Founders & Funders

🎄 Festive wishes from Founders & Funders! 🎄 What a year it’s been! From big ideas to bold moves, you’ve brought the spark that makes this community such a fantastic space for founders, funders, scientists, alumni, and future changemakers. As we wrap up 2024, we want to say a huge THANK YOU for your energy, creativity, and the inspiring conversations that have made this year so memorable. Here’s to: ✨ Building connections and community. ✨ Turning science & tech into impact. ✨ And stepping into 2025 with even bigger ambitions! Happy Holidays from all of us at Founders & Funders – let’s make 2025 extraordinary together! 🚀 #FoundersAndFunders #2025 #ThankYouCommunity Michael Collyer | Christiaan de Koning, PhD | Sanja Brolih, PhD | Jean-Christophe Spiliotis | Elisabeth Duijnstee | Adam Norton-Steele | Lily Elsner | Noi Omaboe | Ashwin Menon Nandakumar | James Thomas Coates | Harold Grosjean | Jessie Jiang, PhD | Alaa Baazaoui | Stéphane Marbeau | Anouk Moll | Marco Zaccaria Di Fraia | David M Lehmann | Florian Groelly, PhD | Bram De Winter | Salvatore Bellinghieri Moreno | University of Oxford AI Network | Oxford Life Sciences Network | Oxford Space Network | Saïd Business School, University of Oxford | Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre | EnSpire Oxford | Oxbridge AI Challenge | Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs | Oxford Sciences Innovation |Oxford Venture Capital Network |  Oxford Founders Global | Oxford Founders Society | ZERO Founders Network - University of Oxford | University of Oxford | Maria Zubeldia Diaz | Carlota Jimenez Rodriguez | Franziska Vonhöne

🎉 As 2024 comes to a close, we'd like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who has contributed to the University of Oxford AI Network community since its inception! 🚀 🎤 Speakers A huge thank you to our speakers who shared their expertise and sparked meaningful conversations. Your insights have broadened our perspectives and understanding of AI's potential and challenges. Some of our speakers have included (but not limited to) Lionel Tarassenko | Nick Hawes | Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes | Sarah Haywood | David Clifton | Chris Mammen | Keith Strier | Viktoriia Oliinyk 🇺🇦 | Udai D. | J Rosser | Jeremy Palmer | Adam Mahdi | Fenella Boyle | Lisa Weaver-Lambert | Marco Zaccaria Di Fraia | Anne- Marie VERDIN-MULOT | Sam Harman | Simon Driscoll | Miklós Lázár 🤝 Partners and Sponsors Thank you to our various partners, sponsors and hosts. Your support and collaboration have enabled us to create platforms for knowledge exchange, foster impactful research, and empower the next generation of AI leaders. Oxford Science Enterprises | Reuben College, University of Oxford | EnSpire Oxford | e-therapeutics PLC | Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society | Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP | Google Developer Groups (GDG) (Oxford) | Entrepreneur First | Taylor Wessing | Oxbridge AI Challenge | QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey | Mind Foundry | Founders & Funders 🌟 Looking Ahead We’re excited to continue building connections, and expand our engagement opportunities. If you are interested in nominating a speaker for our 2025 series please complete this form (https://lnkd.in/eUbhHKtE). Or if you are interested in getting involved in organising workshops, socials, hackathons, or research projects, please contact michael.collyer@oii.ox.ac.uk. We are also keen to hear from potential partners and sponsors who want to help support Oxford's AI community for the years to come. James Dancer | Christiaan de Koning, PhD | University of Oxford | Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre | Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford | University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science | Oxford Robotics Institute | Oxford Mathematics | Institute for Ethics in AI #OxfordAINetwork #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Collaboration

Last week Founders & Funders was at Hult International Business School for a panel discussion on the early stages of venture building: how to validate your business ideas, leverage networks and ecosystem resources effectively, assemble a strong founding team, and secure initial investors. 🎓 David M Lehmann (host) - Family business and innovation scholar at Hult, Stanford University, and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford 💭 Bartek Ogonowski - LEVRA: Building the future of education in the workplace. 🤝 Christiaan de Koning, PhD - Oxford's Founders & Funders: network of 3000+ science & tech leaders. Michael Collyer | Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre | University of Oxford AI Network | Oxford Space Network | Oxford Life Sciences Network

