Grand Final: Saïd Business School Venturefund 2011
“Green & Grow” and “Off.Grid:Electric”, two environmentally friendly companies led by current Oxford MBA and Executive MBA students, were selected for investment at the final of this year’s Saïd Business School Venture Fund competition. The fund provides entrepreneurs with seed and early-stage capital for new ventures.
The companies were selected after pitching to distinguished panelists Sir Philip Green, Sir Victor Blank and Karl Peterson at the final of the competition, which was held at the Saïd Business School on May 11th 2011. The amount of the investment in their businesses has yet to be determined, but the maximum award is £150,000.
Green & Grow has developed an environmentally friendly and cost-effective product based on biopolymers which, when added to water, enhances the yield of agricultural crops many times; while Off.Grid:Electric builds, owns and operates small-scale solar electricity generation and distribution stations serving populations and businesses that are not on national grids.
Four companies were selected from among over 70 initial entries to pitch at the final, which was attended by over 300 enthusiasts from the University of Oxford and the Oxford shire investment community.
The other two companies, who received critical acclaim from the panel were: Contego, which offers automated fraud detection systems to publishers of online classified advertising; and TheySay, which utilizes research conducted by Oxford University’s Computer Science Department in the area of sentiment analysis in text.
The annual competition is open to students and alumni of Saïd Business School, as well as members of Oxford Entrepreneurs who are University of Oxford students or alumni. To date the Fund has invested a total of £675,000 in five businesses.
The Fund is student-led and provides students with the opportunity to experience investing first hand. In 2010/11, eleven students were recruited from the current class MBA and Executive MBA classes to serve on the investment committee that manages the Fund with support from the University and external advisors.