Oxford Seed Fund - Initial funding form 2024/25

What is the Oxford Seed Fund?

Oxford Seed Fund is the University of Oxford's student-and-alumni led venture fund.

We invest up to £100,000 in early-stage startups where a current student, alumni or researcher sits on the founding team i.e. 'Oxford-affiliated ventures'. Our team is made up of both current students and university alumni, and so we hope to provide a founder-friendly yet thorough and diligent process in assessing your startup.

We've been housed in Saïd Business School since 2012. Over the years, we've invested in 50+ Oxford-affiliated startups, including unicorns Onfido and Go1.

Eligibility Criteria & Benefits

Applicants should fulfil the following criteria in order to be eligible for funding:

Oxford connection: Either a current student, alumni or researcher from the University of Oxford on the founding team.
Venture-backable technology: We invest in high-potential, technology-enabled startups that can provide venture-scale returns.
Company registration: We require that you have (or intend to have) a registered company in a country with secure governance.

So why apply? A number of reasons!

Founder-friendly terms: We're fellow students & alumni running a trustworthy and transparent process and invest via standard SAFEs or equity rounds.
Backing from the university: We are part-funded directly by the university and the only fund in the world where the university itself goes on the cap table.
Well-connected network: We're able to loop in friendly angels, VCs & corporates to consider your venture and see where they might get involved themselves.
Support in hiring talent: With investment, you have a more direct link to the University of Oxford's talent pool for your future hiring needs.
Uplifting Oxford: Even if you do not receive an investment after applying, we'll still connect you with helpful resources and provide support where possible.

The Application

We have a short application that has a few high-level questions about your startup.

Pitch deck (look at Y-Combinator for examples)
Co-Founder details
Short brief of your startup

You may submit an optional data room with more material if you wish. Please ensure that we have access to the deck and any other documents provided. If you have any questions, please email: seedfund@sbs.ox.ac.uk.
We look forward to receiving your application.

First Name

Last Name

Personal or Business Email

University Email (if applicable)

ending in .ox.ac.uk

What is the name of your company?

Your company website url:

Briefly describe your company (elevator pitch) here:

limit 100 words

Where is your company registered?

Other - please provide details

Which region does your company operate in?

Click Ctrl to "Multi Select" multiple regions.

Lead Founder LinkedIn url

Are you an Alumni, Current student or Staff of the University??

Please pick the most recent status that fits you best.

Which department are you from or did you study within?

If more than one - please select the most recent.

If Alumni or current student what was your course?

Have you applied for funding previously to the Oxford Seed Fund?

YesNo

What was the name of the company?

If you have any co-founders, please list them, indicating any connection to the University of Oxford and graduation dates if applicable:

Co Founder 2:

Co-Founder 2 LinkedIn:

Co Founder 3:

Co-Founder 3 LinkedIn:

Please add a link to your pitch deck or data room

This could be a link to a folder on a cloud drive, (i.e. onedrive, Google drive or Dropbox) containing a pitch deck, financial plan or other data useful to understand your business. This could also just be a live link to your pitch deck.

Key notes about your pitch deck:

The deck should include information on...

problem & solution
market & competition
team
traction
how you intend to use the funds if you receive investment

If you are looking for a template try this link: Y Combinator's Seed Deck template. 

How did you hear about the Oxford Seed Fund?

Please enter the name of the Oxford University Society here:

Please enter the name of the Venture Scout here:

Please provide additional detail for "Other" here:

Would you like to stay in touch with Entrepreneurship Centre occasional emails?

Agreement

I have read the Privacy Policy and agree to the processing and storing of my data for the purposes of this application by the Saïd Business School Entrepreneurship Centre and sharing data with Oxford Seed Fund. By consenting I agree to receive communications and agree to the data storage, communication and tracking of my data as described in the privacy policy.

I AGREE TO THE ABOVE & WISH TO APPLY