Oxford spins out companies through its technology-transfer Arm, Oxford University Innovation (OUI), which has created more than 250 companies since 1987. OUI licenses IP from university research, takes equity stakes, and supports founders through early commercialisation.Source: Oxford University Innovation

What is Quantum Motion's connection to the University of Oxford?

Quantum Motion is a spinout of both the University of Oxford and University College London. Oxford University Innovation holds an equity stake via the IP licence. The company received £40m from the British Business Bank in May 2026 to scale silicon-based quantum hardware.Source: event

How old is the University of Oxford?

The University of Oxford has roots dating to at least the 12th century, making it one of the oldest universities in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world.Source: Wikipedia

Background

The University of Oxford is one of the oldest universities in the world, with continuous teaching since at least the 12th century. It is ranked consistently among the top three universities globally and produces research across the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and medicine. Oxford has 47 Nobel laureates among its alumni and staff, and its technology-transfer Arm, Oxford University Innovation (OUI), has spun out more than 250 companies since 1987. The university's 40 departments and 45 colleges form a collegiate structure that concentrates research excellence across disciplines, enabling cross-disciplinary breakthroughs in areas from Quantum computing and drug discovery to artificial intelligence.

Oxford is co-spinout home of Quantum Motion, alongside University College London (UCL). Quantum Motion secured £40m from the British Business Bank (BBB) in May 2026 to scale silicon-based quantum hardware, with the BBB's direct investment marking an unusual move by the state lender into deep hardware infrastructure. Oxford's role as a founding institution gives it equity stakes in Quantum Motion's IP via Oxford University Innovation, reinforcing the pattern of Oxford research spinouts attracting public and private capital as the UK attempts to build a domestic quantum industry.

Oxford co-ran the first authorised treatment trial in the 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, alongside WHO, DRC's INRB and the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine. The trial dosed its first patient in Ituri Province on 2 July 2026, testing remdesivir, the antibody cocktail MBP134 and the prophylactic obeldesivir under a protocol that DRC and Uganda regulators had stalled since late May. Oxford's role runs through its established Ebola vaccine and therapeutics research groups, active since the 2014-16 West African epidemic.