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Zoe St John (MBA 2004) announces the January beta launch of her online Pet Boutique, Astar Pets. Astar Pets is the first online pet marketplace offering food subscriptions, pet accessories, toys, beds, and more. A full launch is scheduled for March.

Mark Samuels (PGDip Organisational Leadership 2012) has recently been elected as a Policy Fellow at Cambridge University’s School for Science & Policy. Cambridge reported that this was “the most keenly competitive election process yet”. The Fellowships programme enables senior decision makers in government to work with Cambridge researchers on complex social and economic problems.

Read more.

Perry Anderson (EMBA 2012), capitalises on Oxford research into secure ad hoc communication networks with his spin off company, OxCept. OxCept applies this security software to mobile payments. Perry explains that "even though mobile payment is going to be very large, security issues still remain a critical problem. What Bill and his Oxford-based team have developed is the missing piece of the puzzle as they allow us to transfer money or data without fear of it being intercepted”.

Read more in Wired.

CEO of Plain Vanilla Games, Thor Fridriksson’s (MBA 2008) wildly successful App called ‘QuizUp’ has hit the #1 spot on Apple iTunes. ‘QuizUp’ is a free App where friends can compete against one another via their smartphone and answer trivia questions. There is $5.6 million behind the company in venture capital.

Watch the CNN interview of Thor and see how the quiz works.

Jennifer Segal (MBA 2005), a former member of the Oxford University Wine Circle, recently produced and edited Reds, Whites & Varsity Blues: 60 Years of the Oxford & Cambridge Blind Wine-tasting Competition in association with Champagne Pol Roger, published by Pavilion/Anova Books.

Jennifer has worked in publishing, film and media with established companies and entrepreneurial ventures, across print and digital formats and platforms. She shares time between New York and London where she directed the development and sale of a digital media application and business on behalf of BBC Worldwide. In 2006, she was awarded seed funding and a fellowship to the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) for first-place in the Oxford Entrepreneurs university-wide business pitch and plan competition. Prior to the UK she began her career in New York working with editor Tina Brown, Miramax and Hearst Corporation, and with hotelier André Balazs. She now develops and markets content via her boutique agency JSNewMedia.

“The book is fantastic and a real addition to knowledge, as well as to the sense of the annual tasting being globally important within its context ... reads like an incredible vertical tasting of the British Establishment!”

- Dr Richard Lofthouse, Editor, Oxford Today magazine

Chad Anderson (MBA 2012) Director of European Operations at Space Angels Network, recently spoke to Space Trade Magazine on the growing awareness of space investing.

Read the article.

View Chad's BBC interview along with Richard Branson.

The entire Saïd Business School community were deeply saddened to hear that alumnus Ravindra Ramrattan was killed in the attack at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in September. As a global community, we were all shocked and our thoughts and prayers are with Mr Ramrattan's family and with all of those murdered and injured in this atrocity.

Read the School’s tribute to Ravindra.

Kevin Leung (MBA 2005) had always envisioned being an entrepreneur. Now he is Chief Executive of Mutu Labs, and is raising capital for his latest product, Shuttr. Dismayed at not being able to find a remote controlled camera device for his mobile phone, which didn’t require a third-party app, Leung set about developing his own. Kevin credits his Oxford MBA for giving him the tools to build his business.

Read more.

Oxford alumni in Finland, including Miika Kuoppamaki (Diploma in Organisational Leadership 2008) joined forces with fellow Cambridge alumni to organise the first ‘Shadow Boat Race’ at the end of August. The Oxbridge alumni found it a great way to meet and network with one another. The event was such a success; the teams have agreed to have the event again next summer. And Miika is happy to report that Oxford emerged victorious!

This year, Anu Varma and Sree Kanthamneni (both MBA 2012) founded vDabble. vDabble is an online business that delivers carefully curated educational and learning activity kits, DabbleBoxes, for children in the age group 3 to 7 years, right to their doors every month. vDabble’s mission is to make playtime enriching, educative and engaging for young children.

The founders say, "vDabble delivers innovative learning methods through the use of creativity and hands-on activities that not only provide all-round skill development for kids but also expose them to new concepts in an entertaining manner."

DabbleBoxes are based on new themes every month and contain a range of activities from arts and crafts, building projects, science experiments, imaginative play, story building and more. The material, concept and activities are fine-tuned to engage and develop children's gross and fine motor skills, social skills, cognitive development and creativity.

