What does success really look like for Oxford's innovation ecosystem, and how do you build something that lasts?

In this Oxford+ in Brief bonus episode, host Susannah de Jager puts the same four questions to Dr Christiaan de Koning and Michael Collyer, co-founders of Founders and Funders and the team behind the inaugural OX Tech Week. With UK startups raising $7.8 billion in Q1 2026 alone, the stakes for getting Oxford's commercialisation engine right have never been higher. Looking ahead to 2050, Christiaan and Michael imagine a less fragmented, more collaborative Oxford that is not just a research hub but a global commercial centre for science and innovation.

Dr Christiaan de Koning: Christiaan de Koning is an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and Chair of the Founders and Funders Foundation. He teaches at Said Business School and is a strategic adviser to CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre. He holds a DPhil from Oxford in management research, where his work focused on the commercialisation of CRISPR biotechnology through new ventures. Through Founders and Funders, he has helped build a community of over 4,000 members connecting researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors across the Oxford ecosystem.

Connect with Christiaan on LinkedIn

Michael Collyer: Michael Collyer is a researcher at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute and co-founder of the Founders and Funders Foundation. He co-established the university's AI network, running events in Oxford and London to connect researchers and entrepreneurs in the AI and machine learning space. His academic work spans information controls, natural language processing, machine learning, and the intersection of artificial intelligence with intellectual property law.

Connect with Michael Collyer on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

What would it take for Oxford to rival Silicon Valley or Boston as a global destination for deep tech?

In this episode of Oxford Plus, host Susannah de Jager sits down with Dr Christiaan de Koning and Michael Collyer, co-founders of the Founders and Funders community, to explore how Oxford is organising itself for a new chapter in innovation. What started as a small gathering during COVID has grown into a 4,000-strong network and a registered foundation connecting researchers, founders, investors, and institutions across the city.

Now, with UK startup funding reaching $7.8 billion in Q1 2026 alone – a 60% increase year on year, Oxford is well placed to capture a growing share of that momentum. Christiaan and Michael discuss why the city's problem is not a lack of capital or talent but a lack of connection, and how their upcoming OX Tech Week aims to change that by creating a visible, city-wide platform for the ecosystem.

From the Oxford Innovation Map to the vision of making Oxford the global home of deep tech, this is a conversation about what happens when a city that has always excelled at discovery starts to organise itself around building, scaling, and global relevance.

Founders and Funders – Oxford's community foundation for researchers, founders, and investors
Oxford Tech Week – Oxford's inaugural city-wide tech festival, 26–29 May 2026
Oxford Innovation Map (oxmap.tech) – Interactive map of Oxford-affiliated startups, investors, and innovation hubs

• (00:00) - Welcome to Oxford Plus
• (01:09) - Introducing Oxford Tech Week and Founders and Funders
• (02:17) - How Founders and Funders Began
• (04:40) - From Online Events to Packed Pubs
• (06:24) - Why 97% of STEM PhDs Leave Academia
• (08:09) - Oxford at an Inflection Point
• (10:08) - The Missing Front Door to Oxford
• (11:06) - Mapping Oxford's Innovation Ecosystem
• (13:14) - More than Just a University Town
• (15:53) - The Capital Is Already Here
• (19:57) - Inside the Inaugural Oxford Tech Week
• (25:14) - A North Star for Deep Tech

Connect with Christiaan on LinkedIn

Michael Collyer: Michael Collyer is a researcher at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute and co-founder of the Founders and Funders Foundation. He co-established the university's AI network, running events in Oxford and London to connect researchers and entrepreneurs in the AI and machine learning space. His academic work spans information controls, natural language processing, machine learning, and the intersection of artificial intelligence with intellectual property law.

Connect with Michael Collyer on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

What would it take for Oxford to become the place where the companies that define global healthcare are actually built?

In this Oxford+ in Brief, host Susannah de Jager puts four quick-fire questions to Benny Axt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Oxford Science Enterprises. Benny shares his vision of success for the ecosystem, his advice for newcomers, and a candid assessment of where Oxford excels and where it falls short. He argues that world-class science alone is not enough, speed of translation, commercial talent, growth capital and a cultural shift towards risk-taking are all essential if Oxford is to fulfil its potential.

With Deloitte's 2026 Global Health Care Outlook reporting that over 70 per cent of non-US health system executives expect margins to improve this year, and IQVIA highlighting structural shifts across the NHS that are reshaping the landscape for health tech companies, Benny's call for Oxford to optimise for execution over perfection feels especially timely. From express licensing of bundled IP to unlocking pension fund capital, this is a concise and direct take on what needs to change, and why the UK's first trillion-dollar company could emerge from deep science in Oxford.

