OX1 is the only entity in European universities that rewards £15,000+ equity-free grant annually to idea-stage startups 

OX1 understands and caters for the needs of student entrepreneurs far better than current university or college-led support systems. We have created an incubator programme which is effectively structured to support the early stages of founding a start-up.

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We do not take equity or IP, and provide end-to-end support throughout the process of start-up foundation. In addition to the incubator programme, we run social events and have established a strong alumni network of student entrepreneurs and mentors.

How It Works

Stage 1: Team Formation

We invite students to apply to the OX1 Incubator programme if they have an idea for a start-up or key skills (whether technical or ‘soft skills’).

We then select the best out of Oxford. We guide them to build formidable teams based on complementary skill sets.

Stage 3 : Demo Day

The start-ups pitch their ideas to a panel of investors, CEOs and members of the Oxford entrepreneurship community. The ideas are scored on their novelty, market and scalability, profitability and feasibility by our judges. The best start-ups receive financial investment from OX1 Incubator in the form of grants.

Stage 2:

Mentorship and Workshops

We hold a 12-week programme to develop students’ start-ups from an ideas-stage to investment-ready. Product experts and investors run workshops on 3 core areas: ‘idea validation’, ‘build’ and ‘growth’. Mentors are allocated based on students’ ‘problem statement’ and target market.

Our Partners