Iain along with his wife Anita, have developed a new spring-loaded mouse trap, greatly enhancing the 1894 Hooker patent. The trap is designed to minimise the risk of mice stealing bait from a primed mousetrap, without activating the mousetrap. 

Iain and Anita have been granted a patent and are exploring options for manufacturing.

Over 8-12 July, five OBA Network members aimed to cover 150 miles during a rowing expedition in the fjords of Norway. The five OBA members, out of a 13-person crew, include Cedric Dupont (MBA 2011), Per Godvik (MBA 2010), Anders Gundersen (MBA 2011), Brooke Stevens (MBA 2011), and Till Wirth (MBA 2011.

Starting from the island of Tysnes, the 13-person crew rowed five traditional oselvere, Norway’s national boat, the oldest having been built in 1854. All boats have played an important role in trade and transport in the archipelago of western Norway, and now they were rowed by some of the finest rowers from the alumni network. With three lightweight blues boat rowers and five solid college rowers the full crew were very strong.

Anders Gundersen, one of the leaders, reports on the outcome of the expedition:

‘After covering 30 kilometres the first day in the scorching sun, the blisters and fatigue were soon forgotten once we arrived in beautiful Rosendal. However, the next day showed us how treacherous the weather in Norway can be, and we had to seek port of refuge only a couple of hours into our leg. After a warm lunch, the majority of the crew decided to take the conditions head on, and continued north towards Hardingasete. Completely fatigued, we made it just in time for a late supper that marked the birthday party of our youngest rower, and then we collapsed into comfortable beds.

The midnight leg the day after was both rough and beautiful. The sun in Norway only sets for a few hours in July, and we managed to row from sunset to sunrise. However, the currents were not on our side, and combined with the fatigue from the day before we had to cut the leg short. We hit our sleeping bags at 9:00am, only to wake up to weather that meant the end of our expedition, but not to our journey. Wind strengths of up to 10 m/s as soon as we started north again, meant that we had to abandon our boats, and seek alternative transportation. However, we covered around 100 kilometres in rough conditions, and the crew should be very proud of their achievement. As soon as the blisters are gone, we will start planning our next adventure.’

Please view their expedition and photos at www.rowingnorway.no and www.instagram.com/rowingnorway.

The Alumni Relations Office congratulates the crew on a job well done!

 The Financial News has recognised OBA Network member, Marianne Scordel (Oriental Studies 1998) founder of Bougeville Consulting, as one of the up-and-coming men and women in the sector in their third annual hedge fund awards.

Marianne's Financial News profile for her 2013 and 2012 awards are as follows:

'After a brief foray in prime brokerage sales at Nomura, Scordel set up Bougeville in 2009 as a consultancy to provide brainpower and research for alternative fund managers. She spent 2012 formalising a structure for the network of specialists she brings in to work with her for clients including some of the biggest names in hedge funds. She remains close to the regulatory debate, and is co-chair of the new CFA legal issues special interest group. Scordel is seeking FSA registration to market hedge funds to add another string to Bougeville’s bow.

Most of Scordel’s clients are in the UK and Switzerland, and she is in close contact with European regulators and policymakers. Scordel says her career ambitions have always leaned towards jobs that involve communication with others and creativity, “two important features of an entrepreneur and key to commercial success”. Scordel had a brief stint working in prime brokerage sales at Nomura. She sits on the endowment management committee of St Antony’s College at Oxford University, from where she gained a postgraduate degree in international relations. She acts as a mentor for women from Oxford’s Saïd Business School and as well as her native French, Scordel speaks English, Spanish, Italian and Turkish.'

Marianne has also been an occasional contributor to industry publication Hedgeweek and one of the recently published articles on US hedge funds includes an interview with Saïd Business School's own Tarun Ramadorai. 

Marianne is also very involved with her charity work in Africa, supporting schools and children in Ethiopia.

She would be happy to be contacted by alumni and students foe work related queries or potential collaboration, at the following address: info@bougeville.com.

Vicky Beer (Executive Education, Oxford High Performance Leadership 2012)  has been awarded the CBE in Queen's Birthday Honours for services to Education. Vicky attended the Oxford High Performance Leadership Programme in November, and is chairman of the National Teaching Schools Council. 

Read more on Vicky's CBE award.

Over the next week, five OBA Network members will row more than 150 miles in the fjords of Norway in six traditional Norwegian oselvere boats. The five OBA members, out of a 16-person crew, include Cedric Dupont (MBA 2011), Per Godvik (MBA 2010), Anders Gundersen (MBA 2011), Brooke Stevens (MBA 2011), and Till Wirth (MBA 2011), along with three other Oxonians.

