Meet the Cohort 2018/19
Operon (formerly Coli)
Multiplatform lab work management application
Operon aims to improve the efficiency of science with software. Science is held back by the way scientists manage their lab work. Operon is a multiplatform ELN application to easily set up, execute and record experiments from the desktop to the bench-top. Unlike competitors, it is both easy-to-use and ready for bench-top integration.
Reza Rohani
(Team Lead)
PhD Bioengineering
Serbald Verkuijl
(Product)
PhD Interdisciplinary Biosciences
Stefan Leape (Business)
MSc Biochemistry undergraduate
AllGood
Elderly care app that helps you checks on loved ones
AllGood was founded on the belief that families shouldn't have to worry about their elderly loved ones living alone. All current solutions entail functional, emotional, and economic compromises. As 40% of seniors have a smartphone, AllGood decided to solve this problem with a simple mobile application. It provides an alternative to obsolete panic buttons (of which half are never worn).
Maggie Chen
MPhil Languages undergraduate
Carlo Quadrio Curzio
BA Human Sciences
Benjamin Griffiths
DPhil Quantum Physics
Daniel Ma
BSc Computer Science
Neurolytics (formerly Rebndl)
Intelligent digital news subscription
Rebndl is on the verge of transforming the news publishing industry. Currently, 67% of people read the news online for free, and are increasingly looking to access a highly curated selection of news stories on their smartphones. Through its digital news subscription platform, Rebndl integrates the emerging trends in news consumption behaviour with the changing business demands of newspapers to shape the future of news publishing.
After having been equipped with the skills needed to found a start-up in the OX1 Incubator, the original Rebndl team moved on to a new idea: Neurolytic Healthcare Ltd. They have already received funding from two sources and have a headcount of 10 dedicated team members including a prominent advisory board.
Neurolytic Healthcare Ltd. delivers AI-driven real-time event prediction and pharmacogenomic testing for neurological disorders to improve patient quality of life and help clinicians optimise prescription decisions. It draws on recent advances and successes in personalised medicine and pharmacogenomics, supported by NHS England's aim to embed personalised healthcare across the NHS. Given the current suboptimal management of neurological disorders and lack of specialised healthcare staff in the UK, there remains a significant unmet need for digital healthcare providers who can deliver effective neurological event prediction prediction tools and a systematic optimisation of pharmacological treatment. By covering and personalising the complete treatment pathway, Neurolytic Healthcare ensures improved quality of life and optimised clinical decision-making, whilst reducing the significant costs to the economy and healthcare system.
Roman Rothärmel
DPhil Neuroscience
Tom Kent
DPhil Medical Science
Artale
Art marketplace platform developing limited editions of art derivatives
The Chinese Authorised Art Derivatives market has an estimated size of 10 billion USD. Yet, it still has untapped opportunities. Artale addresses four primary issues faced by artists (lack of knowledge of how to monetise their art beyond galleries; lack of motivation to seek potential buyers; no market for the transactions of mid-tier artists’ works; and limited digital means to display and sell their art) and two issues faced by customers (middle income families do not have sufficient income to purchase high end artworks; and many potential customers are unaware of the range of offerings of the art market).
Lucy Li
BA Economics and Management undergraduate
Lena Ma
MBA
Helen Chan
British and European studies
Intrepidus
App using CBT to overcome the fear of needles
The current solutions to a fear of needs (talking therapies, distraction and relaxation) are either ineffective or expensive and inconvenient. Intrepidus provides convenient, low-cost, therapy-quality care to help people overcome their fear of needles. It does so via an app powered by AI and CBT which identifies and challenges patients’ fears and unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.
Zaki Krag Nielsen
DPhil Medical Sciences
Vlad Moldoveanu
MSc Mathematics and Computer Science
Ceres
Fresh pasta making robot
Ceres tackles the ‘hungry person’s trilemma’: when choosing between convenient, affordable and healthy food, you can generally have at most two of the three. This trilemma is most noteworthy during the lunchtime rush, which presents a lucrative opportunity: the lunchtime market in the UK is £5 billion per annum and growing.
Ceres is creating a high-end pasta making robot that can deliver a fresh pasta meal from order to service in less than 3 minutes.
