The OSF is also announcing investment in three different companies: Habitual, StarKitchens and Yoxly.
The Oxford Seed Fund (OSF) witnessed a 25% jump in applications to its 2020-2021 fund from the previous year. In response, the team is pleased to announce that instead of the traditional two investments, this year, the student-led pre-seed and seed fund, which is an initiative of Saïd Business School’s Entrepreneurship Centre, will invest £60,000 in three Oxford-affiliated startups. OSF will be investing in the incredible teams behind the start-ups Habitual, StarKitchens, and Yoxly. Habitual and Yoxly are both health-tech ventures, while StarKitchens tackles the food-tech sector, both industries that have seen a boom since the pandemic.
'Out of almost a hundred ventures in the Oxford Ecosystem who applied, we are glad and honored to be a part of the journey of Habitual, StarKitchens, and Yoxly, who are all using technology to solve difficult problems,' said Maria Rotilu, Managing Director of the Oxford Seed Fund.
Habitual are addressing a key issue. There are over half a billion people worldwide living with Type 2 diabetes. In the UK alone, over 4.9 million people live with type 2 diabetes. To tackle the large and growing problem, Habitual provides digital, evidence-based type 2 diabetes and prediabetes reversal programmes for individuals. Yoxly uses technology to provide convenient and discreet sexual health services via regular home testing. Its mission is to improve access to sexual health diagnostics, testing, and support. A new STI is diagnosed every 70 seconds. With oversubscribed genitourinary medicine clinics, public funding cuts, and stigma around in-person testing, Yoxly provides much-needed technology to take on this £100bn market. It will encourage testing and encourage access to critical sexual health care and support.
The OSF are also backing Starkitchens, a software-as-a-service startup building critical technology infrastructure to supercharge the growth of restaurants in Africa. Africa has a population of over 1.2 billion people. According to McKinsey, spending by Africa’s consumers and businesses already totals £2.9 trillion annually, and is growing rapidly. Household consumption is expected to grow at 3.8 percent a year to total £1.5 trillion by 2025. StarKitchens is at the forefront of providing critical technology for the growing restaurant industry in Africa, helping restaurants supercharge their growth.
'It is truly incredible and enriching to witness the level of innovation that can come out of Oxford, more so during these changing times,' said Mariana Carranza, OSF Deputy Director Sourcing. 'We are very excited to back the strong teams behind Habitual, Yoxly, and StarKitchens and look forward to supporting them as they look to grow rapidly over the next several years,' said Dhruv Sarin, OSF Deputy Director Operations and Portfolio.
This year, the OSF team considered many impressive companies in the application process including AOADx, Heimdal, Nash, MyMind, OneClassroom. The quality of the teams and their applications is a massive testament to the continued vibrancy of the Oxford Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. To view a comprehensive list of the Oxford Seed Fund’s top ventures for 2020-2021, see the Oxford Seed Fund Founders Book.