Oxford capital eis fund
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Leo Castellanos

Investment Director
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Leo is an Investment Director at Oxford Capital, leading investment efforts from Seed/Series A through to scale-ups, focusing on investing and supporting high-growth companies.  A seasoned venture capitalist, he spent over a decade as Partner at Saatchinvest, leading fundamental analysis, deal structuring and taking board seats. He specialises in seed/growth equity, private financing, and innovation commercialisation.

Early in his career he spent several years with the Big 4 before launching a technology incubator commercialising academic IP and founding a multinational comparison website operating in five countries. He combines investment expertise with this entrepreneurial experience.  Recently he has supported world-class innovative companies (through the UK’s innovation agency) in Biotech, Health, AI, Deeptech and Defence. He is a visiting lecturer at Bayes Business School on Corporate Venturing and Venture Capital.

Leo holds an Executive MBA (distinction) from Cass Business School, and has completed Venture Capital and PE programmes at Harvard Business School and London Business School. He is the recipient of the Tallow Chandlers Award for his MBA dissertation. Leo speaks fluent Spanish and is learning Russian.  He enjoys live music, travel, and open water swimming wherever he visits.

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Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

  1. You could lose all the money you invest
    1. If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
  2. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
    1. Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
    2. Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
  3. You won’t get your money back quickly
    1. Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
    2. The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
    3. If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
  4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
    1. Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
    2. A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments. https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest
  5. The value of your investment can be reduced
    1. The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
    2. These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

 

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.