Benny Axt: Benny Axt is Entrepreneur in Residence in the Health Tech team at Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the largest university-affiliated investment company in the world and OSE's first EIR to join from the US. A seasoned healthcare strategist, operator and corporate development leader, Benny has spent over 15 years building healthcare businesses across six continents. Previously Vice President of Strategy at Dialogue Health Technologies Inc., he supported the company's US market entrance and helped grow it from a venture-backed startup through to IPO and acquisition. Before that, Benny held leadership roles at DaVita, a Fortune 500 healthcare provider, where his work included leading the privatisation of healthcare services in Saudi Arabia and building cultural infrastructure across more than a dozen countries. Benny holds an MBA and a Master of Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College. In addition to his role in venture capital, he serves as a board advisor and healthcare consultant to leaders seeking guidance on strategy, operations and international expansion.

Connect with Benny on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

How does world-class science fail to become a scalable business and what can founders do about it?

In this episode of Oxford+, host Susannah de Jager speaks with Benny Axt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Oxford Science Enterprises, about the complex relationship between healthcare technology and the systems it must operate within. They explore why healthcare's apparent inefficiency is often intentional constraint, how reimbursement models and regulatory pathways can make or break a company, and what UK health tech founders consistently underestimate about the US market.

Drawing on a recent BCG report highlighting a £20 billion annual opportunity if the UK strengthens its ability to translate research into real-world solutions, the conversation underscores why system fluency is not optional but essential. From the cultural transformation Benny led at DaVita across a dozen countries to the structural realities of NHS adoption and the perverse incentives within US oncology, this episode offers a candid and practical guide for founders, investors and anyone working at the intersection of innovation and healthcare delivery.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Oxford+
• (01:51) - The Biggest Misconception about Healthcare
• (05:04) - Technology versus System: Where Value Really Comes From
• (07:16) - When Extraordinary Science Fails to Translate
• (11:48) - The GLP-1 Revolution and Its Unintended Consequences
• (15:02) - Four Constants across Global Healthcare Systems
• (18:24) - Culture, DaVita, and Scaling Values across Continents
• (24:21) - What UK Founders Get Wrong about the US Market
• (28:12) - Replacement versus Net New Cost Centres
• (30:48) - Advising Oxford Spin-Outs in Their First 18 Months
• (38:05) - What Excites Benny about Oxford's Health Tech Ecosystem
• (44:03) - Why Oxford Science Enterprises and Why Now

Benny Axt: Benny Axt is Entrepreneur in Residence in the Health Tech team at Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the largest university-affiliated investment company in the world and OSE's first EIR to join from the US. A seasoned healthcare strategist, operator and corporate development leader, Benny has spent over 15 years building healthcare businesses across six continents. Previously Vice President of Strategy at Dialogue Health Technologies Inc., he supported the company's US market entrance and helped grow it from a venture-backed startup through to IPO and acquisition. Before that, Benny held leadership roles at DaVita, a Fortune 500 healthcare provider, where his work included leading the privatisation of healthcare services in Saudi Arabia and building cultural infrastructure across more than a dozen countries. Benny holds an MBA and a Master of Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College. In addition to his role in venture capital, he serves as a board advisor and healthcare consultant to leaders seeking guidance on strategy, operations and international expansion.

Connect with Benny on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

What would success actually look like if Oxfordshire’s innovation ecosystem got the next phase right?

In this Oxford+ in Brief bonus episode, Susannah de Jager puts four rapid-fire questions to Olga Kozlova, one of the leaders behind Equinox (Equitable Innovation Oxford). Olga shares what she believes the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor could unlock for the UK economy and what it would mean in everyday terms for Oxfordshire as a place to live, from connectivity to housing and opportunity.

She also offers practical advice for anyone entering the ecosystem: expect to spend time building relationships, one coffee at a time. Finally, she reflects on Oxford’s strengths, from global brand power to extraordinary science, and why the next step depends on becoming more joined up.

Olga Kozlova: Olga Kozlova is Director of Innovation and Engagement at the University of Oxford and a leader in innovation ecosystems, technology commercialisation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive growth. She previously established and led the Innovation and Industry Engagement directorate at the University of Strathclyde and founded Converge, Scotland’s national company creation and entrepreneurship development programme.

Connect with Olga on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

How do you turn a brilliant but messy innovation ecosystem into something easier to navigate, stronger on the world stage, and fairer for local communities?

In this episode of Oxford+, host Susannah de Jager speaks with Olga Kozlova, one of the driving forces behind Equinox (Equitable Innovation Oxford), a new partnership convened by the University of Oxford to align universities, investors, corporates, developers and communities behind a shared ambition for Oxfordshire.

Olga explains why Equinox formed, why a united voice matters if Oxford wants to compete with global clusters, and how the initiative aims to make the ecosystem more accessible for founders, investors and companies looking to locate in the region. The conversation also explores why equitable growth cannot be an afterthought in a county with stark inequalities, and how skills, narratives and practical delivery can help more people feel the benefits of innovation.

