Bright Sparks lights fuse on Oxford’s startups
What happened when we paired Oxford University’s unique startups with Vodafone’s business leader talent?
The entrepreneur’s journey is a perilous one, especially when they are first starting out. Be it a newcomer to the scene or a seasoned veteran, entrepreneurship is a profession of dizzying heights and crushing lows. Startups and spinouts can be made on a chance encounter and succeed despite the odds, while the best laid plans can still crash and burn in unforeseen pitfalls.
One of the ways Oxford University stacks the deck for our companies is mentorship. By pairing our companies with an experienced pair of hands, we can help our newer firms spot obstacles and opportunities they may have missed and guide them in making the best of both.
In our spinouts, one of the models championed by Oxford Sciences Innovation has been pairing a youthful CEO with the drive and energy to get the wheels turning with a veteran chairman. Meanwhile, here at Oxford University Innovation (OUI), one of our pathfinder initiatives in mentorship has been the Bright Sparks programme, run in partnership with tech giant Vodafone.
Bright Sparks came about from a chat between OUI’s physical science head Brendan Ludden and Vodafone’s Group Head of Business Development and Innovation, Paresh Modi. Identifying an opportunity to partner Oxford’s startups with Vodafone’s most talented business leaders’ experience, curiosity and desire to give back to society, the pair jumped into action.
Kicking off in 2019, Bright Sparks paired 10 Vodafone mentors with 10 Oxford University startups passing through OUI’s incubator.
One example company is Greater Change, a social enterprise making secure, cashless donations to the homeless possible. Founder Alex McCallion first thought of the idea while volunteering at homeless charities around Oxford.
“I found there were barriers to helping the homeless,” explained Alex. “Having the necessary ID to get anywhere is a big problem, as is finding the initial funds to get off the streets, such as the first deposit on a flat. And then there’s the cash itself — we live in an increasingly cashless society, so people are finding it harder to donate, and they also want to know their donations are going to be used constructively.”
Greater Change partners with local homeless charities to identify people in need and how best to help them, works with them to build a profile detailing their backstory and how their donations will be spent, and then uploads them onto an app that allows people to donate electronically. These donations are then co-managed between the beneficiary and the charity to ensure they have impact.
“We’re still in the early stages but are already seeing our work help people off the streets,” said Alex. “We had a Christmas miracle last year where one of our guys, a young man called Mohammed, received all the money he needed to get off the street and into a flat on the 24th of December.”
When the call went out for Bright Sparks mentors in 2018, many signed up due to previous startup experience evoking an entrepreneurial nostalgia. They’d soon find a variety of complex issues to work with their startups on. For example, the very nature of Greater Change means it’ll never be a unicorn and faces some unique challenges in terms of its business model.
“It definitely made me appreciate the resources Vodafone has,” said Elizabeth Rumsey, Digital Services Offer Manager at Vodafone Business. “It’s also inspired me to think more about taking the learning from Bright Sparks back into Vodafone where we are creating our own ecosystems including startups to deliver end to end digital services.”
Mentors spoke of a variety of lessons learned from the experience. Some took inspiration from the openness of ideas and flexibility in startups, describing how it gave them new perspectives on business and fostered adaptability in their own work. Others said they’d become more appreciative of risk and the programme helped them develop their critical eye when confronted with new ideas.
“The main thing for me was being there for the highs and lows,” added Elizabeth. “My startup had a compelling sales pitch that helped them to secure significant investment early in our mentoring relationship. However, despite the importance the CEO placed upon recruiting a partner with shared vision and values, I witnessed how bringing in new investors who want to take an active role in operations can slow progress. The journey from idea to product launch can require more time than many founders can afford, and the CEO of my startup reminded me that developing the Dyson bagless vacuum cleaner into a commercial product took James Dyson 10 years from the initial prototype and almost bankrupted him.”
Not all the startups Bright Sparks supported will make it — over half of all startups fold within the first five years. But thanks to Bright Sparks, Greater Change is showing signs of being one in it for the long haul.
“Our mentor provided some much-needed guidance on our website and app optimisation, which has brought Greater Change to life,” said Alex. “We’ve also raised £400,000 over the past year, £200,000 in grant funding and £200,000 from a corporate, which was enabled by our mentor.”
The funding sets up the next step of the company’s evolution. Greater Change are currently running trials in London and are looking to expand into other cities (including Oxford) over the coming months to help homeless people across the country.
“The Bright Sparks programme is very aligned with our purpose and our commitment to improve one billion lives by supporting startups to enhance the future and improve people’s lives,” said Claudine McMahon, Global Head of Culture and Inclusion at Vodafone.
“OUI shares Vodafone’s passion to change lives for the better through innovation,” said Cath Spence, OUI’s incubator head. “And, while we can’t ensure a 100% success rate, programmes like Bright Sparks help our innovators navigate the minefield of entrepreneurship. Through mentorship, our innovators can overcome the daunting prospect of making their ideas into reality and help them achieve their dreams of having a positive impact.”
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Written by Gregg Bayes-Brown, Communications Manager at OUI. For more from Gregg, follow him at @GreggBayesBrown. For more from OUI, follow us on Twitter at @OxUInnovation.
