Oxfordshire has unveiled a 10-year strategy to create 20 billion-dollar companies, attract more than £1bn in annual investment and generate 30,000 new jobs across its innovation economy by 2035.
The Equinox 2035 Strategy, launched at the House of Commons on 19 October, sets out plans to strengthen Oxfordshire’s position as a global technology and science hub by improving access to investment, supporting high-growth companies and attracting international businesses.
The strategy also aims to secure investment from 10 leading US venture capital funds and 10 UK pension funds, establish a permanent presence for six global corporations and position Oxfordshire among the world’s top three innovation-intensive clusters per capita.
Equinox is a regional partnership bringing together businesses, universities, investors and government organisations, with the University of Oxford providing its secretariat.
The initiative seeks to address one of the UK’s longstanding challenges: translating world-leading academic research and startup creation into globally competitive companies that remain headquartered and grow in Britain.
Oxfordshire is already home to approximately 3,000 high-tech businesses employing around 30,000 people. Its innovation infrastructure includes the Harwell science campus and the UK’s first AI Growth Zone at Culham.
The University of Oxford has supported the creation of more than 350 companies through Oxford University Innovation, with those businesses collectively attracting more than £8bn in investment since 2011.
According to figures cited by Equinox, Oxford spinouts raised €908m in the first six months of 2026, exceeding the €864m raised across Germany’s university spinout ecosystem during the same period. Oxford’s total represented approximately 20% of European spinout investment.
Attracting capital to scale Oxfordshire startups
A central focus of the strategy is improving access to growth capital, particularly for deep-tech businesses that require significant investment and longer development periods before reaching commercial scale.
Equinox plans to establish a regional Inward Investment Unit, creating a single point of contact for international investors, corporations and developers looking to invest in Oxfordshire.
The strategy also proposes stronger investment-readiness support for high-growth businesses, alongside initiatives to connect companies with institutional investors and international venture capital.
Professor Irene Tracey, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and chair of the Equinox Council, said the challenge was ensuring that the economic benefits of innovation remained in the UK.
“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.”
Peter Leek, chief scientific officer at Oxford Quantum Circuits, said access to capital and specialist resources remained critical barriers for deep-tech companies.
“Oxford is an extraordinary place to start a company like ours. The harder part is what comes next. Deep-tech businesses need patient capital, specialist talent, infrastructure and customers if they are going to scale and compete internationally.”
He added that Oxfordshire needed to make it easier for the next generation of founders to build global businesses without relocating as they expand.
Building the next generation of unicorns
Oxford Science Enterprises, which invests in companies emerging from the University of Oxford, has backed the strategy’s ambition to create 20 unicorns by 2035.
Ed Bussey, chief executive of Oxford Science Enterprises, said the target was achievable, pointing to the increasing pace of company creation in the region.
“Twenty unicorns by 2035 is absolutely achievable, and it’s right that Equinox is setting itself such a bold and ambitious target. For its part, OSE is now building one new potential billion-pound company every single month; we’ve seen three unicorn outcomes in the last 12 months.”
Bussey said access to later-stage funding would be essential to retaining high-potential businesses in the region.
“The challenge is making sure that companies with genuine global potential can access the capital they need not just to start, but to scale, and that they can do that from here rather than having to look elsewhere as they grow.”
He added that Oxford Science Enterprises had a longer-term ambition to build the UK’s first trillion-pound company.
Creating 30,000 new innovation jobs
Beyond investment and company creation, Equinox aims to ensure that growth in Oxfordshire’s technology economy creates wider economic opportunities.
The strategy includes plans to develop employer-led skills programmes, improve access to innovation-sector employment and establish a shared regional data platform to support investment and workforce planning.
Dr Olga Kozlova, CEO of Equinox and director of innovation and engagement at the University of Oxford, said the partnership was moving from consultation towards implementation.
“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.”
More than 100 organisations have signed the Equinox Charter, while over 200 people have participated in workshops and events supporting the initiative.
Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East, who hosted the strategy launch in Parliament, said the creation of 30,000 jobs would only deliver its intended benefits if local communities could access the opportunities.
“Thirty thousand new jobs would represent a huge opportunity for Oxfordshire, but only if people across our communities can see a route into them. That means investing in skills and apprenticeships, creating good jobs and making sure that young people growing up here can see a future for themselves in Oxfordshire’s innovation economy.”
The launch follows research from Public First and the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board examining the research strength and commercial potential of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor.
Equinox’s strategy will focus on four priorities: global competitiveness, capital mobilisation, shared economic prosperity and improved data on the region’s innovation ecosystem.