Celebrating the Oxford Innovation Society
Celebrating more than three decades of bringing people together and helping Oxford’s innovation ecosystem grow
After more than three decades of bringing people together around Oxford-born innovation, Oxford University Innovation (OUI) is bringing the Oxford Innovation Society (OIS) to a close.
It is a moment to celebrate what OIS has contributed since 1990, reflect on just how much Oxford’s innovation ecosystem has changed during that time, and build on that legacy as we shape how OUI brings people together in future.
From a college dining table to a thriving innovation ecosystem
When OIS held its first meeting at Trinity College in June 1990, Oxford’s innovation ecosystem was genuinely nascent. The community of researchers, founders, investors, companies, business parks and professional advisers supporting University-born innovation was small enough to gather around a college dining table.
OIS helped bring that emerging community together, creating opportunities for people to meet, exchange ideas and build trusted relationships.
'When OIS started in 1990, there was beginning to be excitement about the opportunities that might be generated from the intellectual property created within the University; opportunities that could bring not only commercial benefit but also wider community impact. OIS was fundamental in bringing together people and organisations from across the innovation landscape to bring those visions to reality. This co-ordination and facilitation role has been one that has been increasingly important over the last 30 years as the ecosystem has grown and as a member it has been a pleasure and a privilege to have been part of the OIS journey. The next phase of the development of the ecosystem will build upon the undoubted success of OIS. Thank you to those early visionaries who founded OIS for their undoubted contribution to the success of innovation in Oxford.'
Sue Staunton, Partner at James Cowper Kreston, an OIS Member
Today, the picture could hardly be more different.
More than 350 companies have been created with OUI support since 1987, with over a third created in the past five years. Around 2 billion people use products and services from Oxford-born companies.
Oxford has been ranked the UK’s leading university for spinout creation for six consecutive years and Europe’s leading university spinout ecosystem. It is also ranked No.1 in Europe for spinout success and value creation from deep tech and life sciences spinouts.
That strength continues. The second half of 2025 saw two $1bn+ exits for Oxford unicorns, while in the first half of 2026 Oxford spinouts raised more than those from any other European university – and more than all German university spinouts combined.
OIS, with its 240 member organisations, has been part of that extraordinary journey.
More than three decades of bringing people together
OIS evolved alongside the community it served. Its college dinners became a distinctive part of its identity, creating space for conversations and relationships in a setting uniquely associated with Oxford. The independent OIS Review commissioned by OUI found considerable goodwill towards that heritage.
More recently, OIS broadened its programme. Since its 2024 relaunch, 16 events attracted 1,328 attendees, spanning the Gala Dinner and Summer Reception alongside newer formats including the OIS Deep Tech Investor Forum, Inno-bash, healthcare investor events around the JPM and Jefferies conferences, and the Oxford-Cambridge Innovation Showcase.
At the Investing in Oxford event held alongside the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco in January 2026, for example, OIS brought together 37 investors and 24 Oxford companies, with around 80 attendees new to OUI’s network.
The journey from a college dining table in 1990 to connecting Oxford companies with international investors in San Francisco more than three decades later reflects the wider evolution of Oxford-born innovation.
What does a thriving innovation ecosystem need?
Nearly four decades of supporting innovation from the University have taught us that successful innovation ecosystems are not simply about bringing more people together. They are about bringing the right people together, for the right reasons.
Researchers need expertise to identify pathways to impact. Licensing opportunities need organisations with the reach and resources to develop them. Founders need access to experience, investment, and support. Growing companies need talent and connections. Consultancy needs connections between Oxford’s knowledge and academic expertise and organisations with challenges it can help solve. Investors and external organisations need clear routes into opportunities emerging from the University.
'There are some parts of Oxford's innovation ecosystem have changed beyond recognition since 1990 and those first meetings of the OIS, from the emergence of quantum technologies to advances in AI and life sciences and the development of new world class facilities nestling amongst the dreaming spires. The OIS has played a consistent and fundamental role in bringing people together, championing innovation and helping shape the community that makes the Oxford of today such a remarkable place of scientific endeavour and global impact. It has been a privilege to support the OIS over the years and although this chapter is coming to a close, the next chapter for innovation in Oxford will be all the better for being able to build on the foundations OIS has established.'
Nicola McConville, Equity Partner at Mishcon de Reya LLP, an OIS Member
As an innovation ecosystem matures, the challenge changes. Oxford now has many more organisations, networks, investors and communities than it did when OIS was established. That creates more opportunities for collaboration, but also makes clarity of purpose and coordination increasingly important. The aim is no longer simply to create more connections, but to make those connections purposeful, address genuine gaps and avoid duplicating what others already do well.
For OUI, that means continually asking where we can make a distinctive contribution as the University’s innovation partner. Our role depends on the strength of the innovation ecosystem around us, and we need to evolve with it. Building a better future, powered by Oxford ideas, means focusing our expertise and resources where they can make the greatest difference, while working in partnership with others to help University knowledge, research and companies thrive.
Celebrating OIS - and looking ahead
Following the independent review and consideration of its findings, OUI has decided that the time is right to celebrate what OIS has achieved and retire the Society.
I’ve been part of Oxford’s innovation ecosystem since joining OUI in 2002, and I’ve had the privilege of seeing it grow and evolve enormously. OIS has been part of that journey, bringing together researchers, founders, investors, companies, business parks and professional expertise and helping to build relationships around Oxford innovation. There is a great deal in its history to celebrate.
‘But one thing hasn’t changed: innovation is built on relationships, trust and partnership. No single organisation can create a thriving innovation ecosystem on its own. The progress we’ve seen in Oxford has come from people and organisations bringing different expertise, ideas and resources together – and that becomes even more important as the ecosystem grows.
‘As we look ahead, OUI will keep evolving too: to be clear about where OUI can make the greatest difference, to work in partnership with others, and to create the connections that help Oxford ideas and companies thrive. That is an important part of OIS’s legacy, and one we want to build on.
This is an evolution, not a withdrawal from the innovation ecosystem. Quite the opposite.
We will build on OIS’s legacy and nearly 40 years of experience as the University’s innovation partner as we shape our future approach to events – creating purposeful opportunities to connect Oxford companies with investors and expertise, strengthen relationships across the University, and work with Equinox and others across Oxford’s innovation ecosystem. Through it all, we will carry forward one of the clearest lessons from OIS’s history: relationships matter.
To everyone who has been part of OIS since 1990 – its members, sponsors, supporters, speakers, researchers, founders, investors and guests – thank you for the part you have played in its story, and in the extraordinary evolution of Oxford-born innovation. We look forward to building on that legacy together as we shape how OUI brings people together in future.