The event is a rowing expedition in the fjords of Norway, where they will cover distances between 25 and 50 miles per day. They will be rowing in old and new wooden boats, the oldest one built in 1854. They will be rowing for six days as an armada of between six to nine boats.

The crew will do its best to represent Oxford when visiting the rural places of coastal Norway, and will also feature in a race at a local festival. With three lightweight blues boat rowers and five solid college rowers, they expect to give the local heroes a run for their money!

Follow their adventures at www.rowingnorway.no and www.instagram.com/rowingnorway

Raheela Khan (OAMLP 2012) has been named a 2013 Yale World Fellow. Khan is Assistant Manager of Treasury and Investments for Doha Bank, a major Qatari financial institution.

Read more.

Cesar, Adam, and Derek have teamed up with Oxonian Jackson Adams (BA Theology 2009) to launch a new Spanish video game, Skara—The Blade Remains. Funding for the game is being sourced by Kickstarter, a crowdsourcing platform to support innovative start-ups.

Read more on the alumni game collaboration.

Joe Brilliant (MBA 2010) has recently launched CratePlayer, a new app described as ‘Pinterest meets Wikipedia for media’. CratePlayer is a media curation platform that allows people and organisations to compile video and audio content from multiple sources into simple collections called ‘crates’ (like crates of records). Crates are easily curated by individuals or collaboratively with friends and colleagues. They can be quickly shared via social networks and email.

By harnessing the power of handcrafted curation, the vision for CratePlayer is to become the definitive destination for millions of people and thousands of organisations to collect, discover, and share the media that matters to them most, no matter where it’s hosted.

CratePlayer was named a Notable Startup at the SFMusicTech Conference, and blogger David Lee-King listed CratePlayer in his article "Cool Tools Discovered at SXSW".

CratePlayer is currently conducting their first angel round of financing.

After completing my studies at the Oxford University I pursued a career of Business Development Consultant in SE Asia residing in Singapore for the last 6 years facilitating expansion of international businesses into countries of SE Asia and CIS which I continue doing nowadays. This year I embarked on the challenge of the lifetime to race around the globe in Clipper Round The World Yacht Race - the world's longest and biggest yacht race which takes 11 months. kira2000ua@yahoo.com

I am delighted to be joining the University of York as their Director of Student Support Services from June 2013. I'll be responsible for spearheading development and improvement within Student Support Services and within the broad strategy of the University. My time on the SBS Management Acceleration Programme has given me an excellent foundation for this role.

My new book 'Conquering Global Markets: Secrets from the World's Most Successful Multinationals' is now available. I interviewed senior executives from fifty multinational companies (including BP, BT, Cargill, Ford, SAP, Bayer, Sony, ABB, Teva) from sixteen countries to understand how they grew through acquisitions, strategic alliances, and greenfield investment. Hundreds of direct quotes and seventeen case studies are used to highlight successful practices.

Morgan Murphy's third book, Off the Eaten Path: Second Helpings (Time Inc, 2013) was released 7 May and has already sold out of its first printing, becoming an instant bestseller and rising to no. 4 on Amazon. In it, Murphy visits 64 restaurants across the American South, collecting 150 delicious recipes, and covering 17 states.

Sri Kannan (EMBA 2009) says his vision has come true. "With the support of several members of my cohort and the faculty and the inspiration provided by the environment at SBS, an idea was conceived that later germinated during my year at a leading technology firm in Cambridge. The idea has now culminated into a venture called Gamebench - a firm dedicated to creating a ubiquitous gaming experience across the mobile world. Two investors Cem Cesmig, who spent decades in private equity working with companies like Tiffany and Philip Swinstead OBE who is considered as one of the founders of UK's software industry, have taken an investment interest in Gamebench to the tune of £300,000. The Gamebench team thanks SBS for making this possible."

Read the School's news article on Sri.

www.gamebench.net

Marianne Scordel (MSt Oriental Studies 1998) is once again chosen as one of the Financial News 40 Under 40 Rising Stars of Hedge Funds. She is a part of an exclusive group the Financial News’ editors pick of the brightest up-and-coming men and women in the industry. As the European hedge fund market matures, they represent the next generation of talent.

40 Under 40 Rising Stars

Faisal Butt (MBA 2008) who launched Hamilton Bradshaw Real Estate with Dragon's Den James Caan, is interviewed by online magazine PrimeResi to discuss how he's a man on a mission to change the property industry.

