Oxford capital eis fund
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Stephen Hampson

Investment Director
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Stephen is an Investment Director focused on deal origination and new investments at Oxford Capital in addition to portfolio development and management.  Stephen has over 20 years of experience in building technology companies as both a CEO and investor with experience in a wide range of industries, technologies, and geographies; including the Middle East, Australasia and Europe.  

Stephen has been involved in the creation of more than 30 deep-tech companies as founder and CEO of Powerhouse, an investment company that developed, incubated, and funded spinout companies from universities. Investing at seed stage and supporting founders through scale-up and growth, Powerhouse investments came from a wide range of technology sectors, including digital, robotics, green technologies and life sciences. Stephen led Powerhouse through to a first-of-kind listing on the Australian stock exchange.  

After gaining a PhD in machine learning and robotics from the University of Canterbury, Stephen continued with postdoctoral research in modern control theory at the University of Bath. He has a close relationship with Bayes Business School in London, investigating how business models can optimise growth while dealing with complexity and uncertainty. He is a member of the International Chartered Governance Institute. 

Outside of work, Stephen enjoys football, travel, music and stand-up comedy.  

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.