Action plan
1. Initial decision to proceed
Refer to the Spin-out questionnaire (PDF, 59 KB) and discuss with your colleagues (and us if you wish) whether you want to start looking at the possibility of starting a spinout company.
2. University permission
If you wish to proceed, because you may become a shareholder, director, and/or consultant to the spinout, you will need to consider the University’s rules about its employee’s holding external appointments and conflicts of interest. You will probably need consent from: your Head of Department, your Head of Division, and under the University’s Policy on Conflict of Interest. We will guide you through all this. You may also require clearance from any external funders of your research.
Your Licensing & Ventures Manager will present the business plan and proposed structure of the spinout, including the suggested equity split, to the Oxford University Innovation Spinout Review Panel, the Managing Director of Oxford University Innovation, and the University Finance Director (also a director of Oxford University Innovation), who will either seek more information or approve the proposals.
3. University and founder researchers’ equity
The University aims to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in order to maximise the global impact of the University’s research and expertise, and requires a low equity stake for the University, which enables the spinout to incentivise founder researchers and attract experienced management teams and investors.
The University’s founding equity will be shared with OSE for any spinouts from MPLS or Medical Sciences Divisions.
The founding equity share in spinout companies is 80% for founder researchers and 20% for the University in nearly all cases. There are some conditions under which the split will be 90% for founder researchers and 10% for the University.
Having agreed their respective shareholdings, the researchers and the University can then negotiate together with the investors as to what percentage of the company they wish to sell to the investors for their cash investment.
Oxford University Innovation has much experience in negotiations with spinout investors and, although our responsibility is primarily to our own shareholder (the University), our interest in helping to complete the deal as rapidly as possible has proved helpful to the researchers spinning out.
The University’s royalty-sharing rules do not apply to spinout equity. If there are multiple researchers, their individual entitlements must be covered by agreed equity shares or in some other way.
4. Technology licence
If the spinout intends to use any intellectual property owned by the University or Oxford University Innovation it will need appropriate licenses to the intellectual property (patents, copyright, know-how etc).
Oxford University Innovation offers a standardised approach for licensing IP to new spinout companies on formation, designed to support the thriving spinout ecosystem with simple licence terms and streamlined process. It ensures that financial returns to the inventors and University align directly with the commercial success of the companies formed, while giving maximum opportunity for the companies to thrive.
5. Business plan
This describes what the business will do and how the investors will get a return. With some spinouts the business is at too early a stage for numerical projections to be meaningful. In these cases the investment decision will be made on the basis of confidence in the researchers, proposed management team and the technology.
It is rare for the business plan, which is initially prepared by the spinout team, to be identical to the final plan which is used by the company as it goes forward. Typically the plan goes through a series of iterations as new facts and ideas emerge and it is common for investors and managers to impact the thinking as the plan evolves.
Whilst it is good practice to prepare a formal plan with detailed financial projections, the initial approach to investors is often based on a short executive summary which should be one page in length. Some investors will expect to receive more detailed information in the form of a business plan presentation backed up by a more formal document.
We can provide templates for the business plan document and presentation.
6. Raising investment finance
Investors prepared to risk cash on early stage companies seek to generate profits well in excess of their initial outlay. They need high levels of return because they understand that due to the risks involved many of their investments will perform poorly.
Private investors and venture capitalists have investment preferences in terms of sector (e.g. biotechnology or nanotechnology), levels of available funds and methods of working with the new company. In particular some investors will expect to be very closely involved in decisions made by the developing company. Other discriminating factors are the capacity of some investors to invest larger amounts in subsequent investment rounds and the capacity to lead an investment round involving more than one investor.
Once an investor has indicated their interest in providing funds, a process of due diligence will commence. Typically an investor will seek confirmation of all the main assumptions set out by the company in its business plan. Particular areas of interest will be patents, details of the financial plan and evidence of market interest. Responding to due diligence enquiries can be time consuming and a degree of patience will need to be exercised by all parties.
7. Documentation
Heads of agreement
This sets out the key provisions of all aspects of the spinout company and provides a summary upon which lawyers can build full documentation.
Shareholders/Investment agreement
This addresses the relative shareholdings between the founding researchers, the University, management, and investors, and the protections which each shareholder seeks. The University has a standard shareholders agreement which is a useful starting point in discussions.
Technology licence agreement
This will authorise the company to use any specified intellectual property owned by the University/Oxford University Innovation which the company wishes to use and which the University is able to make available to the company.
‘Oxford’ trademark licence
The University trading as Oxford University Press has trademarked the word ‘Oxford’. If the spinout company wants to use the word ‘Oxford’ in its name, it will need permission from the University which has a standard licence agreement. We can help by asking the University for the necessary licence.
Consultancy agreement
The company will want to secure access to the services of the founding researchers. The arrangements between those individuals employed by the University and the company need to be approved by the University, via Research Services. OUI’s Consulting Services can assist.
Managing director’s service contract
This contract will be supplied by the company’s lawyers and, whilst it does not need University approval, it is advisable to ensure the University has no objections to it.
Memorandum & articles of association
These documents are standard company documents which set out the nature of the company’s business and its operations. These will be supplied by the company’s lawyers.
Share option scheme
All spinout companies are likely to establish an incentive scheme at some stage. There may be advantages, relating to the option exercise price, in setting up a share option scheme at the spinout stage.
8. Final approval and ‘completion’
The necessary documents will be signed by the researchers, the University, Oxford University Innovation (if their technology is involved) the external investors and any other shareholders. In order to optimise the taxation position of the company and those involved, the appropriate legal and tax advice is followed.
