London, 10 June 2002

FirstCapital, the technology corporate finance house, has advised on the completion of a $6 million venture capital fund raising for Oxonica, global pioneers in Nanotechnology and a spinout from the University of Oxford.

This is the first round of institutional investment and includes funds committed by VCF Partners, BASF Venture Capital GmbH, NextGen Partners LLC, Northern Venture Managers and Generics Asset Management Ltd.

Oxonica specialises in the creation of Nanoparticles. Using patented techniques to assemble them, the company produces materials that are only few atoms in size and have innovative chemical and physical properties. Oxonica is already conducting field trials for products that address real life problems in a number of areas such as catalysis, medical diagnostics, healthcare and personal care (e.g. cosmetics).

“This investment is testament to the strength of Oxonica’s world-class technology, and importantly, its ability to generate real volume product sales in the short term.” says Kevin Matthews, CEO of Oxonica. “FirstCapital have put together an excellent syndicate of venture capitalists and corporate venturers with the expertise to help grow our business”.
Hazel Moore, chairman of FirstCapital comments “Only the very best technology companies are receiving investment in the current environment. We are impressed by the strength of Oxonica’s management team and are confident that Oxonica has every chance of becoming a world leading UK technology company”.


About FirstCapital (www.firstcapital.co.uk)

FirstCapital is an investment bank that specialises in fund raising and mergers and acquisitions advice for high growth technology companies. Established in 1999, it has offices in London and Cambridge, UK. Clients include entrepreneurs, technology companies and investors in private companies.

Our team is experienced in a wide variety of deals, from growth companies to multinationals in both UK and international cross border transactions. We provide pro-active, informed, full service deal management, including assistance with strategy and planning, finding and approaching investors or M&A targets, valuations and hands-on transaction execution.
We work in partnership with our clients to achieve their goals, offering impartial advice and support based on our knowledge of the market and of each client's individual requirements, and sharing alongside them in the risks and the rewards of success.

FirstCapital is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority.

For more information, contact: Hazel Moore, Chairman on +44 (0)20 8563 1563 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .



About Oxonica

Oxonica is an exciting young company working in the field of applied Nanotechnology, science on the atomic scale, heralded by the USA's National Science and Technology Council as becoming "as socially transforming as the development of running water, electricity, antibiotics, and microelectronics".  A spin out from the University of Oxford in 1999, Oxonica is built upon intellectual property developed over seven years by Professor Peter Dobson and Dr Gareth Wakefield.  Oxonica has gone on to add further intellectual property to its portfolio, and currently has 15 filed patents.  Oxonica's proprietary techniques enable it to rapidly create prototype Nanoparticles, typically in the range of 5 to a few hundred nanometres*, and evaluate the differences in their properties to identify Nanoparticles with appropriate functionality to solve a given problem. 

For further information, please visit www.oxonica.com Oxonica is based at 7 Begbroke Science Park, Sandy Lane, Yarnton, Kidlington, Oxon OX5 1PF, United Kingdom.  Tel: +44 (0)1865 847 200.  E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it