Firstly, to invest in opportunities presented by the commercialisation of early stage life science, medical, digital and other new technologies; and secondly, to allocate the resulting profits, if any, to The Perivoli Schools Trust, which seeks to address the inadequacies of nursery school education in Sub Saharan Africa.
Perivoli Innovations answers to no third party investors and takes a long term view. It does not set time lines or internal rate of return expectations in the belief that “patient”, nurturing capital delivers better outcomes. Perivoli Innovations depends solely on the Perivoli Trust for its funding as well as the reinvesting of proceeds from divestments not allocated to the Perivoli Schools Trust.
Perivoli Innovations looks for early stage, innovative and highly scalable businesses that have the potential to make a big difference to people’s lives and the planet. It’s initial focus hitherto has been on the spin-out opportunities emerging from the research departments of the U.K’s leading universities and also digital businesses emerging from technology centres in Africa, both of which tend to be capital starved in their early years.
Perivoli Innovations plans its approach to capital allocation so as to be able to “follow-on” in subsequent funding rounds. In some instances it hopes to add value by providing advice and access to experts where appropriate.
Perivoli Innovations does not charge subscription fees, legal fees, annual supervision fees or any other fees to its investee companies.
Perivoli Innovations has made forty investments since mid 2016. Of these, one, in East Africa, has failed and another, in Bristol, has been mothballed. The fortunes of the others seem to rise and fall like a bobbing boat. The Trustees have no idea how things will play out, but hope well enough to fund the aspirations of the Perivoli Schools Trust.
Perivoli Innovations has made direct investments into the following businesses and indirect investments through Funds into others.
is a global peer-to-peer platform aimed at governments that consolidates and adds value to the vast acreage of information and research already available the world over on topics of interest to civil servants so as to prevent the reinvention of the proverbial wheel and resulting waste of government resources.
is a Kenyan based behavioural science platform that provides digital training by SMS to poorer people in remote communities on a range of topics including agriculture, nutrition, finance etc on behalf of Multinational Corporations seeking to gain better insights into their target customers at the lower end of the social pyramid.
a start-up established by a team of clinicians, doctors and software designers based in East Africa and Europe, has created a mobile App to provide health education and personalised chronic disease management to individuals in Sub Sharan Africa.
located at Cambridge University, has developed a novel gene sequencing methodology using a long read, single molecule, micro droplet sequencing technology.
one of two spin-outs from Base 4, Perivoli Innovations’ Cambridge based holding, the other being Lightcast, has developed an ultra-sensitive test to detect genetic mutations applicable in the first instance for oncology patient monitoring.
is a spin-out from the Department of Applied Materials at the University of Oxford that has developed a new display technology called Solid State Reflective Displays which uses readily available so-called phase-change materials which are expected over time to replace LCD and OLED technologies in some applications due to their low energy requirements, slimness, brightness, flexibility and low cost.
is an App developed by a group of former parents of children from a preparatory school in Oxford to assist school parents to communicate more easily with each other.
is a pre-IPO opportunity made available to subscribers in the Dawn Capital II Fund. The company is emerging as the market leader in the software used by large corporations to catalogue “Big Date”, make it available across organisations and provide data for governance and compliance type purposes, initially in the finance sectors but increasingly more broadly.
is a software as a service (SaaS) business that shows mainly small and medium sized businesses how to manage their digital marketing activities more productively.
is a Nairobi-based, Silicon Valley-backed, business that is developing an e.commerce retail model in East Africa aimed at rural communities.
a spin-out from the University of Cardiff, is developing a low cost diagnostic device for laboratory and doctor’s surgery applications, based upon magneto-optical technology, for use in the early detection of endotoxins and septicemia, the latter currently one of the world’s biggest killers on account of late detection.
is a spin-out from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham which has developed a cost-effective genotyping test to detect the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease for use, initially, in research into the illness and by pharma companies looking to secure patients for clinical trials the high cost of which hitherto has been a barrier in finding a cure for the illness.
led by a team based at Oxford University, has developed software that automatically tests the code written by computer programmers as they write it with wide implications across many industries.
a spinout from the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science, has developed a fertility monitor called OvuSense which, using a vaginal sensor, is able to predict the onset of ovulation in humans up to 24 hours in advance in each cycle and is then able to confirm the date of ovulation. The product is able to transmit the data using NFC technology to a user’s handheld device using a specially designed App.
is a spin-out from the University of Bristol’s Ultrasonic and Non Destructive Testing group which has developed a system of monitoring corrosion or other defects in structures, such as pipes, though use of permanently attached, battery-free, wireless ultrasonic sensors, an approach that reduces inspection time and costs and industrial plant downtime.
is a pre-IPO opportunity made available to subscribers in the Dawn Capital II Fund. The company is the leading mobile payments platform in Europe and Latin America for small and medium sized retailers providing point of sale devices and other payment services which traditional banks are not willing to provide.
is a Nairobi based start-up that is establishing a network of small ATM like “KOKOpoint” kiosks located inside neighbourhood stores from which individuals can refill specially designed canisters for use with KOKO’s launch product which a liquid ethanol cooking solution that is cheaper, cleaner, safer and more efficient than traditional stoves that use charcoal the production of which is contributing to deforestation across the African continent.
