Europe’s leading technology Investment Network announces Results

Results announced by Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION), Europe’s leading technology business angel network, show that it has marked another successful year of helping innovative companies to raise funding. The OION Network has also announced a pipeline of additional deals agreed under the
Co-Investment Programme which it runs with Bank of Scotland Growth Equity.

The OION Network is headquartered in Oxford and assists growing companies from across the UK to secure funding from £150,000 to £2 million. Its investor members include individual business angels as well as venture capital trusts, funds and corporate venturers.

OION has also recently launched a Co-Investment Programme under which the Bank of Scotland has set aside £2m to invest alongside OION’s investor members during 2008.

Around 100 guests at the Network’s Annual Dinner heard Investment Networks Director, Don McLaverty, announce that OION’s investor members invested
£1 million in 13 companies during the past year. This direct investment enabled the investee firms to leverage an additional £7 million of funding from other sources.

Mr McLaverty said: “We’re delighted that OION remains Europe’s most successful technology business angel network with a consistent track record of assisting innovative companies to secure funding needed to realise their growth potential.

“The major highlight of the year has been the launch of our Co-Investment Programme with Bank of Scotland. I’m very pleased to report that we have already completed two deals under this Programme with a total of £480,000 invested by OION investors and Bank of Scotland as part of investment rounds totalling £1.6m.

“A further six deals have been approved by the Bank of Scotland Growth Equity team, which will result in an additional £2.1m of direct investment from OION angels and Bank of Scotland Growth Equity once the investment agreements have been signed. This is extremely good news for all the parties involved.”

Malcolm Kpedekpo, Associate Director at Bank of Scotland Growth Equity, said: “We have been delighted by the success of the Co-Investment Programme. The OION Network offers an excellent selection of high quality companies seeking investment and Bank of Scotland Corporate is pleased to be able to support the entrepreneurs and our co-investors with additional funding through this unique initiative.”

Guests at the Annual Dinner, who included business angels, serial entrepreneurs and fund managers, also enjoyed hearing Guest Speaker, Nick Cross, co-founder of Milton Park, one of Europe’s leading mixed-use business parks, and a founder investor in high technology firms, including Oxford Asymmetry International and Oxford Semiconductor, describe his diverse activities as a serial founder entrepreneur and the challenges of growing technology start-ups into substantial businesses.

OION is one of three Investment Networks managed by Oxford Innovation, the UK’s leading operator of Innovation Centres. Oxford Innovation manages 13 Innovation Centres providing flexible office and laboratory space for over 300 growing companies.

- ENDS -
Editors Notes
Press enquiries to: Margaret Henry, PR Manager.
Tel: +44 (0)1865 811199 E-mail: m.henry@oxin.co.uk

About Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION)
Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION) is Europe’s most successful technology business angel network that links investors with entrepreneurs seeking business development funds from £150,000 to £2 million.
OION holds monthly meetings where selected companies from across the UK pitch their proposals to OION’s members, which include over 150 active business angels, VCTs and fund representatives.

Many of these companies are university spin-outs and OION has strong links with universities with a reputation for spinning out quality technology companies such as: Warwick, Oxford, Bristol, University College London, Imperial College London and Southampton.

OION has two successful sister networks. Thames Valley Investment Network links investors in the Reading and Thames Valley area with companies in the general technology, media and green tech sectors seeking funding from £100,000 to £750,000. Oxford Early Investments helps very stage companies raise proof of concept funding from £20,000 to £150,000.

OION is managed by Oxford Innovation Ltd (www.oxin.co.uk), the UK’s leading operator of Innovation Centre premises for growing companies, and sponsored by Laytons, Frank B Dehn & Co, NESTA and Bank of Scotland Corporate. For more information: www.oion.co.uk

About the Co-Investment Programme
In January 2008 Bank of Scotland Growth Equity and Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION) formally launched a Co-Investment Programme that will provide a new source of funding for innovative companies.

Under the terms of the Co-Investment Programme the Bank has made available £2 million to invest during 2008 alongside investor members of OION, and its sister investment networks, Thames Valley Investment Network and Oxford Early Investments. The Bank will typically invest from £25,000 to £250,000 per deal, with all investments being made on exactly the same terms as OION’s investor members.

About Nick Cross
Nick Cross is the co-founder of Milton Park, one of Europe’s leading mixed use business parks. In 1992 he was a founding investor and the first executive chairman of Oxford Asymmetry and Oxford Semiconductor.

Oxford Asymmetry, which provides advanced chemistry services for the discovery and development of new drugs, floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998 and merged in 2000 with Evotec Biosystems AG to become Evotec OAI.
Oxford Semiconductor has become a fast growing fabless semiconductor company with revenues in excess of $50m headquartered in Silicon Valley.

Since 1992 Nick Cross has been closely involved with another ten early stage high tech/biotech ventures and is currently working hard on committing to number 11. These ventures range from genomics to immunology, software to Web 2.0, instruments to renewable fuels. Nick Cross has also been involved in the re-financing of one of the UK’s major property developers.