Conception X

We've released our first short documentary about Cohort 3 startup, Infinitopes 🔬🚀 Infinitopes completed our programme in 2020 and has since raised more than $18 million to develop affordable cancer vaccines to prevent metastasis. Watch the 4-minute documentary on YouTube - link in bio 💫 @oxford_uni #cancerresearchuk #cancerresearchers #infinitopes #oxfordstartup #researchtranslation #phdlife #phdstudentsofinstagram #phdentrepreneurs #phdjourney #entrepreneurship

This is Conception X, the UK’s leading cross-university deeptech venture programme 🚀 Our 9-month programme runs alongside your PhD studies. Through specialised training and expert coaching, you gain the confidence, skills and connections to become a Venture Scientist—the term for our founders, who sit at the intersection of research and tech. We’ve supported 6 Cohorts to date—more than 400 PhDs—and our portfolio teams have raised over £47million in early-stage investments and grants. Follow to stay up to date with our latest news, successes, and discover more about becoming a Venture Scientist on our programme! 🧪

What a Demo Day! 💥 Nearly 500 people registered for our biggest showcase yet — a record-breaking year for Conception X. 🤯 From laser systems powering satellites and drones in space to enzyme breakthroughs opening new markets and quantum machine learning for extreme weather forecasting, this year’s finalists are building technologies that will shape how humanity lives for decades. Some numbers from Demo Day: 🚀 12 new deeptech startups pitched 🎓 122 PhD projects across 37 universities kicked off this cohort 💸 109 investors joined, including XTX Ventures, IQ Capital and SOSV As our founder & CEO Riam Kanso said: “We’re living through a civilisational hinge point. The last wave of innovation shaped how we connect and communicate – but we didn’t always understand what we were unleashing. Now we do. The question isn’t just what we build, but who gets to build it. And that’s what today is about.” Huge thank you to XTX Ventures, Barclays Eagle Labs, Orrick UK and Azerion for helping us take Demo Day to the next level. 🌎 And congratulations to Conception X alum Holistic AI, the first-ever recipient of the Philip Treleaven Award – and to Cohort 8’s top 12 startups: >> AURApeutics >> CamVolt Ltd >> HyCarb >> Immobilase >> Interpolate Labs >> Kora Health >> Ocengen >> ORiS >> Qronon >> Quidem.AI >> SEncIL >>Stars Edge We’re already recruiting the next generation of Venture Scientists! Follow the link in our bio to apply for Conception X Spring 2026. 🔗 If you’re a researcher ready to commercialise your work – or an early-stage startup preparing for your first round – we can help you get there.

⚡Are you ready for this?⚡ Only one month to go 💡🚀 Save your virtual spot via the link in bio 🔗

An inside look at Cohort 7 as they perfect their pitch skills, followed by networking over drinks 🥂 Considering joining Cohort 8? Link in our bio to register your interest

Congratulations to our alumni James Patrick-Evans and Chris Parsonson, and our former colleague Rodolfo Rosini, for completing the latest Intel Ignite London deeptech accelerator. 🤖 Founded by James (Conception X Cohort 5), RevEng.AI is an AI-powered Binary Analysis platform for Reverse Engineering and Malware Analysis 🧑‍⚖️ Founded by Chris (formerly NP-Deep, Conception X Cohort 4), Solve Intelligence uses AI to help legal professionals write high-quality patents efficiently 👾 Co-founded by our former Head Coach and Entrepreneur in Residence, Rodolfo, Vaire Computing is a new kind of near-zero energy computing company We're excited to see what Chris, James, Rodolfo, and their brilliant teams achieve next! 🚀👏

In 2020, a team of @oxford_uni oncology researchers created a screening kit to help you test for cancer - and in the process, started @gambitbio 🚀 Inspired by the widespread adoption of Covid-19 lateral flow tests and the growing hype around at-home genetic testing to monitor blood sugar levels in real time, the test helps you get personalised health reports 🩺 While on the Conception X programme, the startup has developed its business model and research & development pipeline, learnt how to raise, how to structure deals and strategise, and the basics of running a business 📈 “It’s not just a week or two or a competition,” says Cohort 6's @wasabifiedtiff . “You hold our hand, teach us, give us mentorship and access to these incredible networks — and a sense of community. It’s a lot less scary when you do it with people who are around the same stage as you.” Read more about GambitBio in our interview - link in our bio!