How to Launch a Startup in Oxford
For Everyone
Information and Newsletters
Courses
Conferences
Hands-On Experience
Groups and Networks
College Specific
Mentorship and Support
Competitions and Awards
Incubators and Accelerators 👈🏻 check out OX1 here!
Funding and Investment
Co-working and shared workspace
Oxford Startup Ecosystem Map
Get a Startup Visa
Research-related (spinouts)
Science & Health
Humanities & Social Sciences
Social Impact & Enterprise
For Everyone
Information & Newsletters
Enterprising Oxford exists to connect the Oxford student community to entrepreneurship opportunities.
The Skoll Centre is a section of the Saïd Business School that supports social enterprise. They also run their own Podcast, Reimagine.
The Oxford Foundry helps entrepreneurs upskill and also has its own accelerator. They seek to democratise entrepreneurship.
The Careers Service connects University members to jobs, internships, workshops, and resources.
TechTribe Oxford is an outlet focused on reporting on tech innovations in the city.
The Oxford Foundry's collection of online learning resources and first steps.
Courses
Run by the Saïd Business School, there are free slides and lecture recordings available for those in the early stages of building a business.
A programme run through the Careers Service teaching the basics of business.
A resource for Enterprising Oxford demystifying IP.
An informal conversation series focused on science and business.
An entrepreneurship project for current MBA and EMBA students, working in small groups on new products or business models.
A course for those in translation or innovation roles in technology and research organisations.
An intensive program by the Oxford Foundry designed to support both female entrepreneurs and women aspiring to leadership roles.
Conferences
A gathering of investors, innovators, and changemakers.
A one day conference featuring keynote sessions, panel discussions, pitching competitions, and an exhibition space.
Hands-On Experience
Connecting students with internship opportunities at start-ups.
A Careers Service program providing early-career researchers with employability skills for business, policy, and analytical roles.
Provides training for those interested in supporting local organisations with impact measurement.
A Careers Service program equipping students with consultancy skills.
Training trustees for the charity sector, and providing them with the skills to lead local charities in tackling social and environmental issues.
A Careers Service program providing students with the opportunity to work in small teams to provide consultancy on client projects.
A programme designed to leverage Oxford based social startups into tackling global challenges.
Groups and Networks
The largest entrepreneurship society in Europe, bringing together students, researchers, and alumni.
Bringing networking and training to scientists interested in translating science into real-world solutions.
Providing events and opportunities for entrepreneurs interested in technology.
A University of Oxford initiative focused on increasing the representation of women in entrepreneurship.
A community of mentors, partners, and investors, with access to $300K of resource benefits.
College specific
A start-up network based in Hertford College.
A network providing access to workshops and training opportunities.
Mentorship and Support
Support opportunities for those working on social enterprise projects and purposeful businesses.
Visa endorsement opportunities for members of the University of Oxford working on start-ups.
Support for members of the business school community pursuing entrepreneurship.
Competitions and Awards
A pitching and ideas competition across colleges with the opportunity to win a top prize of £10,000.
A Demo Day hosted by Enterprising Oxford, featuring sector-specific sessions, panel discussions, and pitch displays.
An opportunity to submit ideas for projects that will enhance the student or staff Oxford experience through digital means.
Incubators and Accelerators
We take in Oxford students to our cohort. We guide you to spot problems and form ideas. At the end of program, you build a prototype and test your ideas. You then pitch to a panel of investors on Demo Day. Winners get a total of £15,000+ equity-free grants to give you a kickstart.
Learn more about OX1 Incubator here. Find us on Facebook!
An Oxford University Innovation initiative focused on helping early-stage startups.
A 6-month program focused on leveling up and scaling ventures. You need to have your prototype (MVP) ready with some levels of traction
Funding and Investment
Investing up to £50,000 in Oxford-affiliated start-ups.
Co-working and shared workspace
A space bringing together entrepreneurs, providing resources and training.
A space focused on nurturing social enterprise and charity work in Oxford.
Research-related (spinouts)
If you are planning to commercialise your research, you should consult with Oxford University Innovation.
