Following the death of private equity pioneer David Bonderman, a former Dean of Saïd Business School has reflected on the business leader's contribution to Oxford University.
Professor Colin Mayer described him as 'quiet and thoughtful' and a 'great a proponent of the entrepreneurial spirit' at the School and across the University.
David, who died on 11 December at the age of 82, was well known for having co-founded the Texas Pacific Group (TPG), being the long time chairman of Ryanair and leading the buyout of Continental Airlines in the 1990s. But it was in the early 2000s that he lay the foundations for the Oxford Seed Fund, which has gone on to provide funding for 53 ventures where a current Oxford student, alumni or researcher are part of the founding team.
Colin recalls: 'David took part in an event at the School where a member of the audience asked if the presenters were willing to put money into the creation of a fund for entrepreneurial start-ups at the School. He said he would and this then led to the creation of what came to be known as the SBS Venture Fund in 2004. For several years, there was then an annual event in the Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre at which David would judge pitches from students for funding start-ups from the Venture Fund.'
Thanks to his legacy, the Oxford Seed Fund has created more 1,200 jobs and seen almost half a billion pounds in additional funds raised globally. The portfolio of successful ventures includes Onfido, which uses artificial intelligence to verify customer identities, and whose recent sale marks the highest value return on investment for a student-led start-up for the University of Oxford.