over 55,000 sq ft of lab and start-up space.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.