On Monday (10th November) over 40 regional partners – from industry, local government and academia came together to celebrate the official launch, by the Rt Hon Anneliese Dodds, of a new partnership with ambitions to create the right ecosystem for companies to scale, attract investment and nurture local talent, with an emphasis on equitable access to opportunity and socially responsible innovation.
Initiated by the University of Oxford, the partnership already includes Oxfordshire County Council, Moderna, Advanced Oxford, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford Science Enterprises, the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), Oxford Nanopore, and Siemens Healthineers.
Equinox has already celebrated its first success: collaborating with NatWest Accelerator to help local entrepreneurs connect with expert networks, access funding and scale their businesses.
Cllr Ben Higgins, Cabinet Member for Future Economy and Innovation, Oxfordshire County Council, said: "We warmly welcome the launch of Equinox - and with it, the creation of a new dynamic strategic partnership, one that unites stakeholders across the county to reassert Oxfordshire's position as the leading force within the UK’s innovation ecosystem.
"Together with Enterprise Oxfordshire, we are building the connections that will amplify Oxfordshire’s global profile, showcasing our exceptional assets, talent, and opportunities to the world.”
Enterprise Oxfordshire’s Head of Strategic Development & Programmes, Helen Ryan-Wallis, was also at the event and said: “It was great to attend the launch of Equinox – a shared commitment to further build a connected, and importantly, more inclusive innovation ecosystem here in Oxfordshire.
“The launch itself saw inspiring keynotes, informative panel events, great networking with Oxfordshire ecosystem champions – alongside hearing a very inspiring story about Oxford medtech spin-out ‘OrganOx’, who said Oxford is ‘the only place globally that they could have succeeded’.
"Within our new role as an Oxfordshire County-Council owned organisation, here at Enterprise Oxfordshire we look forward to signing up to the Equinox Charter and working with partners to build on our initiatives such as Oxford Calling to further promote Oxfordshire’s profile as a world-leading innovation ecosystem.’’