Meet Myriad Wind 🌬️ The team joined Conception X Cohort 4 to develop their idea and understand how to build a successful venture. They left the programme having won our Demo Day 2021 award and with an incorporated business that's going from strength to strength🥇 Co-founder and CEO Adam Harris says “Conception X really motivated me to focus on my PhD and complete it as quickly as possible to then commit to Myriad full time. It was a challenge to juggle both, but it was worth every second.” 🎥 Credit: Myriad Wind (myriadwind.com) View the full video and follow Myriad Wind on LinkedIn: /company/myriad-wind-energy-systems/ 🍃

Deeptech is all about pushing the boundaries of what's possible, taking cutting-edge science and technology from lab to market to solve the world's most complex challenges. 🥇 But what type of tech falls under this term? At Conception X, we define deeptech as technology that relies on meaningful scientific innovation, with some level or R&D risk. 🦾 With expertise in AI, quantum computing, biotech, virtual reality and more, our Venture Scientists are changing the world by commercialising their research 🚀 Discover more about the PhD teams we support at the link in our bio.

Meet Emre Kazim, co-founder of Holistic AI, a leading AI governance startup incubated at Conception X four years ago 👋 Based between London and Palo Alto, Holistic AI is a reputable voice in developing global standards for AI use. Currently, they’re collaborating with top institutions like the Council of Europe and the United Nations to shape effective AI governance strategies 🤖🦾 With a wealth of knowledge for entrepreneurial PhD students, Emre sat down with us this month to share insights on what sets his team apart, maintaining work-life balance in a fast-growing Silicon Valley startup, the unique strengths of PhD founders, and finding the perfect investor for their journey 🚀 Click on Linktree in our bio to read this and more of our success stories 📖 ✨

From raising £500k to earning prestigious awards and joining globally respected accelerators, the 6 months since Cohort 6 Demo Day have been remarkable for our finalists! 🚀💪 Here's a glimpse of recent achievements from 5 of our outstanding teams: 📸1️⃣ - @wasabifiedtiff and @gambitbio (@oxford_uni ) won the Magdalen College Grand Prize at the OX1 Incubator 2024 Demo Day, securing an equity-free grant of £10,000 along with £5,000 worth of lab space at Oxford Science Park 📸2️⃣ - Christopher D'Souza (@bruneluni ) has been crowned the London Pitch-Off Champion 2024, after competing against 14 other prestigious universities 📸3️⃣ - Jana Stella (@officialuom ) is making waves with her startup, NeuWave Technologies, being featured in Pre-Seed Now 📸4️⃣ - Dan Todd and the team at invenirex (@newcastleuni ) have successfully raised a £500k preseed round, including investment from XTX Ventures (@xtxmarkets ) 📸5️⃣ - Arielle Torres and her team at Pipeline Organics (@uniofnottingham ) have been selected for Techstars' Deep Tech Momentum 2024, an exclusive bootcamp for the top 100 European early-stage deeptech startups Each year, the Conception X Demo day shines a spotlight on the top 10 teams from our cohort who are investor ready ✨ Discover more about our teams at the link in our bio! #conceptionxcohort6 #demoday #startupsuccess #venturescience

Congratulations to @hexis.live and CEO Dr. David Dunne on securing £1.6 million in pre-seed funding! 🌿👏 🥗🍎 Incubated during #ConceptionXCohort1, Hexis is an AI-powered platform that translates cutting-edge nutrition research into algorithms to predict athletes’ needs based on their training schedules, biometric data, lifestyle information and goals 🏑🏀 The solution is based on David's research findings as part of his PhD in nutrition, behaviour change and technology at @ljmu and co-founder Samuel Impey’s idea of carb coding ⚽️⚾️ Investors include APEX, a world-class athlete-backed venture capital firm, and Sport Republic, a global sports investment company with controlling ownership of Southampton FC (UK), Valenciennes FC (France) and Göztepe SK (Turkey) Amazing work, David and the team at Hexis - we're proud of everything you have achieved! 👏