Oxford Innovation

Across the UK market, it is compellingly the case that not enough capital flows into female founded businesses compared with male-led businesses. There is clearly a gender gap in terms of venture or early-stage investment. In our latest blog, our Group CEO David Crichton-Miller explores the UK’s gender funding gap and how it might be addressed, looks at the findings of our own data on investment in female-led businesses through Oxford Innovation Finance and considers the reason why Oxford Innovation experiences a better return for all-female founded businesses than the market average. Although only 2.9% of the businesses that pitched with Oxford Innovation were led and founded by women only teams, which is similar to the national pattern of many fewer all-female founded businesses seeking venture funding, these all-female teams were in fact the most successful at raising finance. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e8v2As6J #femaleleaders #womeninbusiness #entrepreneurs #SMEs #angelinvestment #investment #businessfinance #RoseReview #equity #equityinvestment #IWD2025 #InternationalWomensDay Oxford Innovation Advice Oxford Innovation Space

⏳ Only 1 week to go! Have you secured your spot yet? 🎙️ Join us next Thursday, 27 March, at 1pm for an insightful webinar with Richardsons as we break down the key differences between SEIS and EIS – helping you to utilise the tax advantages these schemes offer. 🇬🇧 With the Chancellor’s Spring Statement just around the corner, Jens Tholstrup, Jemima King and Laura Hankey will be unpicking the latest updates and sharing real-world examples of how tax relief, loss relief and CGT relief are applied to SEIS and EIS investments. Plus, they’ll answer your burning questions in a live Q&A session! 🔗 Don't miss out - register now: https://lnkd.in/e6p9zAtk #oxfordinnovationfinance #seis #eis #investing #innovation #earlystage

At Oxford Innovation, we are proud to say that we have supported thousands of female-led businesses across the country to start-up and scale-up by providing them with advice, space and finance. Many of these #businesses are developing game-changing products and services in their respective fields. To follow on from #internationalWomensDay on Saturday, we’d like to take today (and all this week) to celebrate the incredible female entrepreneurs, innovators and angel investors that we work with everyday. Some of the innovative female-led businesses we’ve supported include: Learning with Experts in #Oxfordshire, Boost Innovations in #Cornwall, Albotherm in #Bristol and FA Bio in #Hertfordshire to name but a few. #IWD2025 #AccelerateAction #womeninbusiness #femalebusinessowners #finance #businessSupport #smallbusiness #SMEs #femalefounders #femaleentrepreneurs #femaleleaders #womenintech #equity #investment #womeninscience

Exciting news from Oxford Innovation Finance with the launch of its first independent #SEIS Growth Fund! The SEIS market has gained momentum since the company investment cap rose to £250,000 in 2023, making it more attractive to investors and early-stage businesses. With its first close on 30th April 2025, the Oxford Innovation SEIS Growth Fund will deliver a carefully curated and diverse portfolio of high-quality and high-growth early-stage companies. #innovation #businessfinance #growthfund #SMEs #investment #investors #highgrowth Oxford Innovation Space Oxford Innovation Advice

On Thursday 27 February, our very own Wendy Tindsley, Innovation Director at Oxford Innovation Space, is speaking at the first webinar in the Fund Her Future webinar series organised by the British Business Bank and Breakthrough Labs. This free online event entitled 'The First Decision: Bootstrap, Borrow or Raise. How do you decide?' aims to helps female founders make decisions about how they will fund their business. Alongside Wendy, the panel of experts also includes Susan Elliott from British Business Bank and Lee Lam, a start-up adviser. This webinar series is for #femalefounders exploring #funding options to grow their businesses. Over the series of three webinars, founders will be taken through the decision-making process, from determining whether you need external funding, to exploring non-dilutive funding options, to equity investment.   You can find out more and register for this webinar on Thursday 27 February (12:30pm-1:45pm) now via Eventbrite: https://lnkd.in/eTUFe_P9 Oxford Innovation Advice #innovation #femalefounders #funding #SMEs #Startups #webinar #businessfinance #finance

Congratulations to Dr Sian Fussell, CTO and co-founder of Bristol-based Albotherm, who has been named one of the 50 winners of the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards 2025. Truly well deserved! We have been supporting Sian and the team at Albotherm on their journey and we're excited to see them going from strength to strength. Albotherm’s technology has been shown to help farmers achieve up to 34% higher crop yields while reducing reliance on energy-intensive cooling systems. Their smart additives enable passive cooling by transitioning from transparent to reflective-white as temperatures rise, improving crop productivity and cutting energy usage in controlled environments such as glasshouses. By creating optimal growing conditions, Albotherm supports local food production, reducing the UK’s dependence on food imports and enhancing food security. #ChampioningInnovation #SMEs #SupportingSMEs

Today is #TimetoTalk Day - an awareness day designed to start a conversation about #mentalhealth. Many small business owners are experiencing increasing pressures due to difficult economic conditions and the day-to-day challenges of running a business, which can in turn impact their mental health and well-being. According to a study by Mental Health UK and iwoca, four in five small business owners report experiencing symptoms of poor mental health.   As part of our holistic approach to supporting #entrepreneurs and small business leaders within our innovation centres, our in-house business support team has recently completed Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training through Oxfordshire Mind. By completing the MHFA online training course, the team is now better equipped to identify early signs of mental health challenges and provide initial support. By fostering an environment where mental health is openly discussed, we’re helping break down the stigma and empowering #business owners to seek the help they need to thrive both personally and professionally.   https://lnkd.in/eGR2Apmi Oxford Innovation Space

Oxford Innovation Space is leading by example having achieved Good Business Charter accreditation. Across our network of 32 innovation centres, we are committed to operating in a socially responsible way that benefits our employees, customers, suppliers, local communities and the environment. By showcasing exemplary conduct, we aim to inspire and empower other businesses to embrace similar practices. #GoodBusinessMatters #GoodBusinessFortnight #GoodBusinessCharter #Innovationcentres #innovation #SMEs #ChampioningSMEs

Oxford Innovation Advice has published its latest insight report, Unlocking SME Productivity, as part of #NationalProductivityWeek. It provides insights into the organisational practices and management capabilities that shape #SME performance.

Congratulations to two of our portfolio companies BibliU and Oxford Space Systems for being named in The Sunday Times 100 list of fastest-growing technology companies. It is fantastic to see these companies going from strength to strength, highlighting the importance of providing support and funding to innovative early-stage businesses. #Highgrowth #SMEs #championingSMEs #EISfund #EIS #investment #tech Oxford Innovation Finance #angelnetwork