Oxford Investment Opportunity Network

The following four companies are seeking investment via the Network as a result of the 20 September 2011 OION investment meeting at the Said Business School in 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.

Following multi-year R&D investment Company A has developed algorithms that solve the longstanding problem of reliably measuring the output of software development teams. C-Level executives and Program Managers for whom software development is strategically critical work with Company A because they're concerned that they:

- Lack visibility into output and productivity
- Cannot reliably compare the scant productivity data that is available across individuals, teams, or organizations
- Unable to consistently evaluate and monitor value for money where outsourced software development teams are involved

Company A achieves this by using a turnkey Enterprise SaaS solution; our market leading analytics allow clients to view up-to-date metrics of their software development effort. These metrics are based on data automatically drawn and analysed directly from the source code that is created by the software development teams and the tasks assigned to them.

Company A's team currently has no formal sales team or marketing capability despite achieving early market traction (three fee paying Enterprise clients since the start of the year). Company A is raising £320K via equity investment to develop a strategic sales capability and build a lead generation team. This is Company A’s first external capital raising (approx. £220K seed and founder funding invested, excl. sweat equity).

Company B is a regenerative medicine company founded as a spin-out from Smith & Nephew in 2007. Company B develop novel, versatile bioresorbable scaffolds that provide healthy cells with a 3D structure into which to migrate and re-populate the wound space. Repair can thus be enhanced, information on the healing process can be obtained and treatment pathways simplified providing the potential for healthcare cost savings. Company B is seeking investment and strategic partnerships to bring its products to the clinic and the market.

A patch is applied to a freshly-excised skin cancer wound by the clinician, and this rapidly allows the wound space to be filled with (and then covered by) the patients’ own skin cells. Benefits to the patient (less scarring, less disruption and improved quality of life) result as well as ease of use and off-the-shelf availability. The product has reached Proof of Concept/Demonstrator stage and will complete clinical testing and CE Mark Application process in 2013. The development of other pipeline products is also well advanced.

£180k will allow to reach a value point of completion of product testing, registration package and a clinical evaluation involving 30 patients. We expect this investment to be matched by grant funding from the Technology Strategy Board which has already provided £380k for tissue scaffold projects. A licensing deal will be negotiated from this value point. The market for skin cancer repair alone is estimated to be £360m and that for facial/acute wounds, £25bn. Sales are projected to exceed £5m 4 years after launch.

The company offers a disruptive technology - semantic voice and text recognition software. Its product provides a breakthrough for content search and digital device control. In TV, the first target market, it addresses consumers’ problems of media overload.

For technology providers and content vendors, it promises both differentiation and increased sales to justify investments in new content and technology, as well as offering marketing intelligence. A light app that can be put on a handheld device like a smartphone, it reacts very fast, aided by cloud computing.

Internet-enabled TV is the company’s first vertical target market. The technology is also in demand for other media applications, such as social media and online gaming. It is adaptable for use across sectors. The product’s origins are in high-level academic research and EU-funded research projects.

The company has completed proof of concept exercises with a major European telco / media operator as well as a cutting edge provider of set-top-boxes. The latter has led to a strategic partnership to be announced shortly.

Angel funding is sought to enable ongoing commercialisation.

Company D has identified a valuable niche opportunity in intravenous drug development for its platform technology.

Hypovolaemia, homeostatic imbalance, and the organ damage they create, slow patient recovery and are a major cost issue for hospitals. NICE data estimates potential savings in the region of £800m in the England alone. At the same time the Pharmaceutical Industry is facing patent expiry, lack of product innovation and increased regulator concern over existing product safety.

Company D, is the first genuine drug for the management of hypovolaemia. It is a simple concept that is very easy to market to clinicians. This novel product with pre-clinical “Proof of Concept” is expected to face strong competition for licensing from Baxter Healthcare, B Braun, and Fresenius-Kabi. The company has Patents covering the formulation, manufacturing process, and use of its innovation.

The company has agreed an outline clinical development plan with the UK regulatory authorities (MHRA) and is seeking GBP 1.5m to take the product through early stage clinical application, after which a licensing deal will fund future development. The company has also won three successive Technology Strategy Board Competitions for supportive funding.

Aqix Ltd has an experienced team and has attracted the attention of key opinion leaders. Professor Michael Mythen of UCL is the lead clinical advisor and Professor Vincent Lawton (ex head of Merck MSD in Europe) is Chairman.