It is time for the financial ecosystem to nurture and support the growing wave of rooted ventures and other problem-oriented, social ventures. Rooted Ventures are part of a growing movement of ventures emerging that seek to find innovative, research-rooted solutions to many of the challenges societies face from poverty, to…

Oxford’s contribution to COVID has been a vaccine that will save the world — but what can we offer for the climate? Written by Gregg Bayes-Brown Oxford’s response to COVID-19 has been an excellent demonstration of what the institution is capable of when it sets its mind to a task…

Despite their promise as a sustainable version of the traditional business model, social ventures continue to be shrouded in myth and misinformation. Here are the top seven misconceptions about social ventures, and why they don’t hold true. Written by Philippa Christoforou and Sandra Ainsua Martinez, Oxford University Innovation In 2018…

Ani’s battle against cancer informed and shaped her entrepreneurial journey, with the two becoming intrinsically linked. Written by Gregg Bayes-Brown, Oxford University Innovation Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. Ask anyone who’s started a company, and they’ll give you a whole saga of obstacles they’ve had to overcome. Typically, we think…

Oxsed, a social venture developing rapid COVID-19 testing, has gone from spinning out of Oxford University in the summer to already being acquired and its technology deployed in airports. Written by Stuart Gillespie A vaccine — perhaps more than one — is on the way. Therapeutics such as the…

Renewables spinout Odqa is developing a high-tech solar receiver that improves efficiency and enables reductions to the cost of capturing and storing the sun’s energy for conversion into power. Odqa, which is working on technologies for the concentrated solar power (CSP) industry, has been issued a convertible loan worth £1.2m…

The abstract nature of knowledge derived from the social sciences has often led to it being written off as common sense, or as being ill-suited to practical application. …

A diary from the WFH-while-homeschooling frontline, as told by OUI’s Fiona Story Some of us will emerge fitter, fatter, alcoholic, divorced, with an additional immunity to something (maybe our families?), or worse. Some are predicting a baby boom around next Christmas creating a generation of “coronials”. But for those of…

What happened when we paired Oxford University’s unique startups with Vodafone’s business leader talent? The entrepreneur’s journey is a perilous one, especially when they are first starting out. Be it a newcomer to the scene or a seasoned veteran, entrepreneurship is a profession of dizzying heights and crushing lows. …