Oxford Capital celebrates 25 years of backing brilliant technology startups
Oxford Capital, one of Oxford’s most successful investment firms, is celebrating 25 years in
business. Starting out in a garage in Cumnor Hill, the venture capital company made its first
investments in 1999, just as the internet was taking off. It has been based in Oxford for all of its
25 years.
Oxford Capital has invested more than £500m across more than 100 technology companies.
These include Oxford-based startups such as Latent Logic (machine learning company sold to
Alphabet-owned Waymo in 2019), Oxford Biotherapeutics (clinical stage oncology company)
and Oxitec (biotech company), as well as companies based across the UK such as Moneybox
(valued last month at £550m), Hometree and Spoke.
Oxford Capital has backed dozens of entrepreneurs and their companies in the Oxford area,
including spinouts from Oxford University and firms located in the science parks at Oxford,
Harwell, Milton and Begbroke, as well as supporting companies founded by Oxford graduates.
Oxford Capital specialises in helping individual investors back startup companies via the
Enterprise Investment Scheme. It manages investments in high-growth companies in sectors
such as fintech, digital health, cyber security, business software, advanced computing,
e-commerce and more.
Last month Oxford Capital was named Investor of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur
Investor Awards. Oxford Capital is led by David Mott, founder partner, whose family have
long-standing connections to Oxford, and Lucia Gunn, director of finance and operations, who is
an Oxford University graduate.
David Mott said: “We love backing the founders of new companies, which makes Oxford the
perfect place to be. Becoming an entrepreneur is now a career choice for graduates as the cost
of starting a business has plummeted over the years – and we see that massively in Oxford.
Our city now has a buzzing start-up scene with lots of cutting-edge new companies spinning out
of the university’s science departments and emerging in the science and business parks in the
area. We look forward to the next 25 years of backing founders.
“The success of a venture capital firm like ours is down to the trust placed in it from investor
clients and the success of the founders that we back. It has been an enormous privilege to work
with so many wonderful people in Oxford and beyond over the past 25 years.”
Press release
Lucia Gunn said: “Oxford is booming – there are exciting new buildings popping up everywhere,
often backed by generous philanthropists from around the world who love Oxford. There are
new labs and thriving networks of entrepreneurs and investors. There are brilliant new
companies being created – tiny to begin with, but full of ambition, and many of them will grow
with the help of Oxford’s unique ecosystem.”
Having hit the 25-year milestone and met thousands of entrepreneurs, David Mott offers this
advice to people starting a business:
1. Two founders are better than one or three
2. Focus on execution – keep things simple and do things properly
3. You are the sales person – always be closing
4. Find mentors – many experienced entrepreneurs like to give back in this way
5. Don’t run out of cash – take tough decisions, survive – no-one remembers the
companies that run out of money and fail.
Last month Oxford Capital achieved a 17x return for investors for part of its stake in Moneybox,
the award-winning savings and investment platform with a community of one million customers.
About Oxford Capital: Oxford Capital is a specialist investment manager focused on
high-potential investments in early and growth stage UK technology companies. With over 25
years of experience, we invest in sectors such as digital health, fintech and artificial intelligence
and have a strong focus on delivering value to our investors. We have invested more than
£500m across more than 100 EIS-qualifying companies.
About the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the UK Venture Capital sector: The
Enterprise Investment Scheme was established in 1994 to encourage investment into small
companies with the potential for high growth. The scheme has helped over 56,000 UK
companies raise £32 billion. It is an important factor making the UK’s startup ecosystem the
most vibrant in Europe. The UK has more unicorn companies than any of its EU partners – more
than France and Germany combined. The UK is the third largest venture capital market in the
world after the USA and China.
For more information please contact john.elliott@speedwell-group.com
