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Success Stories
Tokamak Solutions secures funding to develop powerful neutron source
February 2011
Fusion research company Tokamak Solutions has secured £170,000 of equity investment from Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood, the Rainbow Seed Fund, Oxford Instruments plc and investor members of the Oxford Early Investments network.
The funding will enable Tokamak Solutions to complete the design of its novel fusion neutron source - a super compact tokamak. Applications for the new technology range from the clean-up of nuclear waste, which could make safe nuclear power a reality, to the production of medical isotopes used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer and, in the longer term, as part of a zero carbon method for large scale hydrogen production.
The company has also just been awarded a €110,000 contract from ITER, the next generation international fusion energy research reactor, to advise on diagnostics for measuring neutron emission and fusion power.
Fusion scientists around the world are designing methods to harness fusion as an energy source that typically involve the construction of huge, multi-billion pound facilities. The Tokamak Solutions team located at Culham, Oxfordshire is focused on creating a super compact, but powerful, fusion neutron source and has already filed patent applications for the initial design of its tokamak.
The concept of ‘fusion for neutrons’, the basis of the company’s technology, is the brainchild of Dr Mikhail Gryaznevich and Alan Sykes who have worked on fusion research at Culham for 20 years. They realised the success they had achieved with colleagues at Culham in creating two ground-breaking spherical tokamaks held the key to unlocking the potential of fusion neutron sources. In late 2009, they co-founded Tokamak Solutions with Dr David Kingham, former managing director of Oxford Innovation, who helped them formulate a business strategy to commercialise the technology.
Alan Sykes, technical director at Tokamak Solutions, said: “The fusion process produces an abundance of neutrons and by using the spherical tokamak this can be done very efficiently. This means that a fusion neutron source, with a wide variety of applications, can be realised on a much smaller scale than a fusion energy source of the ITER type.”
Dr Kingham, now chief executive of Tokamak Solutions, said: “We are delighted to have secured the investment we need to progress the development of this bold new technology. Our initial focus is on the plasma physics and neutron research markets and our new group of investors has already provided significant added value in addition to their investment. For example, Oxford Instruments has advised on potential applications in relation to superconducting magnets while the Rainbow Seed Fund has assisted with introductions to potential users of neutrons.”
Beyond the initial development stage, Tokamak Solutions’ fusion neutron source offers a viable way to clean up nuclear waste. Neutron bombardment can potentially deal with all radioactive nuclear waste, but one of the most promising applications lies in using neutrons to destroy the ‘minor actinides’ that are particularly problematic for burial.
Dr Gryaznevich, chief scientific officer at Tokamak Solutions, explained: “Burying minor actinides is expensive and risky as they undergo fissile decay over thousands of years, releasing heat and radioactive fragments, making them difficult to contain. During the past 30 years, many scientific papers have been written about the potential transmutation of minor actinides, but our super compact fusion neutron source is the first system based on currently available technology with the potential to produce the neutrons required for this clean-up.”
Additional applications for fusion neutron sources include: production of medical isotopes - where there are currently worldwide shortages; scientific research - where there is significant unmet demand; and in the testing of materials components for future fission and fusion energy reactors - where international facilities currently fall short of requirements. In the longer term, fusion neutron sources may prove valuable as part of an efficient, zero carbon method for large scale hydrogen production and as the core of a fusion-fission hybrid (or sub-critical) reactor that will breed its own fuel and destroy its own waste.
Tokamak Solutions has assembled a distinguished scientific and environmental advisory board chaired by Lord Julian Hunt FRS, who speaks regularly in the House of Lords on the potential of fusion-fission hybrid reactors. Lord Hunt said: “The potential of fusion-fission hybrids has been recognised internationally for many years, and the Tokamak Solutions’ design of fusion neutron source is a big step towards realising this potential. The result should be cleaner, safer, zero carbon, nuclear power.”
Jonathan Flint, chief executive of Oxford Instruments plc, was one of the first to spot the potential of Tokamak Solutions’ neutron source technology. He said: “Oxford Instruments has a long established track record supplying tools and consultancy services to the fusion community and we are delighted to support a project that has the potential to offer significant benefits to the industry.”
Mark White of the Rainbow Seed Fund has worked closely with the Tokamak Solutions team over the last year. He said: “Tokamak Solutions is a great example of a business emerging from world-leading research and we are pleased to back the next step in the development of their innovative technology.”
Chris Baker, manager of Oxford Early Investments network, said: “We were pleased to assist Tokamak Solutions to secure the crucial investment to complete the initial design for their new tokamak. This technology could potentially provide a cost-effective method to harness fusion energy and generate safe, pollution-free power.”
GroupSpaces raises $1.3 million from Oxford investors and Silicon Valley
July 2010
GroupSpaces, the go-to site for simple online management and administration of real-world groups founded by Oxford University students, today announced it has secured a $1.3 million investment round from Index Ventures and a leading angel investor consortium including Dave McClure, Chris Sacca, Simon Levene, Meagan Marks, Ariel Poler and Quincy Smith of CODE Advisors. Index Ventures partner, Mike Volpi, will take a board seat.
