Oxfordshire has set out a bold 10-year ambition to create 20 unicorn companies, attract more than £1 billion a year in venture and growth investment, and create 30,000 net new innovation-linked jobs. The new Equinox 2035 Strategy, launched at the House of Commons on 19 October, sets out a shared direction for one of the world’s most concentrated innovation economies.
The strategy also sets ambitions to attract investment from 10 Tier 1 US venture capital funds and 10 UK pension funds, establish six global corporates with a permanent Oxfordshire presence, and rank the county among the world’s top three innovation-intensive clusters per capita.
What is Equinox?
Equinox is an Oxfordshire-wide partnership bringing together businesses, universities, investors, government and communities behind a shared direction for the county’s innovation economy. The University of Oxford provides the Equinox secretariat, convening partners, advocating for the region and activating collaboration across the ecosystem. More than 100 regional organisations have signed the Equinox Charter and more than 200 people have participated in Equinox workshops and events.
Building on extraordinary foundations
Oxfordshire already has around 3,000 high-tech businesses employing some 30,000 people, alongside major science and innovation assets including Harwell and the UK’s first AI Growth Zone at Culham. Companies including Moderna, BMW Group and the Ellison Institute for Technology have invested in the county.
The University of Oxford has supported the creation of more than 350 companies through its innovation partner, Oxford University Innovation, which since 2011 has collectively attracted more than £8 billion in investment. In the first half of 2026 alone, Oxford spinouts raised €908 million, more than Germany’s entire university ecosystem combined, representing 20% of all investment in spinouts across Europe.
Four priorities for the decade ahead
The strategy focuses activity around four priorities:
- Global competitiveness and strategic positioning.
- Capital mobilisation and scaling high-growth companies.
- Equity, opportunity and shared prosperity.
- Data-driven ecosystem intelligence.
Among the actions set out is the establishment of a regional Inward Investment Unit, creating a single front door for investors, corporates and developers and connecting opportunities across Oxfordshire’s science parks, universities and innovation assets. The strategy also includes plans to strengthen access to capital and investment readiness for high-growth companies, develop employer-led skills pathways into innovation sectors and create a shared regional data platform to support investment, company growth and skills planning.
What they are saying
Professor Irene Tracey, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and chair of the Equinox Council, said: “Oxfordshire is a national asset with global reach. Our challenge is not whether we can innovate; we have demonstrated that decisively. The question now is how we ensure the benefits of that innovation are anchored here in the UK: that our companies can start, scale and stay; that our talent sees a future here; and that the prosperity created by innovation is felt far beyond our laboratories and campuses, in the communities that surround them.
“This strategy sets out how Equinox will help meet that opportunity. Together, we can ensure that Oxfordshire’s innovation remains world-leading and yet deliver for the benefit of all.”
Dr Olga Kozlova, CEO of Equinox, said: “Oxford has extraordinary ingredients: ideas, talent, businesses, investors and globally significant research. Our opportunity now is to make those connections work even harder.
“Over the past two years, Equinox has brought together people and organisations from across Oxfordshire to understand what our ecosystem needs. We are now moving from engagement to delivery, making Oxfordshire easier to access and navigate, helping more businesses grow here and connecting more people with the jobs, skills and opportunities that growth creates.”
A shared plan for Oxfordshire’s future
The Equinox 2035 Strategy represents a significant moment for Oxfordshire and for the UK’s broader innovation ambitions. For Advanced Oxford and its members, the strategy reflects much of what we have long championed: a connected, accessible and ambitious innovation ecosystem that creates opportunities not just for the businesses within it, but for the communities that surround it.
Read the full Equinox 2035 Strategy at oxfordequinox.com/strategy.
Photo credit: Equinox/Fisher Studios
