Africa Oxford Health Innovation Platform

• In each cohort, up to 50 successful applicants benefit from a relevant and robust teaching course on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Health for Africa. The training including systems thinking, making financial projections, writing and delivering a pitch, and navigating intellectual property and regulatory hurdles. 

• The training is delivered through a series of web-based sessions over 16 weeks. The self-paced interactive programme and weekly workshops requires 8–10 hours/week in total. The programme is designed for optimal accessibility and ease of use for busy innovator-entrepreneurs. 

• Personalised mentorship and support is provided to help fellows develop their ventures. 

• The programme integrates the use of virtual workrooms for small group engagement and co-creation, so the whole cohort of African innovators learns together, creating an interactive network of peers. 

We offer AfOx Innovation fellowships to up to 15 innovators who have completed the virtual programme in innovation & entrepreneurship in health, and whose projects offer the greatest potential for successful venture development and significant health impact. They receive personalised, technical support from collaborators in Oxford. Over 300 researchers across all Divisions of the University have expressed interest in sharing ideas, knowledge and expertise with African colleagues. 

During this second phase of training, the cohort is also invited to a week-long boot camp in Oxford. The boot camp offers them an opportunity to participate in hands-on workshops and engage with their peers from their cohort and at Oxford. 

The boot camp covers essential topics for deep science start-ups including intellectual property rights, regulatory considerations, business valuation, fundraising strategies, negotiating deals, building the team and how to run an effective board.  It is an invaluable opportunity for the cohort to stress test their projects and integrate critical technical and business strategy feedback. 

The week concludes with a Demo Day during which participants present their start-ups to the wider AfOx networks for investment or other offers of support. 

In Summer 2023, 25 innovators were invited to the event held at Saïd Business School and Keble College.