OIF will invest in early stage technology projects in order to make a return which is funnelled back into this self-sustaining “evergreen” fund. The OIF is endowed by charitable donors to the University as part of the Oxford Thinking campaign. It supports early-stage, proof-of-concept activity.
There is a gap between the outputs of University research and its development, supported by commercial and financial investors. The Oxford Invention Fund provides resources to enable Oxford technologies to bridge this gap.
Other comments:
This professionally managed in-house source of seed funding supports maturing projects, moving them to licensing or spin-out stage by investing in vital experimental data generation, prototyping or other proof-of-concept work. In order to help monitor the success of the project, Oxford University Innovation will ask to receive a brief report on progress from work financed by the award. A set of “milestones” will be identified and agreed with the researcher(s) and these milestones will form the basis of the monitoring process. Not to compete with research grants; OIF cannot invest in existing companies.
Applications Procedure:
A researcher wishing to apply for OIF Funds should contact either the Technology Transfer Manager at Oxford University Innovation with whom they are already working or the Head of New Venture Support and Funding at Oxford University Innovation (adam.workman@innovation.ox.ac.uk) to be put in touch with the appropriate Technology Transfer Manager.