PrimeResi article

Patrick Grant (EMBA 2004), Savile Row designer, is to become the new 'Paul Hollywood' in the new The Great British Sewing Bee reality television series, modelled after the successful The Great British Bake Off.

Is sewing the new baking?

Stephan Bisse (MBA 2001) and his sister Sonia White acquired two websites to create Europe's largest independent natural beauty ecommerce company. After founding www.Amarya.co.uk in 2008 and growing it into the UK's third largest natural beauty e-tailer, Stephan and Sonia acquired their main competitor LoveLula.com and its sister site Zuneta.com to create Europe's largest player in the natural and organic beauty space with over 100,000 customers.

Joseph Maldonado, Jr., (EMBA 2007 and current MSc Major Programme Management Candidate Cohort 3), Assistant Clinical Professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine was appointed a member of the Regional Advisory Committee for the New York State Department of Health's Health Benefit Exchange, which leads in the implementation of U.S. national healthcare reform at the state level. In March, Joseph was appointed a member of the Board of Directors for Healtheconnections - a merger of the Central New York Health Systems Agency - a state government created health planning organisation, and the Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) - implementing the regional healthcare information network.

http://www.healtheconnections.org/files/Press%20Releases/HCC_new_board_press_release_FINAL.pdf

Rajeeb Dey (E&M 2004) has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion 2013. Rajeeb was nominated in recognition for his work to inspire young people to pursue entrepreneurial career paths, and for tackling youth unemployment in the UK.

Rajeeb is founder of graduate recruitment platform Enternships.com, which connects students and graduates to internships and jobs within over 4500 startups and fast growing businesses. At Oxford he was the first sabbatical President of Oxford Entrepreneurs, the University entrepreneurs’ society, which is one of the largest student entrepreneurs societies in Europe with over 7,000 members.

Read the full article on Rajeeb's award.

Glen Mehn (MBA 2007) managing director of Social Innovation Camp, has worked for 10 years in Silicon Valley and supported startups in Kenya and Uganda. Glen is part of a team behind Bethnal Green Ventures, which has been announced as one of the first organisations to receive funding through the Cabinet Office's Social Incubator Fund. Nesta and the Nominet Trust, have matched the Cabinet Office's investment, awarding a combined total of £1.8 million investment to the accelerator.

Bethnal Green Ventures has already incubated 12 start-ups since it launched in 2011, including The Good Gym which Nesta is also supporting through the Innovation in Giving Fund.

Bethnal Green Ventures will offer £15,000 investment to 20 early stage social technology ventures per year, enabling successful applicants to concentrate full time on their start-up for twelve weeks. During the programme, the ventures will take part in workshops and receive mentoring, legal and administrative support. The ventures will be based in a newly refurbished start-up space at Nesta, Chancery Lane, and will also have use of Google Campus in Shoreditch.

Applications for the summer 2013 programme open on 6 March 2013 for early stage technology ventures seeking to tackle problems in health and ageing, education and employment, and sustainability. Workshops will be run throughout March and April for interested applicants. The programme particularly welcomes applications from women.

Robert Harrison (Physics 1980) joined the board of ABIE Germany e.V. - Australian Business in Europe, a networking organisation encouraging contacts between businesses in Australia and Europe. Their activities this year are focused on solar energy and energy.

Syed Saif Rahman (MBA 2006) joined BP as a Commercial Proeject Manager.

 Julianne Kissack (MBA 2008) has published, Flip the Fear of Public Speaking, a guide for the millions of people who suffer from the fear of public speaking. The guide includes practical, proven principles for transforming fear into energy, enthusiasm, and the power to persuade, leaving readers with a transferable skill set for achieving both personal and professional success.

Dr Kamakhya Singh (MBA 2008) is CFO of LAPO, one of the biggest microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. LAPO launched nationwide sales and distribution of Oando LPG cooking stoves. Commenting on the occasion of the launch, Dr Singh said: “We are pleased to be part of a truly remarkable program that will undoubtedly provide a healthier cooking option to the people at the bottom of the pyramid. As the first MFI to sign up, we will tap into our microfinancing experience of more than 25 years to encourage and support microentrepreneurs across different states of Nigeria.”

David Wickham (EMBA 2008) Director, HSBC Global Asset Management and Associate Fellow of the Saïd Business School) has been appointed as a Nonresident Fellow with The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organisation that is consistently ranked as the most influential, most quoted, and most trusted think tank.

