Oxford capital eis fund
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BACKING Founders Disruptors Growth Potential Technology Science Oxford The UK Startups
SINCE 1999

Partners to exceptional founders and high-potential scale-ups across the UK, we invest from pre-seed to growth and beyond.

WHO WE ARE

Based in Oxford – one of the greatest knowledge clusters in the world – we invest across the UK, and support early-stage founders and companies to reach their full potential. 

Over 25 years, we’ve invested over £500m into over 100 companies, and are proud to have enabled entrepreneurial successes from the earliest stages to later growth. 

We pioneered, and continue to offer, products and services that enable individuals, families and institutions the ability to participate in and benefit from these investment opportunities.

Best Investor Return Winner 2022

Best Investment Platform Finalist 2022

Best Journalist or Advocate Finalist 2022

EISA Impact Award Finalist 2022

Best Investment Platform Finalist 2021

Exit of the Year Finalist 2021

WE'VE BACKED OVER 100 COMPANIES

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hoxton ai eis investment
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helloSelf
bower collective
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zamma
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See our current portfolio

Backing Founders

from Pre-seed to Series A

Investing in early-stage UK-based technology startups, from Pre-seed to Series A.
We believe that founders are the key to realizing a startup’s potential. We invest in ambitious founding teams that have an unfair advantage, and demonstrate the characteristics and behaviour necessary to execute on it.
 
If founders win, we win, and this informs how we operate. We look to build trusted relationships with founders, and are intentional about the support we offer them as the we partner to navigate the early stages of realizing their potential.
Learn more about Backing Founders

Backing
Growth

from series a onwards

Investing in later-stage UK-based science and technology startups and scaleups, from Series A onwards.

We believe that capital is the key to realizing a scaleup’s potential, and look to faciliate this.

We invest in companies that have demonstrated clear product-market fit, and have the potential to rapidly scale and realize market opportunities.

We invest only in companies with whom we have an existing relationship, either directly, through our Backing Founders fund, or indirectly, through partner early stage VC funds.

Learn more about Backing Growth

Recent NEWS

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Oxford Capital co-leads $1.5 million seed round in Arcube – Reinventing Airline Loyalty

February 12, 2025

Reinventing Airline Loyalty  With the rise of low-cost carriers, price comparison, and increased price sensitivity, airline passengers now disproportionately prioritise price over loyalty, and the frequent flyer programmers of years gone by unable to reward passengers sufficiently to counter this.  Arcube are solving this with …

Read More
Egregious Team Photo

Oxford Capital Co-Leads $1 million Investment in Egregious to Combat AI-Driven Superhuman Deception

January 21, 2025

Oxford Capital Co-Leads $1 million Investment in Egregious to Combat AI-Driven Superhuman Deception  Leading UK venture capital funds Oxford Capital and Fuel Ventures, have co-led a $1 million Pre-Seed funding round in Egregious, a pioneering company developing advanced technologies to defend humans from AI misuse. The …

Read More
FinCrime

Oxford Capital Leads Seed Round of FinCrime Dynamics to Revolutionise Financial Crime Prevention 

December 16, 2024

Over 3 million cases of fraud are reported in the UK every year, shockingly it accounts for nearly 40% of all reported crime. To tackle this, financial institutions are turning to AI but AI requires large amounts of data and access to that data is …

Read More

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Estimated reading time: 2 min

 

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

  1. You could lose all the money you invest
    1. If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
  2. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
    1. Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
    2. Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
  3. You won’t get your money back quickly
    1. Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
    2. The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
    3. If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
  4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
    1. Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
    2. A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments. https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest
  5. The value of your investment can be reduced
    1. The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
    2. These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

 

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.