Equinox launched in November 2025 with over 40 regional partners and a new NatWest Accelerator to support Oxfordshire start-ups.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Oxford+
• (02:02) - Why Equinox Was Formed: A United Voice for Oxfordshire
• (03:51) - Making the Ecosystem Easier to Navigate for Founders and Investors
• (05:44) - What Equitable Innovation Means in Practice
• (09:06) - Does Equity Language Spook Investors?
• (12:42) - The Four Workstreams: Investors, Corporates, Developers, Communities
• (14:25) - Early Priorities: Inward Investment, Shared Materials, NatWest Accelerator
• (16:55) - Who Should Join Next: SMEs, NHS, and the Coalition of the Willing
• (19:53) - What Founders Need: Navigation, Capital, and Peer Networks
• (22:04) - The Quadruple Helix and a Model Other Regions Can Copy
• (25:19) - Measuring Success: Sector Diversity, Investors, and Reducing Inequality
• (28:00) - Olga’s Career Journey and Why Universities Matter

Olga Kozlova: Olga Kozlova is Director of Innovation and Engagement at the University of Oxford and a leader in innovation ecosystems, technology commercialisation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive growth. She previously established and led the Innovation and Industry Engagement directorate at the University of Strathclyde and founded Converge, Scotland’s national company creation and entrepreneurship development programme.

Connect with Olga on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

What would success for UK innovation actually look like in practice?

In this short Oxford+ in Brief bonus episode, host Susannah de Jager asks Lord William Hague four fast questions that cut straight to the future of Oxford, the Oxford ecosystem, and Britain’s ability to translate world-class ideas into lasting prosperity. Hague argues that the UK should aim to make the Oxford–Cambridge–London triangle the place in the world to build a career, invest, and create globally significant companies.

The Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor has become a central plank of the UK’s growth agenda, with the Chancellor previously pointing to an ambition to add £78bn to the economy by 2035, as reported by BBC News. Against that backdrop, Hague’s answers highlight two recurring themes: Oxford’s extraordinary breadth across disciplines, and the structural challenge of moving quickly inside a decentralised institution.

Lord William Hague: Lord William Hague of Richmond is the Chancellor of the University of Oxford and a former Leader of the Conservative Party. He studied PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford, later completing an MBA at INSEAD, and served as MP for Richmond for 26 years, including as Leader of the Conservative Party (1997–2001) and as Foreign Secretary (2010–2014). As Minister for Disabled People, he was responsible for the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and he co-founded the Campaign to Prevent Sexual Violence in Conflict. He was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford in November 2024 and took up his duties in February 2025.

Connect with Lord William Hague on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

How does the UK turn world-class ideas into world-class companies, without selling the best outcomes abroad?

In this episode of Oxford+, host Susannah de Jager speaks with Lord William Hague, Chancellor of the University of Oxford and former UK Foreign Secretary, about the UK’s scale-up gap and what it will take to build an innovation economy that keeps more value at home. They discuss why universities sit at the centre of growth, how pension capital and other long-term investors can help close the funding gap, and why procurement and slow decision-making can quietly kill promising companies before they reach commercial scale.

The conversation lands in the reality of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, which government has positioned as a long-term national growth project. Recent reporting on the corridor highlights the scale of the ambition and the industries driving it, alongside the claim it could add £78bn to the economy by 2035. From foreign takeovers of UK spinouts to the need for faster infrastructure delivery, this episode offers a clear, systems-level view of what Oxford’s ecosystem reveals about the UK’s economic future.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Oxford+
• (02:26) - What the Chancellor of Oxford Actually Does
• (07:36) - Oxford’s Global Position and Talent Flywheel
• (09:57) - The Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor and the Need for Speed
• (14:05) - The Scale-up Capital Gap and Pension Capital
• (15:09) - Unicorn Spinouts, Foreign Buyers, and Ownership
• (19:47) - Procurement as a Hidden Blocker to Innovation
• (23:34) - Why Britain Moves Slowly and What Could Change
• (27:19) - The Ellison Institute of Technology and Oxford’s Next Phase
• (31:22) - US Politics, Talent Flows, and Global Competition
• (38:44) - AI, Education, and Avoiding Brain Rot
• (40:05) - Social Media, Youth Mental Health, and Regulation

Lord William Hague: Lord William Hague of Richmond is the Chancellor of the University of Oxford and a former Leader of the Conservative Party. He studied PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford, later completing an MBA at INSEAD, and served as MP for Richmond for 26 years, including as Leader of the Conservative Party (1997–2001) and as Foreign Secretary (2010–2014). As Minister for Disabled People, he was responsible for the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and he co-founded the Campaign to Prevent Sexual Violence in Conflict. He was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford in November 2024 and took up his duties in February 2025.

Connect with Lord William Hague on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.