George is Venture Partner Manager at Octopus Investments and Chairman of the £100m Angel Cofund. Octopus is a venture capital investor who backs talented people with the potential to build big businesses. Their focus is on identifying entrepreneurs and fast growth companies that can scale explosively to create, transform or dominate an industry. The Ventures team has a proven track record of helping build exceptional global businesses, including Zoopla Property Group, Secret Escapes, SwiftKey, graze.com, and YPlan. The Angel CoFund is a £100m investment fund with objectives to back promising UK businesses and help develop the important business angel investment market.
Speaker sessions
11:00 - 11:45
How Much Does Venture Capital Drive the Global Economy?
John Henry Brookes Lecture Theatre
The panel will look at the industry from the geographical aspect discussing:
- How has VC investing developed since the financial crisis?
- How has the investor base for VC funds changed?
- What level of returns has VCs as an asset class returned?
- Which sectors/technologies have been most favoured by funds
- What geographic trends has VC investing witnessed?
Speakers: Meriwether Beckwith – Oxford Capital Partners, Simon Blakey – Avonmore Developments, Fiona Dent – Makerversity and George Whitehead – Octopus Ventures
Chaired by Jens Tholstrup – OION
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Make connections that lead to new investments, new businesses and new ideas in the high-tech sector in Oxfordshire.