CHRIST CHURCH’S NEW ENTREPRENEUR CENTRE

Christ Church has partnered with venture builder Blenheim Chalcot and the University of Oxford to create a Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation based at 37 St Giles, a magnificent Georgian townhouse owned by the college since the late-Nineteenth Century and currently undergoing a spruce-up before opening to students early in 2025.

Centre Director Dr Irwin Zaid (LMH, 2008) says that it is a place for students to explore their own venture ideas, to open them up to an entrepreneurial mindset, and to augment their education via programmes and courses.

‘We’re very keen to be a broad tent. We are there for the whole University and especially all students, either undergraduate or postgraduate.’

The Centre will feature high-tech classrooms, meeting spaces, and collaborative workspaces to encourage innovation and foster new venture ideas. The first vacation programmes will begin in Spring 2025 while the Centre will form part of Christ Church’s 500^th Anniversary celebrations.

Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of the University, says that recent surveys have shown that ‘infrastructure is vital if a city is to become a hub of spin-out creation. This Centre will help us achieve our ambition of making Oxford a global innovation hub.’

Christ Church Dean The Very Revd Professor Sarah Foot notes that 2025 will represent 500 years since the founding of the college and offers a chance to look ahead to the next five centuries as well. ‘This project is a vital part of this work, helping students and academics make the most of the huge entrepreneurial potential within Christ Church and the wider university.’

Dr Zaid says the benchmark in this regard are places like Yale University’s Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking, or Imperial College’s Scale Space, and many other comparative centres at peer universities that exist to cultivate creative and innovative attitudes towards knowledge exchange, value creation, and entrepreneurial attitudes.

Dr Zaid says there is no bias towards one subject area or another, citing the achievements of inclusive children’s book publisher Lantana, at one end of the spectrum, and fusion energy pioneer First Light Fusion at the other – both built by Oxford alums.

Shown in the above photo from left to right is Reva Banthiya, Daniel Clark, Professor Dirk Aarts, Christ Church Dean The Very Reverend Professor Sarah Foot, Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey, Dr Irwin Zaid, Oliver Britton and Shivam Singhal.

Charles Mindenhall (Christ Church, 1990) is a co-founder of Blenheim Chalcot, which he set up with Manoj Badale. Blenheim Chalcot is a global venture builder, launching, incubating and growing product-led, technology businesses. He has emerged as a leading figure founding and promoting centres like this one, based on the conviction that ‘Innovative thinking and entrepreneurship lie at the heart of growing a successful and productive economy and society.’

Right now there is an exciting naming competition underway for the Centre, with a prize of £2000 and 5 paid internships up for grabs, with free accommodation in London. Voting is open to current Oxford students and ends at midnight on Friday, November 22. The winning name will be announced at the launch of the centre in early 2025 – details below.