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Oxford+ in Brief with Dr Christiaan de Koning and Michael Collyer, Co-Founders of Founders and Funders
Business·Weekly·Bonus

Oxford+ in Brief with Dr Christiaan de Koning and Michael Collyer, Co-Founders of Founders and Funders

Susannah de Jager

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Oxford+ in Brief with Dr Christiaan de Koning and Michael Collyer, Co-Founders of Founders and Funders

Bonus · 5 May 2026

0:00−0:00

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What does success really look like for Oxford's innovation ecosystem, and how do you build something that lasts?

In this Oxford+ in Brief bonus episode, host Susannah de Jager puts the same four questions to Dr Christiaan de Koning and Michael Collyer, co-founders of Founders and Funders and the team behind the inaugural OX Tech Week. With UK startups raising $7.8 billion in Q1 2026 alone, the stakes for getting Oxford's commercialisation engine right have never been higher. Looking ahead to 2050, Christiaan and Michael imagine a less fragmented, more collaborative Oxford that is not just a research hub but a global commercial centre for science and innovation.

Dr Christiaan de Koning: Christiaan de Koning is an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and Chair of the Founders and Funders Foundation. He teaches at Said Business School and is a strategic adviser to CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre. He holds a DPhil from Oxford in management research, where his work focused on the commercialisation of CRISPR biotechnology through new ventures. Through Founders and Funders, he has helped build a community of over 4,000 members connecting researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors across the Oxford ecosystem.

Connect with Christiaan on LinkedIn

Michael Collyer: Michael Collyer is a researcher at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute and co-founder of the Founders and Funders Foundation. He co-established the university's AI network, running events in Oxford and London to connect researchers and entrepreneurs in the AI and machine learning space. His academic work spans information controls, natural language processing, machine learning, and the intersection of artificial intelligence with intellectual property law.

Connect with Michael Collyer on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Mishcon de Reya, HSBC Innovation Banking, and James Cowper Kreston.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.

Transcript

Susannah de Jager

Alongside our main episodes of Oxford Plus for Season Four we are introducing a short fortnightly miniseries in between the main episodes. Brought to you by me, Susannah de Jager, and in partnership with Mishcon de Reya. In each episode, we ask our guests the same four questions designed to reveal how they think, what shapes their decisions, and what they're curious about right now.

The questions stay the same. The answers rarely do. This is Oxford Plus in brief. What would success look like if we got this right? And I'm going to dovetail on what you just finished on, which is Deep Tech being the sort of heartland of Oxford and of the Global Deep Tech scene.

Michael Collyer

To kick it off I think it'll be great if I'm able to help some of the colleagues across Oxford land some funding for their businesses to really get their MVP off the ground, get their IP kind of secured and hopefully build further on that.

Susannah de Jager

What advice would you give somebody entering the Oxford ecosystem tomorrow? I feel like this one answers itself for you guys.

Michael Collyer

So I think showing up in a genuine kind of way and showing a real kind of interest. You're not just there to network and get some more LinkedIn connections, but you're there to actually have a good understanding of what people are doing, what they're building.

Christiaan de Koning

Have fun. The worst thing we could do is organise another boring conference.

Susannah de Jager

What is Oxford great at and what is it structurally not so good at?

Christiaan de Koning

We have some of the best research in the world. We just need to learn better how to scale it.

Susannah de Jager

What do you think Oxford will look like in 2050?

Christiaan de Koning

Well not just be a research hub, but also a driving global commercial hub for science and innovation companies.

Susannah de Jager

Michael? Same vision.

Michael Collyer

I think everyone will be working a lot more collaboratively together. There'll be a lot less of this fragmentation. There'll still be the decentralised nature of Oxford. I think that's, part of the beauty of it as well, that people can kind of run with things a lot of things happen organically. But I think over the years we will just get more and more connected in that supportive way where we grow the pie altogether. That's what I would like to see.

Susannah de Jager

And finally, if you had a magic wand, what would you do?

Christiaan de Koning

I think we would love to see Tech Week to become a global fixture. Not to run it 1, 2, 3 years, but to have it here so it can stay. Can keep driving more talent, innovation, capital but especially to utilise that pathway of impact for phenomenal work that's happening here. So if this could be something that will be here still in 10, 20 years, that would be amazing.

Susannah de Jager

I love that. Thank you both. I've really enjoyed this and I hope it goes brilliantly in the next few weeks as you prepare for the first OX Tech Week.

Christiaan de Koning

Thanks.

Michael Collyer

Thank you.

Susannah de Jager

Thanks for listening to this episode of Oxford+, presented by me, Susannah de Jager. If you want to stay up to date with all things Oxford+, please visit our website, oxfordplus.co.uk and sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an update. Oxford+ was made in partnership with Mishcon de Reya and is produced and edited by Story Ninety-Four.