The company was founded in 2015 by
David Norwood, who was previously the founder of the
IP Group, which initially invested only in spinoffs from the university's chemistry department.[7] Oxford Sciences Enterprises initially raised £600m from investors, which included
Lansdowne Partners and
Google Ventures.[8][9][10][11] Google Ventures partners Tom Hulme and Dr Krishna Yeshwant also joined OSI's advisory board, along with Google AI researcher
Demis Hassabis, founder of
DeepMind.[8][12]
Charles Conn, previously CEO of the
Rhodes Trust and former McKinsey partner, was appointed CEO in March 2019. Former Google CFO
Patrick Pichette joined him as Chair of the board.[7] However, Conn departed in November 2019 and Pichette shortly after. OSI's CFO became acting CEO until the appointment of Alexis Dormandy, another former McKinsey partner, in October 2020[13]
In September 2023
Ed Bussey was named CEO of the company, and at the same time Jack Edmondson was appointed to the newly created role of CIO.[14][15][16][17]
Structure
OSE is structured differently from other venture capital firms, being an evergreen
patient capital, privately held company and not bound by a limited partnership agreement.[18][19][20] As such, the company holds long-term investments, pursuing a patient capital model. OSI differentiates itself from classic venture firms because of its relationship with the university.[21] Unlike most university-linked venture firms, Oxford University is a shareholder in the company, with OSI receiving half of the university's stake in the
intellectual property of a spinout.[22]
OSE works with the university's technology transfer office,
Oxford University Innovation, which helps manage the intellectual property and patent estate of the university.[23]
In July 2019, The company announced an investment from Chinese telecommunications company
Huawei owns £4.1m in OSI shares (approximately 0.7% of the total fund).[24]