Oxbridge Partnership joins Oxford Start-up Ecosystem

The first joint Oxford and Cambridge University spin-out, Helio Display Materials, has moved into development space at The Oxford Trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation, based in Headington, having recently completed a £3.5 million funding round led by Longwall Venture Partners and BGF.

Founded by Professor Henry Snaith FRS and Professor Sir Richard Friend FRS FREng, both leaders in perovskite technology, the company specialises in the creation of brighter, more colourful, energy efficient displays based on the outstanding properties of metal halide perovskites, for application in LCD, OLED and µLED technology sector.

Simon Jones, chief executive officer, Helio Display Materials said: “I have been deeply impressed by the professional and flexible response of the Wood Centre for Innovation team to Helio’s specialist requirements. Working together, we are creating the perfect home for Helio’s next exciting phase of accelerated product development. Its hugely valuable that the Wood Centre for Innovation is there for companies like Helio and I look forward to being part of the active community of technology start-ups that they have created.”

Helio Display Materials is one of eight companies to take space following a two phase £1 million high spec laboratory conversion project at the Wood Centre for Innovation which has seen a total of 9,500 sq ft of office space converted into bioscience and deep tech facilities for science and tech start-ups wanting to be based in Oxford.

The conversion project, helped by £0.3 million of support from the Government’s Local Growth Fund, secured by Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, attracted stellar companies, including DJS Antibodies, Samsara Therapeutics, Human Centric DD and LabMedExpert, during its first phase.

 In Phase 2 space was taken up by two other companies, OxDX Ltd, an Oxford University spin-out developing disease diagnostics using super-resolution microscopy and machine learning. OXDX recently announced a £2.6 million pre-seed fundraise to support the expansion of both its team and AI powered rapid diagnostic technology.

RedShiftBio (RedShift BioAnalytics) has developed a platform technology enabling measurements of previously undetectable structure changes in biomolecules. Using a powerful new analytical technique, Microfluidic Modulation Spectroscopy (MMS), the company’s flagship AQS3pro instrument provides in-depth structural information enabling users to detect pivotal changes in molecular structure that affect the critical quality attributes governing the safety, efficacy, and stability of biomolecules and their raw materials.

With the addition of Helio Displays, both of the Trust’s innovation centres – tin Headington and in Oxford  city centre – are almost at full occupancy with 40 high tech, software and support companies.

 Steve Burgess, chief executive officer, The Oxford Trust said: “We warmly welcome Helio Display Materials as a shining example of an Oxbridge spin-out collaboration, and indeed all our new customers and their staff. It is thanks to OxLEP for securing a second tranche of national government funding – alongside the Trust’s significant own investment – that we have been able to accelerate lab provision at our Wood Centre for Innovation that will give early-stage companies the opportunities they need to achieve their potential. It is a real endorsement of what we do to have the first and second phases of our lab development supported by the Local Growth Fund.

“We now offer a complete range of spaces in our two innovation centres from virtual offices and co-working to grade A office space and class II life science laboratory facilities to support science and tech start-ups focused on R&D on their journey to success.”

OxLEP, the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, is one of 38 Local Enterprise Partnerships in England and since its launch in 2011, has secured around £1bn-worth of investment for the Oxfordshire economy, supporting the creation of around 65,000 new jobs between 2011 and 2019, representing over two-thirds of a 2031 target of 85,600 new jobs. It currently oversees a £3.1bn growth programme for Oxfordshire.

Noting how the addition of Helio Display further demonstrated the strength of Oxfordshire’s innovation ecosystem, Nigel Tipple, chief executive of OxLEP, said: “Over the past two years, the county’s globally significant innovation ecosystem has demonstrated its international standing and has had a monumental impact, particularly in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope this funding will help to continue to build on this position of strength and – in this instance – create solutions to help drive us to a cleaner, more sustainable future.”

 Managed by Oxford Innovation, the phase 2 development project is being overseen by Bulb Laboratories.

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