GroupSpaces was founded by David Langer and Andy Young while they were Oxford University students and secured its initial funding in 2008 through Oxford Early Investments (OEI), a leading business angel network that helps innovative early stage companies to raise funding. Existing investors and members of the OEI Network, Stephen Bullock and Simon and Michael Blakey of Avonmore Developments, also participated in this round.
Since then, GroupSpaces has followed a Facebook-like expansion model and all the student clubs within Oxford University and the Said Business School, Oxford, are now users. The site has also been adopted by most large clubs across the UK’s other top universities and is currently used to manage over 500,000 group memberships.
GroupSpaces provides an all-in-one set of tools designed to meet the needs of groups such as sports clubs, hobby groups, associations and student societies. This integrated offering makes administration of groups more effective, improves member communications and saves group organisers and officers lots of time compared to the common patterns of having a Yahoo! Group for mailing list, member records in Excel and collecting payments through various offline means.
GroupSpaces differentiates itself by only requiring group leaders to sign up, making it fast to adopt and get started for secretaries, treasurers and other officers of existing real-world groups. Group members can be imported from Excel and then receive emails, register for events and pay their membership dues, all without having to create a user account and password.
GroupSpaces is free for groups with less than 250 members and for student groups of any size. Above 250 members, pricing starts at £5 per month. The company generates revenue via a combination of premium accounts, targeted advertising and transaction commissions for payments made through the site.
GroupSpaces founder, David Langer, said “We’re delighted we were able to attract such high profile investors to this funding round and we look forward to leveraging their expertise in helping us to move forward with our growth strategy and expansion into new geographies, attracting top talent to our team and rapidly rolling out our product roadmap.”
Eileen Modral, investment manager at Oxford Early Investments, said: “We congratulate David and the rest of the GroupSpaces team on securing this major investment. We were pleased to assist the company to raise crucial funding in 2008 to progress the initial development of their innovative software. Since then, GroupSpaces has made phenomenal progress and is poised for further success.”
Mike Volpi, board member and partner at Index Ventures, said: “GroupSpaces is a terrific start to the Index Seed Fund. We are very impressed with this entrepreneurial team and see great potential for GroupSpaces as a one-stop-shop for groups worldwide
Taylor Innovations raises funding
March 2010
Following a pitch at a recent OEI meeting for a fund-raising round of £30,000, and discussions with an angels group, Taylor Innovation Ltd. is delighted to announce the successful closure of a deal for the full amount from angels. This funding will be used to drive the exciting new golf training system Stance Coach (TM) to market. For product details please visit www.stancecoach.com. Further details of the deal were not disclosed.
GroupSpaces Raises Six Figure Funding to Revolutionise Group Management Systems
February 2008
OXFORD, UK – 25 February 2008. GroupSpaces, an Oxford-based Internet company that provides online tools to enable groups, societies and clubs to manage their communications and data, today announced that it has raised a six figure round of investment from a consortium of investors.
The round included London-based Avonmore Developments, and an investor introduced by Oxford Early Investments, the business angel investment network that helps innovative early stage companies to raise funding.
Founded by two Oxford University students in 2006, GroupSpaces is revolutionising the ways in which ‘real world’ groups such as sports clubs, university societies, charities and other organisations manage themselves in an increasingly online world.
These groups share a common set of needs that include communication channels, membership and database management, website provision and event organisation and promotion. However, there is no existing solution to meet all of their needs so they are forced to use a combination of disconnected tools from multiple providers.
CTO of GroupSpaces, Andrew Young, explained the unique solution provided by the Company: “GroupSpaces has created a web-based service that solves all the problems of group managers with a combination of powerful, easy-to-use tools and an integrated portal. The online toolset is designed to fit in with groups' existing conventions, helping to establish efficient, robust procedures and facilitating collaboration between group members, managers and the wider world.”
A successful pilot of the GroupSpaces service was run during 2006-07 with over 300 societies at Oxford University. The quality and frequency of use of the service, which saw between 4,000 and 5,000 unique visits to the website per month, enabled the Company to secure advertising contracts with over 40 blue-chip clients including IBM, BP, McKinsey & Company, Bain Capital, Clifford Chance and JPMorgan.
Oxford University Careers Service is one group benefiting from the service. Director, Terry Dray, said: “The innovative website offered by GroupSpaces has helped even more students to find out about our events and services. They are bridging the gap between university societies and graduate recruiters in a revolutionary manner.”
GroupSpaces secured their funding after a successful pitch at an investment meeting run by Oxford Early Investments.
Commenting on the fundraising, GroupSpaces’ CEO, David Langer, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with such experienced and successful angel investors. The funding obtained through Oxford Early Investments will allow us to expand our engineering team and accelerate product development as we develop and test our service through 2008.”
Manager of Oxford Early Investments, Eileen Modral, said: “We were pleased to help GroupSpaces to raise the crucial funding they need to progress the development of their innovative software.”
GroupSpaces is initially rolling out its online toolset to the 25,000 UK-based university clubs and societies. The Company plans to raise a further round of investment in due course to increase momentum as it expands outside the student market.
