Oxford, UK: October 12, 2020: Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the independent investment company created to found, fund and build transformational businesses via its unique partnership with the University of Oxford, today announces the appointment of Alexis Dormandy as CEO. Alexis brings highly relevant science, technology, and investment experience and joins us from leading European venture capital firm Atomico.
Alexis originally trained as a doctor at Oxford University before embarking on a successful business career that began at Virgin. He ran his first business there aged 26, and by 30, had launched both Virgin Mobile and Virgin Active and sat on the Virgin Group board. He later became VP Consumer and Chief Marketing Officer at Orange, helping the firm grow to become the top mobile operator in the UK. He has also served as the Managing Director at Candover, a large European private equity firm and as European Chairman of RED, the AIDS charity founded by Bono.
Most recently at Atomico, Alexis worked as an adviser to the portfolio companies on their growth strategies and scaling.
Oxford Science Enterprises is building fundamental technology companies capable of tackling some of the world’s toughest problems, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this mission
Alexis Dormandy, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“I couldn’t be more excited to be joining Oxford Science Enterprises at this point in their journey. Oxford Science Enterprises is building fundamental technology companies capable of tackling some of the world’s toughest problems, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this mission, translating breakthrough science into real-world impact.”
We’ve made great progress over the last five years and I must thank the team and Jim for their dedication and hard work. Now under Alexis’ leadership we will further build on this momentum.
Chris Chambers, Oxford Science Enterprises Chairman, said:
“We have completed a rigorous recruitment process and I am delighted to announce that Alexis Dormandy will be joining Oxford Science Enterprises as our new CEO. Alexis has the perfect expertise and qualities to capitalise on Oxford Science Enterprises’s success and I look forward to working closely with him. We’ve made great progress over the last five years and I must thank the team and Jim for their dedication and hard work. Now under Alexis’ leadership we will further build on this momentum.”
In just five years, Oxford Science Enterprises has raised £613m in patient capital, establishing over 80 portfolio companies and the creation of over 900 jobs.
Alexis will learn about the business, portfolio companies and wider ecosystem alongside his advisory role at Atomico. He will join Oxford Science Enterprises full time in January 2021 at which point Jim Wilkinson, who has acted as Interim CEO, will return to his original role as Chief Financial Officer.
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Notes to Editors
About Oxford Science Enterprises
Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) is an independent, billion-pound investment company, created in 2015 to found, fund and build transformational businesses via our unique partnership with the University of Oxford, the world’s #1 research university.
This partnership enables us to work with the brightest academic minds tackling the world’s toughest challenges and guarantees us unrivalled access to their scientific research. In collaboration with our global network of entrepreneurs and advisors, we go well beyond funding to we shape and nurture these complex ideas into successful businesses.
Actively focused on a core portfolio of around 40 companies spanning three high-growth, high-impact sectors – Life Sciences, Health Tech, Deep Tech – we adopt a flexible, long-term investment approach, recognising the path from ground-breaking research to global markets takes time and resilience.
To date, we have invested £0.5 billion in over 80 ambitious companies built on Oxford science, helping progress 28 from seed to Series A, and 22 to Series B and beyond, including 2 IPOs and 7 trade sales. A key player in Oxford’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, we are highly motivated to foster an environment that catalyses pioneering research and steers it to commercial success. We are committed to doing this in an inclusive and sustainable way.