The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Oct 2025

Founded in 2021 as an Oxford University spin-out, Wild Bioscience combines evolutionary biology, machine learning and precision gene editing to improve the genetics of staple crops. Its platform mines hundreds of millions of years of plant evolution to pinpoint desirable traits from wild species and introduce them into modern elite varieties. The company’s 30-person team operates from its Oxford headquarters and is already running field-trial programs in four countries, reporting early successes that it aims to turn into commercially available seed. Wild Bio targets improved crop productivity, enhanced climate resilience and broader agricultural sustainability, addressing global food-security challenges. The firm frames its approach as complementary to, yet distinct from, the AI analytics and robotics tools dominating many AgTech investments. With fresh capital in hand, management plans to expand R&D capacity, scale commercial operations and bring its first seed varieties to market. The recent €51 million Series A positions Wild Bioscience among the largest early-stage AgTech financings in Europe this year, underlining strong investor confidence in its science-driven model.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2025

Founded in 2021, OXCCU is developing proprietary catalysts and reactor designs that directly hydrogenate CO₂ to create hydrocarbon syncrude branded as OXFUEL, which can be refined into jet-fuel-grade SAF. Its single-step, iron-based Fischer-Tropsch process eliminates the RWGS stage and reduces hydrogen demand, promising lower capital and operating costs than competing e-fuel pathways. The company operates from Begbroke Science Park and London Oxford Airport, where its OX1 demonstration plant was validated in 2024. OXCCU is positioning OXFUEL to help the UK meet its target of 10% SAF in jet fuel by 2030 and is now researching how its fuel can limit non-CO₂ warming effects such as soot-induced contrail formation. Financially, the start-up secured €20.6 million of initial funding in June 2023, followed by a €23.7 million round in September 2025, and most recently obtained a €2 million grant from the ATI Non-CO₂ Programme. These funds support technology scale-up, commercial deployment and climate-impact validation, underscoring OXCCU’s emergence as a leading UK climate-tech innovator.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2024

PQShield develops post-quantum cryptography software and hardware, offering solutions intended to withstand future quantum-enabled attacks. The company offers a system-on-chip for hardware like smartcards and processors, a cryptographic SDK for mobile and server applications, and a toolkit for securing messaging services. Founded in Oxford by Dr. Ali El Kaafarani, PQShield works with industry partners and customers including AMD, Microchip Technologies, Collins Aerospace, Lattice Semiconductor, Sumitomo Electric, NTT Data and Mirise Technologies, and has worked with Nvidia. It also advises bodies such as the White House, European Parliament, the U.K. National Cyber Security Council and the World Economic Forum, and provides technology pro bono to the Signal Foundation. To meet industry demand and build hardware and related systems, the startup raised a further $37 million in a Series B and is using the funds to hire more talent and deepen customer and partner engagements. The company highlights its dense team of cryptographers and is preparing for imminent post-quantum standards from NIST; it has not disclosed a valuation for the round. PQShield builds "future-proof" post-quantum cryptographic products—software and hardware designed to secure data today and against future quantum threats. Its product formats include a system-on-chip for hardware like smartcards or processors, a cryptographic SDK for mobile and server apps, and a messaging toolkit for communications companies. The company works with governments, OEMs and private customers—Bosch is a disclosed customer—and contributes to standards development, including submissions to NIST. PQShield was spun out of research labs at Oxford and remains based in Oxford, and is staffed with numerous PhDs and researchers across the U.K., the U.S., France and the Netherlands. Financially, PQShield raised a $20M Series A to fund continued research, product development and hiring; it previously raised a $7M seed in 2020. The company plans to announce its first commercially available solutions and aims for its hardware and software offerings to work together or independently as customers require. PQShield develops cryptographic products designed to remain secure in a post‑quantum future, offering hardware and software solutions today that provide migration paths from current standards. For hardware it has designed a System on Chip (SoC) solution to be licensed to manufacturers; Bosch is named as its first OEM customer. For software it provides an SDK to secure messaging, protected by post‑quantum algorithms based on a Signal‑derived protocol. The company targets applications including messaging, keyless cars, connected IoT devices, cloud services, and sensitive systems used by financial and government entities. PQShield is a 2018 spin‑out from Oxford University and says it has the UK’s highest concentration of cryptography PhDs outside academia and classified agencies. It is also a contributor to the NIST process for new cryptographic standards and recently emerged from stealth after raising funding.

Participated · Series C · Feb 2022

First Light Fusion is a UK-based University of Oxford spin‑out working to develop commercially‑viable nuclear fusion energy. The company is described as part of a growing global group of innovators pursuing fusion commercialization. Its most recent financing round raised £25m, signalling continued investor interest. The article frames the firm as actively racing alongside other startups and research efforts to bring fusion to market. No specific operational metrics, revenue figures, or detailed product roadmaps were provided in the article.

Participated · Convertible Note · Jul 2021

Green Check Verified (GCV) provides industry-leading technology and advisory services that enable compliant relationships between banks, credit unions, and cannabis-related businesses. Its product suite supports compliant deposits and payments and, following the PayQwick acquisition, adds payments and lending capabilities to enable real-time transactions, lending, and supply chain settlements. GCV reported strong recent growth: 87% revenue growth, 55% growth in financial institution clients, and 261% growth in cannabis businesses served. The company serves more than 130 financial institutions and over 4,000 cannabis-related businesses. Founded in 2017 and based in Bonita Springs, Florida, GCV positions itself as a comprehensive financial services ecosystem for banks and cannabis businesses. It has received industry recognition including inclusion in The Cannabis 50 and multiple compliance awards. Green Check Verified provides a cloud-based compliance surveillance platform that helps financial institutions perform ongoing diligence for cannabis-related businesses, including per-transaction AML functionality. The company serves more than 1,000 cannabis-related companies and offers services across 32 states. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in New Haven, GCV reported earlier traction reaching Hawaii, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. The firm plans to be in all states with legal cannabis programs by the end of the year and to use new funding to advance its product roadmap. Financially, GCV has raised more than $8 million to date, including a recent oversubscribed convertible note and a prior $2.4 million convertible note in February.