Oxford Investment Opportunity Network

The following three companies are seeking investment via the Network as a result of the 14 July 2011 OION investment meeting at Harwell Oxford. The descriptions available summarise the investment proposal made by the company. The information is provided by the company and has not been vetted in any way by OION.

If you are interested in receiving further information on any of the companies then please contact us.

Company A formulate solutions for industrial customers who need nanomaterials to optimise the performance of their products. Company A has a patented platform manufacturing technology for producing inorganic nanomaterial dispersions; which is proven at ton scale (10 TPA). Industrial users of nanomaterials want improved product functionality, nanomaterials in dispersion and assured supply of commercial quantities; Company A's technology enables all of these.

Company A began trading in Feb 2008 with investment from the Lachesis Fund and Catapult Venture Managers and since then 12 customers (some with multiple material needs) have been signed up generating income to date of approx £315k and a significant pipeline of future customers has been developed. Applications in development include solar cells, polymer composites, display screens, catalysts, printed electronics and fuel cells. Customers are typically multinationals or market leaders in their field and geographically spread throughout Europe and Japan. Once materials are developed manufacture will proceed under license generating significant recurring revenue.

Alongside this Company A has recently been awarded SHyMan, an EU grant (total value ≈ €7M) involving 9 industrial case studies and development/build of a 100 TPA manufacturing plant. Company A is seeking £400k investment to increase commercial operations and drive sales, increase technical capacity and move all facilities, including pilot manufacture, onto one site. This is an ideal time for them to build on the market traction they have achieved by expanding their capacity to cope with deal flow.Exit is envisaged through a trade sale to a large chemical multinational at a valuation of £40M.

Company B's system is a disruptive IP protected technology for measuring the level of potentially lethal carcinogenic toxins in food. Company B answers the need for a rapid, simple, reliable, accurate and affordable method to enable companies to test the safety of food throughout the global supply chain in order to meet regulatory requirements, a market worth $8bn/year.

A recent series of extremely successful customer trials has confirmed the system’s robustness and accuracy with glowing testimonials from the customers involved. As a platform technology, further applications can be developed in other food safety sectors as well for medical, pharmaceutical and environmental uses.

With a strong, investing management in place including the founder, a world expert in mycotoxins and food safety with 30 years expertise in the field, a robust business model and comprehensive business plan detailing a mapped route to market, Company B has everything in place for a successful market launch in Q4 2011.

Company B is now looking to raise £3.5m to take the Company through launch to an established market position by mid-2012. Of this, £1m has already been raised from existing shareholders. Expectations are to achieve a £6m EBIT in 2015. Exit is likely to be via a trade sale to a major international instrument or food safety testing company.

Company C is a Beta phase start up mobile application creating a complete one stop viral network between individuals, commerce, groups, companies and associations that has been funded to date by the founders, RDA funds and angel investors.

They are developing a global address book to replace the static contacts in every mobile phone. The contacts for a trusted cleaner, restaurant or a lawyer will be shared and searched within one's social circle and the general public, allowing comments, recommendations and tags in a wiki style.

Company C’s patented system is designed with NFC in mind, uses short range communication to bond, synchronise contacts, using mobiles as the channel and web access as the management tool.