OCC activities are managed day to day by a supportive team of early stage investment specialists, with extensive hands-on experience working with ambitious, high growth, companies. The team is part of EI, and works closely with colleagues across EI and the broader University to further strength the University’s startup ecosystem.
Head of Investment
Andrea has led OCC since its founding in 2011. She has more than 30 years of investment and venture capital experience, and before joining OCC held director positions at Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank Of Scotland and Scottish Enterprise. Andrea provides additional strategic insight as an EI Board Director, and member of the University’s OCC General Governance Committee.
Investment Director
Simon joined the team in May 2019. Simon is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAS) with varied commercial experience, having founded his own company and worked with a wide range of others as part of roles in strategy consultancy, accounting, finance and early-stage investment. Simon holds a BA in Economics and Management from the University of Cambridge.
Investment Manager
Kate joined Old College Capital in March 2020, from her previous role supporting academic founders to create spinouts from the University of Edinburgh. Kate brings extensive prior experience in business development and market research, and holds a PhD from Imperial College London and MBA from the University of Edinburgh.
Investment Manager
Dougal joined the team in December 2021 from Atlantic Bridge, a Dublin-based venture capital firm, and was previously a fellow at M Ventures. Dougal has additional experience in corporate strategy and market research. He holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a BSc from the University of St Andrews.
Investment Administrator
Catie has a wealth of university administrative experience having previously worked as EI's DDE Programme Administrator and at Edinburgh College of Art supporting the Institute of Design Informatics. She has worked in a variety of industries ranging from start-ups to SMEs. She studied Business Management at Dalhousie University with a focus on Entrepreneurship.
Investment Executive
Hannah joined the team in July 2023. She has most recently worked as a director for Social Enterprise Scotland, supporting growth with private sector investment and partnerships. She also has a broad range of commercial experience in strategy consultancy, corporate strategy, and digital transformation. She holds an MA in Economic and Social History from the University of Edinburgh.
Investment Executive
Eddie joined the Old College Capital team in May 2023 following a decade in professional practice (PwC and Deloitte) as a leading advisor in taxation and accounting for some of the world's largest multi-national fund houses. Eddie is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAS) and holds a MA (First Class) in Business Studies and Accounting from the University of Edinburgh.
All Old College Capital investment opportunities are considered by an external investment committee, made up of sector and early stage experts.
Life-Sciences Entrepreneur
Simon has 25 years of experience in HealthTech research and commercialization, having held founder, CEO and Chairman roles in entrepreneurial companies around the world. Simon is also an experienced Angel, Venture Capital and Private Equity investor.
Partner at Pentech Ventures
Sandy has been a Pentech partner since 2001. His areas of interest include security technology, the applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and new infrastructure technologies such as blockchain and microservices.
Managing Director, Head of Private Equity, BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA)
Hamish joined BMO Global Asset Management in June 2005 and has 30+ years of investment experience. Hamish is head of the PE team, with overall responsibility for the performance of the BMO PE Trust and the limited partnership funds. Hamish is based in BMO’s Edinburgh office.
Vice-Principal Corporate Services, University of Edinburgh
Catherine leads the Corporate Services Group at the University of Edinburgh, with more than 2,000 staff. Catherine holds a PhD in French Literature and Language, is a chartered accountant and fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She has held numerous non-exec roles and is currently on the board of Edinburgh University Press and the Scotland Advisory Group for Parkinson's UK.
Tech Entrepreneur
Varun has 15+ years of experience building technologies, products, and teams in the UK and Silicon Valley. He founded Two Big Ears, an Edinburgh startup acquired by Meta, where he spent 5 years building teams and technologies that served billions of users. Currently, Varun is an angel investor, mentor, and co-founder/CTO of That Works, an AI-powered team collaboration platform.
Executive Director, SNIB
Jane is a highly experienced venture capital investor with 15 years’ operating in the UK SME market. She has worked in funds including Panoramic Growth Equity, Cass Entrepreneurship Fund and Mobeus Equity Partners, which have provided exceptional returns to investors. Jane has consistently taken businesses from start up to successful exit.
Computer Science Entrepreneur
Ian has 40 years' experience as an entrepreneur, chairperson and angel investor. Ian has a computer science background having founded Office Workstations Limited (OWL), the first and largest supplier of Hypertext/Hypermedia authoring tools (forerunner to the worldwide web). The company was subsequently sold to Panasonic.
The OCC Governance Committee provides oversight and governance to OCC’s decisions and activities. It has representation from across the University and is Chaired by Ashley Shannon, Director of Operations.
Sandy has been a Pentech partner since 2001. His areas of interest include security technology, the applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and new infrastructure technologies such as blockchain and microservices.
Andrew is an investor and advisor in new science and technology ventures, with 30 years’ experience in IT, business development, strategy and partnerships. His most recent venture was sold to Capita plc in 2015. Andrew’s current portfolio of early-stage investments includes Mocean Energy, OGI Bio and Carbogenics. He is also Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Bayes Centre, and a mentor for Edinburgh Innovation Ltd.
Nicola is a highly accomplished business leader, entrepreneur and investor. She has more than 20 years’ experience in sourcing, starting and growing life science businesses, predominantly from the University sector. Nicola was recognised as one of the ‘Top 50 Movers and Shakers in Biotechnology’ in 2019 for her contribution to the life science industry in the UK.
Bill has spent more than 25 years helping to bring new materials and early-stage technologies to market. He was Founding-CEO of Electrolytic Ozone and GelSight Inc, a spin out of MIT. For the past five years, Bill has been an active investor as part of the UK venture capital community. He has worked with many of the UK's leading research universities, gaining extensive experience in founding spin-out companies with a particular interest in hardware and cleantech enterprises.
Old College Capital is the University of Edinburgh’s venture investment fund. We support the most exciting ideas and technologies emerging from the University.
