The Oxford Seed Fund (OSF) is the University of Oxford's student-and-alumni led venture capital fund, housed in Saïd Business School and powered by The Entrepreneurship Centre.
OSF invests into early-stage startups where an Oxford student, alumni or academic staff is part of the founding team. Founded in 2012, the latest iteration of the fund has £2.5M to deploy in cheques up to £100k, with ~£1M expected to be invested over the coming academic year. The alumni pair recruit and work with a new student team, who benefit from practical learning experience that provides a gateway into a career in venture capital.
We are looking to recruit 8-10 students (a core number of whom will be MBAs) to join as Student Directors and manage the fund with the alumni pair. You are eligible to apply if you are an MBA, PhD, Masters or Undergraduate student of the University of Oxford. This is a year-long initiative running from September 2024 to July 2025.
The fund is graciously supported by
Oxford Science Enterprises and the
CVC Foundation.
Who are we looking for?Ideal candidates will be driven, thoughtful and diligent students who are passionate about startups and hope to make the transition to venture capital or start their own fund.
Applicants need to be conscious of the responsibility that comes with leading a deal and representing the Oxford Seed Fund, which requires extra work both within and beyond the typical academic schedule. Applicants should be team-players, keen to learn, and must be active week-to-week in-person to build relationships within the Oxford ecosystem and beyond. This involves being receptive to the direction and feedback given by the alumni, who will drive the performance of the fund and support the team's development.
Responsibilities:
- Represent the Oxford Seed Fund and The University of Oxford in conversations with founders, investors & partners.
- Source potential investments using various channels, including college and departmental affiliations, LinkedIn outreach, and other networking opportunities. Note: as a team we are aiming to source 500+ venture applications to the Oxford Seed Fund in the upcoming academic year.
- Diligencing inbound deals, including reviewing pitch decks, taking founder calls, and speaking with the startup clients, investors & industry advisors.
- Work as a team to draft and iterate investment memos to a high-standard to present to our Venture Capital Advisory Board and Investment Committee.
- Proactively keeping a record of all live deal notes in our pipeline management tool and following up with founders in a prompt and timely fashion.
- Schedule commitments: students are required to participate in weekly team deal flow meetings, 1:1 mentorship chats, asynchronous work on pipeline deals, and attendance of semesterly Venture Capital Advisory Board and Investment Committee meetings. These activities are expected to take 10+ hours / week.
- Book and attend personal check-ins with the career centre team focused on venture capital to support your career pathway post-graduation.
Perks:
- Exclusive training programme with real VCs.
- Exclusive networking opportunities with VC firms throughout the year.
- Ability to lead on real startup deals and investments.
- Travel budget for attendance to events in London.
- Conference budget based on performance.
- Tickets to the Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Forum.
- Lifelong affiliation with the Oxford Seed Fund and its networks.
Application deadline: Applications will continue to be accepted and reviewed on an ongoing basis until the student team positions are filled,
so please do apply as soon as possible.Students who have already applied in the first wave of applications can expect to hear back by the end of August.
If you have any questions, please email seedfund@sbs.ox.ac.uk.