Matt Perkins is stepping down from his position as chief executive of Oxford University Innovation after seven years.

Headshot of Matt Perkins

Matt Perkins, chief executive of Oxford University Innovation, is leaving the tech transfer office after seven years.

The university has launched a search for his replacement, with applications open until September 3. Final interviews are expected to take place in October.

Perkins plans to take on non-executive roles and charity work following his departure from Oxford.

He joined OUI in October 2016, having previously worked in space tech where he was president of space imaging at E2V Technologies and before this the group CEO of Surrey Satellite Technology.

During his time at OUI, he shepherded the organisation through the covid-19 pandemic — which ended in large part thanks to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine — and he saw the office break through the milestone of having created more than 300 companies, thanks also to the creation of venture fund Oxford Science Enterprises.

Perkins previously joined the Talking Tech Transfer podcast to discuss his work. You can listen to the episode below or through your favourite podcast app.

Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.