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
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 Manager
Ellasaid joined OCC from Ufi Ventures in August 2024. She brings significant institutional investment experience, with a strong impact lens, as well as startup operator experience, from the supply chain space. Ellasaid holds a BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford, Jesus College.
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
Emily joined OCC in August 2024 from our Technology Transfer Team. She worked with academics in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine to help translate their research into positive societal impact by protecting and licensing their research outputs. Emily holds a PhD in Clinical Immunology, which she completed in the University's Centre of Inflammation Research.
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 commercialisation, 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. Sandy also acts as a Venture Partner for OCC.
Managing Director, Columbia Threadneedle
Hamish has over three decades of investment experience. He has been Head of the Private Equity team since its inception, when it was part of Martin Currie Investment Management, and throughout its ownership by F&C, BMO and now Columbia Threadneedle Investments.
Vice-Principal Corporate Services, UoE
Catherine leads the Corporate Services Group at the University of Edinburgh (UoE), 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.
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.
Old College Capital is the University of Edinburgh’s venture investment fund. We support the most exciting ideas and technologies emerging from the University.
