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Isis Innovation

British R&D consultancy firm

Oxford University Innovation Limited (OUI) is a British technology transfer and consultancy company created to manage the research and development (R&D) of university spin-offs. OUI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford, and is located on Botley Road, Oxford, England. OUI was previously known as Isis Innovation (1988–2016) and Oxford University Research and Development Ltd (1987–1988).2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1988Founded1
  • Industrytechnology transfer1

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Coat of arms of the University of Oxford
Photo: ChevronTango, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Oxford University Innovation Limited (OUI) is a British technology transfer and consultancy company created to manage the research and development (R&D) of university spin-offs. OUI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford, and is located on Botley Road, Oxford, England. OUI was previously known as Isis Innovation (1988–2016) and Oxford University Research and Development Ltd (1987–1988).2

Products and brands

Oxford University Innovation's divisions

Oxford University Innovation is split into three divisions, dedicated to different areas of knowledge transfer. Alongside the central Technology Transfer group that deals exclusively with disclosures and patent applications from University of Oxford researchers, Oxford University Innovation manages:

Isis Angels Network (IAN)

The Isis Angels Network (IAN) introduces private investors and seed/venture capitalists interested in investing in spin-out companies from the University of Oxford to investment opportunities. IAN is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, established by the then Isis in 1999.

Oxford University Innovation also administers the Oxford University Challenge Seed Fund (UCSF), which was launched in 1999 with investment from the UK Treasury, Wellcome Trust and Gatsby Foundation. The £4 million Oxford UCSF has invested in over 100 projects, ranging in size from £1,700 to £250,000. The overall objective of the UCSF scheme is to enable universities to access seed funds in order to assist the successful transformation of good research into good business.

In 2010, Oxford University Innovation (then Isis Innovation) – in conjunction with the university's 'Oxford Thinking' campaign – created the Oxford Invention Fund (OIF). The open fund allows anyone to donate money which goes towards helping create prototypes or proof-of-concept models from ideas and technologies developed at Oxford to improve the transfer into a commercial setting.

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Oxford University Innovation manages the licensing of copyrighted Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) questionnaires via its Isis Outcomes brand. These questionnaires, developed within the university, are used for academic and commercial clinical studies into a variety of illnesses, including Parkinson's disease and endometriosis. The negotiation of sales agreements for biological and physical science materials such as cell lines and antibodies are also handled by Isis Innovation.

From Wikipedia’s article on Oxford University Innovation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1988Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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