Setting up the Business

Where did the idea for your business come from?

The business was set up by the two academic founders, Professor Malcolm Green, FRS, FRSC and Dr Tiancun Xiao with the help of Isis Innovation Limited, who had the view that the Intellectual Property developed by the founders would form a good basis for a new company.

Where did you get the funding from to start the business?

We met many angel investors and venture capital companies, but eventually ended up working with IP2IPO Limited (now IPGroup PLC).  IPGroup initially invested £0.5M in the company, allowing for a small team to be built and for development of one or two of the company’s many exciting ideas to the point of commercial commitment.
 
What help did you have in starting up the business? 

Isis Innovation provided the support pre-investment, providing introductions to investors, helping make potential customer contacts and, above all, moving the intellectual property through the patent systems.

How much time and money did it cost to get the business up and running?

It took almost a year to get to the point of closing on the first round financing, and for me that meant working for no salary, but with the promise of a small equity stake in the Company at spin-out.

What jobs did you do before you started your own business?

I had vacation jobs with ICI, before starting as a systems analyst followed by several plant manager jobs.  I then took a change into a Business HQ job as Technical Manager.  I then moved to the US to become Manufacturing, Engineering and SHE Director and a member of the management team of a small $75M business that was introducing several new products to market every year.  After five years here, I left Zeneca to join the Process Additives Division of a US company, FMC and came back to the UK as Manufacturing Director responsible for UK and US plants.  After another five years in this position I moved to Flexsys in Belgium where I became Vice President of Manufacturing and Technology and later Vice President of a $200M business unit of the Company

Did they help you?

Absolutely:  I can point to many instances where my past experience has been relevant today, but probably the most important have been those of taking new products through scale up and to the market, and the experience in being part of the small management team running the small (by ICI / Zeneca standard) business, where it was very clear that the effect of even small changes made in the operations could be seen in the financials in the very next month.

What have been the main problems that you’ve had to overcome?  

Closing a deal to finance the Company led to many anxious moments – did we have the right investors?, what would they be like to work with after the deal?, had they undervalued the Company?, etc.  At the end of the day it became clear that the most important of these was to pick investors who would be good to work with our team after spin-out, and who would have the best interests of the business at heart.

Do you think working in industry gave you an advantage when starting up the business? 

Very much so.  My previous industry experience has helped in commercial discussions with senior people in much larger companies than Oxford Catalysts.

How has the company grown?

The growth of the Company since spin-out last December has been phenomenal in terms of capitalisation.  At the end of January 2006, we decided to go ahead with an Initial Public Offering on AIM.  We completed this within 12 weeks and the result was a highly successful IPO, valuing the Company at £65M and raising £14M, after expenses.  As a result of this, we expect to have sufficient money in the bank to take us through to profitability, and are now in the middle of closing on new, purpose fitted premises on a business park outside Oxford, and recruiting to a complement of 25 employees, which will include at least 10 chemists and 5 chemical engineers.