Connecting opportunities across Austin, Texas, and Oxford, England.

Find Your Next Step

Oxford-Austin Exchange exists to connect people across the innovation ecosystems of Oxford, England and Austin, TX. Both are thriving innovation and research hubs with a flourishing technology industry, especially in biotech, AI and other high impact R&D sectors.

They both are lovely places to live and work, with an exciting cultural scene, and strong academic institutions. Oh, and a beautiful river-based lifestyle.

If you live and work in Austin or Oxford, get involved to:

• Study – take internships, diplomas, courses and academic placements to advance your career
• Work – find job opportunities, freelance projects, and clients
• Partner – with entrepreneurs, business support infrastructure, business leaders, and mentors
• Research – join academic placements and research partnerships with private businesses
• Invest – in two of the most advanced scientific research economies in the world

Fill out the Get Started form below or contact elliot@oxfordaustinexchange.com for more personalized opportunities and to be contacted about updates relevant to your field.

Why Oxford?

Oxford is one of the world’s leading hubs for AI and biotech research. Companies based in Oxford Science Park, backed by Magdalen College, have raised $2 billion in funding since January 2020. There are over 100 tech business at Oxford Science Park alone, with 30 more and 20 research groups based at Begbroke Science Park. A third campus, Oxford Technology Park, was sold to Life Science REIT for £180 million in January 2023 and is under development.

Oxford University Innovation, the university’s research commercialization arm, spins out many of these companies. Oxford has produced 193 such companies since 2011, the highest number in the UK. Some 16% off the UK’s University spinout companies were created in Oxford, and it is creates the second largest spinout value in Europe (after ETH Zurich). One such company, the DNA/RNA sequencing company Oxford Nanopore was heavily involved in research to fight Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19 and was valued at £3.4 billion ($4.6 billion) at its September 2021 IPO. In January 2023 another company, Oxford Ionics, raised $36.3 million in Series A funding to develop quantum computing chips. Oxford Science Enterprises provides seed funding and ongoing support.

Academic initiatives are pushing the boundaries of understanding. In September 2019 the Said Business School launched the Oxford Initiative on AIxSDG, bringing leading AI researchers to investigate a multidisciplinary approach to aligning AI advances with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. They publish an open repository of AI projects relating to the mission. Since 2005 the Future of Humanity Institute has studied big picture issues facing humanity.

Oxford is also home to Oxford Brookes University, one of the UK’s most respected vocational focused universities; Ruskin College, founded on the egalitarian principle of equal access to education for all; and the Center for Effective Altruism which advocates for a rationalist and evidence-based approach to charitable giving, along with many other incredible businesses and institutions.

Why Austin?

Austin is a technology powerhouse and one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. Major companies headquartered in Austin include Dell Technologies, Oracle, Tesla, National Instruments, and Indeed. Major companies with large campuses for regional headquarters include Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, LegalZoom, Visa, VRBO, and AMD. In 2021, 387 startups closed deals worth a reported collective $4.9 billion (StartupGenome). Austin reportedly has has 20 unicorn companies founded or headquartered in the city worth a collective $55.4 billion as of 2022 (Dealco).

Several of Austin’s companies are doing highly innovative work, including Astrotech, which launched BreathTech to detect infection in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Colossal Biosciences, which seeks to resurrect the Wooly Mammoth.

Austin also hosts strong research institutions including the University of Texas Austin; St Edwards’ University, Concordia University, which supports Incubator CTX; Hutson-Tillson University, which provides incubator services and has its own robotics center; and Austin Community College, which has its own bioscience incubator with wet lab space. UT has its own dedicated AI research group, and startup incubator, Austin Technology Incubator. In 2021 the University of Texas launched six multi-year interdisciplinary AI research projects under the banner Good Systems. It is also a partner in the Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning, a leading research institution tackling AI.

Just south of Austin is the 58-acre Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR One) Park, focused on research and commercial spin-outs from Texas State University. The technology industry is supported by a range of non-profits, public private partnerships, and incubators including BioAustinCTX, Economic Growth Business Incubator, and Capital Factory.

Austin is widely lauded for its innovative festivals focusing on bringing together business, innovation, and culture. SXSW in March has industry showcases alongside music and film. In November Austin Startup Week celebrates Austin entrepreneurs. There are dozens of smaller festivals, each focusing on its own niche.

The city is also home to the Texas State Legislature, the Governor’s Mansion, and the American Grand Prix.

Oxford-Austin Collaboration

Collaboration is already taking place. In May 2021, Oxford University and Austin-based tech company Oracle launched the Global Pathogen Analysis System to fight COVID-19. The system used a scalable pathogen platform designed and built by the University of Oxford in conjunction with Cloud Infrastructure built by the Austin headquartered tech firm Oracle. The system significantly aided in the race to combat the disease and was free for researchers to access worldwide. 

The Oxford based AIxSDG initiative was backed by Google, Microsoft and Facebook, all of whom have significant campuses in Austin. And of course, Elon Musk, who lives part time in Austin, is one of the funders of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute.

If you are working on or studying something exciting in Austin/Oxford and are interested in making connections with people in the other city, get in touch. Fill out the form to get started now.