Science & Health
Training Course
MPLS Enterprise offers you ways to develop your enterprise skills by combining a progressive series of half day or 2-4 day workshops with a variety of seminars, networking events and activities supporting you to participate in national and international bootcamps and competitions
Incubator and Accelerators
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies.
The Hill is a health and care digital transformation catalyst, embedded in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
BioEscalator is a biotech incubator in the heart of Oxford's medical research district, providing lab space and entrepreneurial support for high growth startups.
Workspaces
Begbroke Science Park is the only science park in Oxfordshire wholly owned and managed by Oxford University. It encourages links between high-tech science-based spinouts, their more established counterparts and the University.
Oxford Science Park is home to more than 2,500 people in over 90 companies.
Non-Oxford affiliated:
Culham Science Centre combines world-class publicly funded research into fusion power; commercial technology organisations and Culham Innovation Centre, to create a powerhouse of high technology innovation and enterprise in South Oxfordshire.
Funding
Oxford Sciences Innovation plc (OSI) is the University’s preferred investment partner for spinout opportunities arising from the Medical Science and Maths, Physical and Life Sciences divisions of the University.
Translational funding is used to bridge a ‘gap’ in development between early stage university research and its commercialisation.
The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) is a £1.5 billion fund that supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. It is part of the UK’s official development assistance (ODA).
Oxford University Press transfers £5m to the John Fell OUP Research Fund each year. The fund aims to foster creativity and a proactive approach to research opportunities in all subject areas, and particularly interdisciplinary fields. It makes seedcorn and start-up grants, and provides staff and funds to stimulate applications to external agencies.
The Oxford Innovation Society (OIS) is a leading forum for open innovation, bringing together researchers and inventors, Oxford spinouts, technology transfer professionals, local companies, venture capital groups and some of the world’s most innovative multinationals.
The University Challenge Seed Fund scheme aims to assist university researchers to bring university research discoveries to a point where their commercial usefulness can be demonstrated, and the first steps taken to ensure their utility. The primary focus is the exploitation of research outcomes.
Established in 2014, the University of Oxford Innovation Fund (UOIF) invests across all areas of technology and intellectual property from Oxford including new Oxford-based software companies. Managed by Parkwalk Advisors, with Oxford University Innovation as the Portfolio Advisor, this fund offers a tax-efficient opportunity to private investors, and provides an additional source of investment for spin-out and start-up ventures.
Humanities and Social Sciences
Incubator and Accelerators
The ARC Accelerator (formerly called the SUCCESS Programme) is a first-of-its-kind opportunity specifically designed to help social science academics and researchers to develop ideas based on their research into businesses or ventures to help people, society and the economy.
Programmes & Courses
ASAP is a new flagship four-month social sciences student and alumni accelerator hosted by LSE to support and scale socially-responsible student and alumni ventures.
Competitions & Awards
The competition encourages researchers, students and staff from Humanities departments to develop entrepreneurial ideas which may enrich their own work, communicate to a wider audience and develop new perspectives in the Humanities.
Social Impact & Enterprise
Programmes, Courses and Conferences
Based at Saïd Business School, Skoll Centre's goal is to maximise the positive impact of social entrepreneurship across the world.
It provides a variety of co-curricular courses aimed at providing high potential, socially-minded graduate students across the University of Oxford
The Skoll Scholarship provides full funding plus a living stipend to complete a MBA at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School.
Its purpose is to accelerate and amplify the innovation necessary to transition to a circular economy by connecting, engaging and mobilising students, academics, and practitioners from across the UK (and beyond!)
Competitions & Awards
Map the System is a global competition that challenges you to think differently about social and environmental change.
Funding
eScalate is a three-year project, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which runs until 31st March 2022. eScalate will support Oxfordshire’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are scale-ups or have scale-up potential, and socially minded enterprises.
Awarding grants up to £7,500 to support collaborative and interdisciplinary social innovation research. Funds support research that aims to inform and to drive systems transformation for pressing social and environmental challenges, and to amplify the impact of research through public engagement.
Oxford Hub works with the University of Oxford's Research Services to offer Oxford University staff and students the Social Enterprise Awards, helping members of the University to test their ideas and start up social impact projects that benefit the Oxford Community.