US-based Nexo Systems estimates there to be over 100 million groups in the US alone, and GroupSpaces’ mission is to become the essential provider of online tools for ‘real world’ groups.
Inscentinel close funding round
October 2007
Inscentinel raises a £105k part of which came through two OEI investors.
Warwick University Spin-Out secures Funding for Fingerprint ID Technology
2006 is already proving to be a busy and successful year for Oxford Early Investments (OEI), a business angel investment network that helps innovative companies at the early stages of commercial development to raise investment capital. The latest company to secure funding through the OEI Network is Warwick Warp Ltd, a spin-out company from Warwick University that is developing a highly accurate fingerprint identification technology for use in personal ID cards, passports and access control systems.
Warwick Warp raised £15,000 from two of OEI?s business angel investor members at a recent OEI investment meeting held jointly with Warwick Ventures, the technology transfer office of Warwick University. The company will use the new capital for the development of the first prototype.
Li Wang, Chief Technology Officer of Warwick Warp, said: "OEI provided an excellent platform for us to not only raise investment funds but also build up a close relationship with investors, both of which are crucial to the success of our business."
"We are delighted", said Ederyn Williams, Director of Warwick Ventures. "Warwick Warp is an exciting new company, and OEI helped us raise the small amount of vital funding needed in record time."
The Warwick Warp deal is one of several that the OEI Network has brokered for developing companies during the past 18 months, raising a total of £473,000. Other companies that have raised funding through the Network include Water Innovate, a spin-out company from Cranfield University that develops new technologies for the water and wastewater industries, NanoSight, which is developing a nanoparticle measuring system, and Zeta Studies, a software development house for web based services and mobile data collection solutions.
Joanna Sobek, Manager of Oxford Early Investments, said: "OEI was set up to meet investor demand for very early stage investment opportunities, and to help companies that need small but crucial sums to develop their product beyond an initial "proof of concept" , often the most difficult stage of company growth to fund. The Network has now established a track record for filling this gap in the market."
OEI also held a lively investment meeting as part of Venturefest during July. Companies making presentations at the meeting included Exilica Ltd, who produce micro-beads and silica nano-shells that can be used to encapsulate dyes and perfumes for slow release, and Novolytics Ltd, which uses bacteriophages, a small virus that only infects bacteria, to combat MRSA.
OEI is also delighted to announce that H2O Venture Partners has agreed to sponsor the Network. H2O Venture Partners is a new investment company developing very early stage technology opportunities from universities, research organisations and existing companies. H2O invests in transformative technologies in all sectors at the beginning of the commercialisation process.
Dr David Kelly, Chief Executive of H2O Venture Partners, said: "H2O Venture Partners is delighted to sponsor OEI. The OEI Network plays an essential role in helping companies secure the funds they need for early-stage growth. H2O looks forward to actively contributing to the future success of OEI."
Warwick Warp - http://www.warwickwarp.com/
H2O Venture Partners - http://www.h2ovp.com/
Zeta Studios
Details will be available soon.
Nanosight
August 2007
NanoSight Ltd, the nanoparticle characterisation company, announces the completion of an angel investor round which increases its shareholder base and complements previous investments by Venture Capital companies. The angel investment came from members of the SWAIN and OEI Investments Networks.
John Knowles, Chairman of NanoSight commented that “The investment round was oversubscribed which was very encouraging for the company and brings on board a group of investors who have experience in growing high technology companies.”
The NANOSIGHT LM10 and LM20 systems offer the ability to obtain higher resolution particle size distribution profiles than other more time-consuming and expensive methods... The software enables real-time dynamic nano-particle visualisation from which independent quantitative estimation of particle size and size distribution can be immediately obtained. (Full article on website www.nanotsight.co.uk)
Water Innovate
June 2005
Water Innovate Ltd is a spin-out company from the School of Water Sciences at Cranfield University established to bring innovative ideas from research in the water and wastewater sectors to market. The company has a range of technologies that it will commercialise through a process of product development, service contracts and licensing deals.
In June 2005, Water Innovate raised over £546,000 with the help of Oxford Early Investments (OEI), a business angel network that helps early stage companies raise funds. This marks the first deal closed by OEI since the network was launched in late 2004.
The funding package includes £193,000 from business angels (including OEI members), £150,000 from Oxford Technology 4 VCT, £150,000 investment by NESTA and £53,000 from Cranfield Enterprises Ltd.
John Catling, Executive Chairman of Water Innovate, said:
"The OEI Network provides an ideal forum for very early stage companies seeking funding at a level that is beyond friends, family and the bank but below the radar screen of venture capitalists. The presentation was well-organised and OEI's manager did a very professional job in helping to match us with appropriate investors so that we could raise the vital finance we need to take our technologies to market."
Alastair Cavanagh, Manager of Oxford Early Investments, said:
"Water Innovate offered the OEI investors unique and leading edge technologies with clear market potential, backed by a proven management team that knows the sector and has a successful track record. We are pleased that NESTA, an investor member and sponsor of the OEI Network, was attracted to invest alongside a syndicate of our business angels and Oxford Technology 4 VCT, enabling Water Innovate to secure the funds needed to commercialise their technologies."
www.waterinnovate.com