Oxford Early Investments

Oxford Early Investments (OEI) is a business angel network that focuses on innovative companies at the very early stages of technical and commercial development. These companies are often building on an initial proof of concept, and require investment capital of between £25,000- £250,000 to develop their product. This stage of company growth is often the most difficult to fund.

OEI was established by Oxford Innovation in November 2004, and builds on the success of its other investment networks, including the Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network (www.oion.co.uk), which has a strong focus on life science and technology businesses and the Thames Valley Investment Network (www.tvin.co.uk) with a focus on media, FMCG, lifestyle and green-technology.

OEI holds bimonthly meetings where selected companies present their opportunities to an audience of investors, who often provide management input and contacts, in addition to vital capital.

Since Autumn 2009 OEI has been successfully running a series of Investor Workshops with the help of its professional experts covering a range of topics essential to the investment process. These workshops also provide an opportunity for new and seasoned angels to share their experiences. The main aim is to support the networks’ members and to encourage new investors into the exciting area of angel investment.

The OEI Network together with its sister networks OION and TVIN, was one of five partners in the successful Regional Growth Fund bid by Capital for Enterprise that has resulted in  a £50m Co-investment Fund which will provide capital to match investments from business angel members of the Network in high growth companies.