Funding innovation in Oxford
Oxford University Innovation’s early-stage fund returns for its fourth iteration. Meet the companies it has helped launch so far.
Written by Gregg Bayes-Brown
Since its launch three years ago, the University of Oxford Innovation Fund (UOIF) has established itself as a critical catalyst for stimulating growth in companies coming out of the University.
UOIF utilises the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) established by the UK Government in 2012. Backed by alumni, friends and supporters of the Oxford University ecosystem, the UOIF takes advantage of the generous tax breaks offered in the EIS/SEIS programmes, and leverages investment into the University’s rapidly growing portfolio of high tech spinout and startup companies. In this year’s budget, the UK Government doubled down on its support of EIS funding, increasing the maximum tax break a single investor can receive from £300,000 to £600,000, so long as the EIS fund targets knowledge-intensive companies.
To date, UOIF has invested £4.3m into 18 companies over the lifetime of its three funds. In total, UOIF’s portfolio companies have raised £30.3m in external funding, leveraging UOIF’s contribution by a factor of seven.
The fourth iteration of the fund, managed by veteran university investor Parkwalk Advisors, is now open to investors. To demonstrate the sort of companies UOIF IV will be investing in, here’s four companies from the fund’s previous three iterations:
Bodle
Over 90% of a phone’s energy is used powering a screen. While many companies are looking to compensate for this by increasing battery power, Oxford University spinout Bodle is instead focusing its efforts on the screen.
Bodle has developed display technology that significantly reduces the amount of power needed used in a smartphone by utilising electrical pulses for the screen that need next to no power. The technology can also be used in smartwatches, currently hampered by the need for nightly charging, and smart windows, which can be used to keep buildings cool without air conditioning.
Covatic
Mobile technology combined with the rise in streaming services are changing the way we interact with television and other media. Increasingly, more people are engaging with content on the move.
Covatic is aiming to take this relationship to the next level. Its core product can create a personalised television channel for the user that is based around their routine. For example, a user takes two tubes to work, one lasting ten minutes and the next fifteen, with a few minutes’ walk either side and between. Covatic will pull content from their favourite shows and other TV they might enjoy, download and break it up overnight, and wrap it around their journey to work the next day.
The company has already agreed contracts with a number of major broadcast companies, and will plans to begin rolling out its platform over the coming months.
Zegami
With the rise of smartphones, more pictures are being captured than ever before. One estimate puts 2016’s haul of photos at 1.1 trillion, and the number of digital pictures stored is predicted to hit 4.7 trillion by the end of the year. As our digital photo libraries grow, there’s a strong need for a dynamic way of managing them, from the general public and amateur photographers all the way to scientific photo libraries and image databases.
Enter Zegami, an Oxford spinout from 2016. The company has developed a platform that offers smart photo management. The platform can pull and sort pictures according to any parameters you set from your collection. For example, a nature photographer can pull all the insects from Normandy they took while on a wildlife hunt through France, or a curator can pull all the red paintings from their gallery’s collection, or HR can identify all male employees at a company born in Wales between 1960 and 1980.
At present, the company is developing its business to business offering, but plans to incorporate business to consumer in the coming months.
Brainomix
One of the early successes of the OUI Incubator, Brainomix was launched in 2012 to assist in faster treatment for stroke victims. Its medical imaging software e-ASPECTS analyses CT scans to understand how badly a brain has been damaged by a stroke, and makes the scans accessible to a wider range of medical professionals.
The software, which can provide a diagnosis much faster than conventional scans, was recently selected for the Angels Initiative (AI), a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelhelm to improve the quality of stroke care, to be rolled out alongside AI’s planned 1,500 specialist stroke centres across Europe. The centres will be operating in 11 countries by May 2019.
For those wishing to understand more about UOIF or to discuss joining the fund, please contact Parkwalk Advisors at UOIF@parkwalkadvisors.com.
This financial promotion has been approved by Parkwalk Advisors. Investing in unquoted early stage companies carries a high degree of risk and investors may not receive back any of the money invested. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances and may be subject to change. Parkwalk Advisors is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
—
Gregg Bayes-Brown is the Marketing and Communications Manager for Oxford University Innovation. You can follow him on Twitter at @GreggBayesBrown, and you can follow OUI for more blog posts and innovation news at @OxUInnovation.
A version of this article has also appeared in Spinouts UK.
