Martin Fiennes

Martin graduated from Brasenose College at the University of Oxford in 1983. He started his career in trade show & exhibition management, and then in 1989 he completed an MBA at Ashridge Management College. From 1990-97 he worked with a University friend starting what is now the world’s biggest amusement & theme park games concession operator.  With this experience of starting and growing a small business, he started work in early-stage venture capital.

In 1997 Martin joined Top Technology Ventures investing in early-stage UK technology companies, and then in 2006 started a corporate finance business trading as Gatehouse Capital.  In this capacity he raised finance for a range of UK technology companies. In 2015 Martin joined Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) at its inception, and now makes investments from its £860m fund in spin-out companies based on science from the University of Oxford. His focus is on spin-outs from the Mathematical, Physical & Life Sciences departments.  Martin sits on a number of OSE portfolio company boards, including MoA Technology, Salience Labs, Mixergy, Wild Bioscience and Living Optics. He is retiring from a full-time role with OSE in 2024 to focus on his family business.

In addition, he is a Trustee of the grant-giving charitable trust, the HDH Wills 1965 Charitable Trust, and in 2022 stepped down after 11 years as a Non-Executive Director of Kings Arms Yard VCT plc.

Martin lives at Broughton Castle, near Banbury, a house which has been in the family since 1377 and which welcomes over 10,000 visitors each year. He is responsible for managing the house upkeep and farming operations on the Broughton estate. The Castle hosts a range of charitable events each year. He was appointed a DL in 2018.