✨ Wrapping Up 2024 with a Bang! 🎉 The final University of Oxford AI Network x Founders & Funders event of 2024 was a huge success! 🚀 This week we hosted AI-themed mini-talks followed by an informal networking social—an incredible opportunity to connect with brilliant minds from AI, tech, and innovation across the University of Oxford and beyond. 💻 Mini-lectures: Reuben College, University of Oxford (powered by the AI & ML Group at Reuben College) 🤝 Networking social: The Lamb & Flag (powered by Oxford Science Enterprises) A special thanks to our engaging speakers: 🔹 Harry Mayne (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford) Talk Title: "Monitoring and Controlling LLMs Through Their Internal Representations" 🔹 Martin Kolarik (Agiception) Talk Title: "Exploring Data-Driven Futures for Personalized Eczema Care" A huge thank you to Reuben College, University of Oxford and Oxford Science Enterprises for their support, and to all who joined us this year. Together, we’re building a vibrant ecosystem of ideas and connections. This event marked the perfect close to a fantastic year of fostering collaboration, innovation, and community. Looking forward to what 2025 will bring — stay tuned for even more exciting events! 🎯 Missed out and want to join in the future? Sign up here! https://lnkd.in/er7E5JwK #OxfordAINetwork #FoundersAndFunders #Innovation #AI #Tech #Networking | Michael Collyer | Christiaan de Koning, PhD | Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre | EnSpire Oxford | Saïd Business School, University of Oxford | OX1 Incubator | Oxford Founders Society | ZERO Founders Network - University of Oxford | Oxford Seed Fund | Oxbridge AI Challenge | Oxford University Innovation | Careers Service, University of Oxford | BIPC Oxfordshire | Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford | Oxford Space Network | Oxford Life Sciences Network | Maria Zubeldia Diaz | Victoria Porritt | Callum Usher-Dodd

Great to see Oxford’s entrepreneurial ecosystem expanding with the new Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Christ Church, Oxford. A fantastic step towards empowering students to transform bold ideas into real impact. Curious to see the opportunities this will bring to Oxford’s community of innovators! #OxfordEcosystem #Entrepreneurship #Innovation I Irwin Zaid | Pegram Harrison | University of Oxford

Big congrats to our colleagues at the Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre for a hugely successful Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Forum (OSEF) at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford 🚀 From inspiring keynotes and insightful panels, the day was a celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation. Good to see many familiar faces and to make new connections with leaders from across academia, startups, and industry, reaffirming our mission to: 💡 Spark innovation through interdisciplinary collaboration 🔬Help science talent to translate research into meaningful impact 📚 Empower founders with tools and mentorship 🤝 Strengthen networks for lasting impact If we didn’t have a chance to meet at the conference, reach out—we’re always keen to support the Oxford ecosystem and beyond. Thank you Maria Zubeldia Diaz, Pinar Ozcan, Dan James, Callum Usher-Dodd, Carlota Jimenez Rodriguez, Franziska Vonhöne, Ahmed Adel Saad, James Murray, Arif A. Wani, Michael H., Natalie Berge and colleagues for putting on such a big show! Here’s to turning research and innovative ideas into real-world impact! 🌟 #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #OxfordEcosystem #Startups #FoundersAndFunders #OSEF2024 Michael Collyer | Christiaan de Koning, PhD | University of Oxford AI Network | Oxford Life Sciences Network | Oxford Space Network

Great article by Raluca Ciobancan and Sara Foster at Founders Factory on traits they see in successful founders. They also include some good examples. Definitely worth a read! 👇

What is there in Oxford outside the University of Oxford? Lots! Listen to Lily Elsner, CEO and Co-Founder of the amazing and innovative Jack Fertility, talk about the support available in Oxford outside of the hallowed halls and how to take advantage of it as a Founder. Advanced Oxford The Oxford Trust Oxford Brookes University Saïd Business School, University of Oxford Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) Mishcon de Reya LLP James Cowper Kreston Oxford Innovation Live now: https://lnkd.in/eBGyuQfr

Join us Tuesday the 5th of November for AI-themed talks and informal networking! 🚀 As spaces are limited, sign up here to secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/eDK-rFAa

"You’d struggle to deny the city’s timeless beauty. Even battered by November winds, the limestone buildings and ancient trees seem to sparkle with a self‑assurance of their own." This is a love letter to Oxford which more than one University of Oxford alumnus will be reading this weekend with fierce approval and the recall of memories from decades before. Though I'm not sure I could pull off the fashion suggestions, I can certainly recommend the Lamb & Flag pub on St Giles', saved and restored by Dave Norwood and a group of modern Inklings, and now a venue for reading groups, discussions on artificial intelligence, poetry, music and more than one lock-in. As recent Oxford alumna Grace Clover recalls in her Financial Times piece, "Studying at Oxford is an experience of extremes. There’s the isolation of sitting within a fortress of books with three essays to write in five days; then the constant socialising, as everyone tries to fit six months’ worth of activities into an eight-week term." "There’s the drudgery of the library grind that’s inexplicably tied to the joy of spending a tutorial trying to make sense of the sexual dynamics of The Trial with one of the world’s leading experts on Kafka." "Meanwhile, the astounding, thrilling weight of history: it’s widely rumoured that Thomas Hardy wrote much of Jude the Obscure in my favourite local pub, the Lamb & Flag on St Giles’ street..." "More importantly, Oxford is a place where people care: about the things they’re reading, about the people in their lives, about the world around them." Thank you, Grace, and welcome to Oxford's wonderful alumni community. https://lnkd.in/e3ig8qED