Congratulations to Tom Kabuga, who received in September 2012 the Meffys award for Social Responsibility and Development, on behalf of Afroes, a social business that he co-founded during his MBA. Afroes makes social issue games for the mobile phone, and the award was for Moraba, a game that the company released in South Africa.

Faisal Butt, co-founder of HB Real Estate, has announced that HB has partnered with founders Alec Watt, Stella Savage, and Marc Horn to establish a new JV business, Accouter Design Limited. Accouter Design is an interior design business focusing on high-end residential interiors for both developers and private clients.
 
To date, HBRE has backed three new businesses and aims to welcome another two on our platform before the end of this year. During the next 24-36 months HBRE aims to back 12 property start-ups with the view of creating a multifaceted platform with an equity value of circa £500 million.

San Francisco / Gurgaon, 23 August 2012: Fidelity Growth Partners India commits to a $20 million investment in AbsolutData, a leading provider of data analytics services to global organizations. With this round of investment, AbsolutData aims to scale up its global delivery footprint to meet the growing demand for advanced and big data analytics.

As part of this transaction, Kabir Narang, Director at Fidelity Growth Partners India, joins the AbsolutData Board of Directors. Commenting on the investment, Kabir Narang said “We had prioritized business analytics as an investment theme. This sector will continue to benefit from the dramatic increase in volume of data generated by consumer devices such as smart phones and tablets and the increase in computing power and storage capacity in organizations. We are very excited to partner with AbsolutData as it embarks on its next phase of growth. The company has superb delivery capabilities and deep expertise in the attractive consumer and marketing analytics segment. The management team continues to invest in knowledge management and institutionalize processes that will help it scale rapidly.”

Jennifer Toda (MBA 2010) and digital start-up funding company Y Combinator made their first public launch on TechCrunch, through the backing of mobile application Scoutzie.

Said Jennifer: "It wouldn't have been possible had I not been inspired by SBS's SV come to Oxford, my SV trek when we visited YCombinator (I didn't even know about YC before the trek!), and all the ways that SBS encouraged us to take on the entrepreneurial path and challenge.

"Looking back on my year at SBS, I most treasured learning from our top professors and students from all around the world. It was an honor to be a part of a top global talent pool and so it is with the exact same idea that we thought to build Scoutzie to be a global marketplace for the best design talents around the world to congregate."

Being the CEO of BOCI Global Commodities (UK) Limited, Arthur has successfully led the company to become the first Chinese investment bank to become a clearing member of the 135-year-old London Metal Exchange (LME). 

The company is the UK subsidiary of BOC International Holdings Limited, the wholly-owned investment banking arm of Bank of China. With the rapid growth of the nation’s economy, China has become one of the World’s largest consumers and producers of commodities.  BOCI as the first Chinese clearing member is expected to capture a share of the global commodity derivatives markets previously dominated by foreign banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and so on.

Seedrs, started by Carlos Silva and Jeff Lynn while doing their MBAs at SBS, has become the first equity crowdfunding platform, anywhere in the world, to receive regulatory approval. 

Seedrs allows anyone to invest in the equity of early stage startups and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. It marks a revolutionary step both in the crowdfunding industry and in the way startups are financed.

Rania (St Hugh's College) and her husband George welcomed their son Alexander to the world on 19 January 2012. Congratulations!

Peter Langdon has been appointed Associate Director of Strategic Development & Growth at Grant Thornton International.

In his role he will be assisting Paul Raleigh (Global Leader) develop strategic initiatives, and execute the global M&A strategy, in order to help Grant Thorton achieve global revenues of $8 billion by 2015, an increase of over 100%.

The Indian wine company Soul Tree Wines, founded by Alok Mathur (2007) and Melvin D'Souza (2007) has landed yet another plaudit after winning the Most Promising New Business category at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group’s glittering Annual Dinner and Awards night on the 25th of April, 2012.

They fought off stiff competition from the four other nominees for the category, all upcoming stars in the Birmingham region.  Earlier Soul Tree Wines have received recognition for their ambitious vision of putting Indian wine on the global map by Director Magazine, who named them one of the Hot 20 Businesses to Watch in 2011 and by the business website Smarta.com which included them in their list of the Best 11 Businesses of 2011.

Anas Rahman Junaid, alumnus of Green Templeton College, has had his research analysis and valuation published in the Hurun Report, a leading lifestyle and luxury magazine in China.  Anas is the project manager of the Hurun Global Rich List.

Hurun Report (Chinese)
Read the article (English)