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Oxford Capital makes EIS investments
accessible, easy to understand
and hassle-free for investors
and their financial advisers.
The firm offers clients two distinct EIS
investment strategies. One is focused on
investment in high growth companies from
a range of different industries, whilst the
other invests in infrastructure companies.
Oxford Capital has been making EIS
investments since 1999 and was a pioneer
of discretionary managed EIS portfolios.
Its growth capital EIS portfolio backs
well-established businesses to support
their expansion. Oxford Capital builds each
investor a portfolio of around 8-10 such
companies, providing all the tax advantages
of the EIS whilst mitigating some of the
risk of smaller company investments
through portfolio diversification.
Oxford Capital’s Infrastructure EIS
invests in companies which own and
operate infrastructure assets, particularly
renewable energy installations. Because
the investee companies own physical
assets and earn revenues through long-
term contracts, the Infrastructure EIS has
a lower risk profile than some other EIS
investments. Private clients can also access
Oxford Capital’s infrastructure strategy
through its Estate Planning Service, which
provides protection from Inheritance Tax.
Oxford Capital was voted Best EIS Fund
Manager at the EIS Association awards
in both 2013 and 2014, and is the only
firm to have won the award four times.
OXFORD CAPITAL
SIRIGEN
Investment
Date
2008 and
Follow-on
Sector
Life Sciences
Location
Ringwood,
Hampshire
Employees
19
ABOUT SIRIGEN:
Sirigen develops and manufactures light harvesting polymers
which have a wide range of applications in research, medical
diagnostics and life sciences. Sirigen was successfully acquired
by Becton, Dickinson & Company in August 2012 at nearly 90x
revenues.
RATIONALE FOR INVESTMENT:
•
Clear route to exit, since an acquisition would be possible once
Sirigen demonstrated the potential to scale rapidly inside an
acquirer
•
Commitment from commercial partners was already
demonstrated
•
The management team was highly experienced in the field
•
Extremely scalable business model, selling highly valuable
reagents through commercial partners
•
Well-aligned investor syndicate
GROWTH IN REVENUES AND EMPLOYMENT:
Since Oxford Capital first invested in 2008 there has been:
•
CAGR 180% revenue growth
•
1.7x increase in the number of employees
VALUE ADDED BY EIS MANAGER:
•
Active and supportive board member particularly on issues of
strategy
•
Providing balance to shareholder group and Board
•
Built investor syndicates over several rounds
•
In 2011, Oxford Capital and its co-investors oversubscribed to
fund the company through to exit
•
Very active in exit negotiations
•
Supportive shareholder, bringing syndicate together
AMOUNT INVESTED AND ANY CO-INVESTORS:
Oxford Capital: £2.3 million
Seraphim, IQ Capital, NESTA, YFM and others: £9 million
CELOXICA
Investment
Date
2008 and
Follow-on
Sector
Hardware-
accelerated
trading
Location
London
Employees
36
ABOUT CELOXICA:
Celoxica sells a combined hardware and software product to
institutional investors who require extremely high performance
access to financial market data. Data feeds are delivered over
high-speed networks to the host computer memory, where it
can be processed in a few millionths of a second. This allows
Celoxica’s clients to respond faster to changing market conditions
and ultimately increase profits.
RATIONALE FOR INVESTMENT:
•
Celoxica had an attractive business model with high gross
margins and long-term recurring revenues
•
In the financial technology sector, Celoxica was unique as the
only vendor to offer a compact hybrid hardware and software
solution, which helps reduce data centre footprint and total cost
of ownership
GROWTH IN REVENUES AND EMPLOYMENT:
Since 2008 there has been:
•
CAGR 150% revenue growth
•
3x increase in the number of employees
VALUE ADDED BY EIS MANAGER:
•
Oxford Capital backed the company as part of a ‘take-private’
transaction from the AIM market in 2008
•
Supported bringing key strategic investors on-board including
Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs
•
Helped the company to expand into Asia and the US
•
Worked with the company to develop new product launch
strategies
AMOUNT INVESTED AND ANY CO-INVESTORS:
Oxford Capital: £1.9 million
Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Spark Ventures, Herald Investment
Management and others: £8.9 million
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