Oxford University has launched a new scheme to help students initiate new businesses and start-ups.
The Oxford Guild, one of the oldest careers society in Europe, had launched a trial of the new Oxford Accelerator last year and is now officially opening up the initiative to applications from Oxford University students, alumni and start-up hopefuls from the surrounding Oxfordshire area in England.
“They will get everything from mentoring and training to access to workspace and funding. People think it's harder to start a business than it is and that's something we're looking to change,” said Abbas Kazmi, founder of the Oxford Accelerator, told The Daily Telegraph.
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Oxford Accelerator is aimed as the UK's answer to Y Combinator, the California-based accelerator programme.
The university already runs a programme to help students bring their ideas to market but, according to Kazmi, the new scheme is focused on hi-tech engineering and science research.
“There are no opportunities for students at Oxford, especially undergraduates, to launch apps, service businesses or lifestyle companies. The support on offer is very tech-focused,” Kazmi was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.
In reference to competitor Cambridge University success at commercialising research, he added, “We need to start playing catch-up. Oxford only made this a priority in the early 2000s while Cambridge has been doing spin-outs since the nineties.”