one of two spin-outs from Base 4, seeks to commercialise a component of Base 4’s gene sequencing technology for use in cell manipulation and drug discovery.
is a Kenyan based platform that seeks to formalise the informal labour market in the developing world by rating workers according to customer satisfaction.
a spin-out from the University of Bristol engineering department, has developed a breast scanning device using microwave imaging technology which is much safer, more accurate and cheaper than current X-ray technologies and which will be able to distinguish between cysts and tumours and malignant and benign tumours.
has invented a blood test that can show within eighteen hours whether a patient who appears to be very poorly is suffering from septicaemia or not, which compares to the five days that it takes currently to rule out such a finding which will have the benefit of significantly reducing the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics.
is a spin-out from the Computer Science Department at the University of Oxford which has developed a way of interpreting geo-location features of a mobile phone to track the movements of the phone to an accuracy of one meter which has applications for the retail, transport, health, venue and other industries.
a spin-out from Oxford University, has developed a portable medical device for keeping livers “alive” for up to twenty four hours ahead of organ transplant at normal body temperature whilst generating real time data on its status. Superior to the current cold state static approach, the device will increase the quality and supply of organs available for transplantation of which there is a severe shortage.
a sister company to Oxsonics, seeks to use ultrasound and polymer bubbles to repair damaged spinal cartilage.
is a spin-out from the Biomedical Department at the University of Oxford that has developed regenerative implants made from spider-spun silk fibre to replace the cartilage and meniscus of those with damaged knees which will allow a speedy and full return to active life without the need for complex and expensive knee replacement surgery.
is a spin-out from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford which has developed a way of using enzymes to produce natural flavours and fragrances in bulk for use in the cosmetics and food industries to replace more expensive natural ingredients and synthetic alternatives.
has developed a way to interpret MRI scans for early signs of Alzheimer’s Disease.
is a spin-out from the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford University that uses origami engineering techniques to develop a novel flow-diverter for inserting into the human brain to alleviate the risk of an aneurism bursting.
a spin out from the University of Oxford, is commercialising the widely available mineral perovskite for use as a low cost, highly efficient, thin-film solar cell to convert sunlight into electricity in tandem with or by way of alternative to the less efficient silicon.
uses “origami engineering” techniques and novel materials to design and manufacture ultra-lightweight products, including unfurlable booms and dishes, for small satellites.
a spin-out from the University of Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering, is commercialising a technique which uses ultrasound to cause polymer bubbles to expand and collapse for the more effective delivery of chemotherapy drugs into solid tumours making it possible to reach cancer cells that lie farthest from blood vessels; and through a sister company is using the same technology to provide a minimally-invasive alternative to spinal fusion for those with severe back problems.
a University of Bristol spin-out, has developed a sustained release compound of the common antiseptic, Chlorhexidine, which can be used in veterinary, wound care and dental products conferring sustained antimicrobial efficacy for weeks, months or years, overcoming the major shortcoming of most current formulations of Chlorhexidine, namely their short duration of antimicrobial activity.
has launched a range of flavoured ciders and spirit mixers in East Africa.
is a Nairobi based start up that aims to formalise the so-called “boda boda” motorcycle and trucking delivery sector in East Africa.
is a pre-IPO opportunity from the Dawn Capital 2 Fund that provides productivity enhancing software to software salesmen.
is a new Nairobi based food business with Danish backers that sells inexpensive flavoured frozen milk in small sachets through a network of street vendors in East African cities.
has developed a global address platform by randomly allocating three words to each three meter square grid on the planet which is of interest, amongst others, to the automotive, logistics, infrastructure and mapping industries.
is a spin-out from Oxford University which develops and manufactures high power, light weight and torque density electric motors and controllers with applications in the automotive, marine and aerospace markets.
runs a Kenya and Nigeria based online magazine focussing on woman’s issues with e.commerce ambitions.
is a San Francisco based digital market place for property landlords and tenants made available for pre-IPO investment by the Dawn Capital 11 Fund.
It is a sad fact that an estimated 30% of children entering sub-Saharan African state education systems aged six or seven drop out of primary school by aged ten, a large number of girl students fall pregnant from aged thirteen and too few students complete their education.
One of the widely accepted reasons for the failure of formal education systems is simply that children have not been equipped in their nursery school years to deal with school life. The aim of The Perivoli Schools Trust is to see primary school dropout rates decline and for children to get more out of their formal education.
The Programme run by the Perivoli Schools Trust shows nursery school teachers through a course of sixteen Training Modules delivered over a two year period how to manage their class rooms, how to make educational toys out of waste materials and, in doing so, the value of play which is otherwise not well understood across the region.
The Trust currently employs a corpus of Perivoli Trainers who in addition to delivering the Training Modules undertake regular class visits to the nursery school teachers to assist with the implementation of the Programme and provide on-going supervision.
The Perivoli Schools Trust, funded hitherto by the Perivoli Trust, interacts with over 6,000 nursery school teachers in Namibia, Malawi and Zambia and has reached an estimated 150,000 children aged two to seven. Its goal, depending on the success of Perivoli Innovations, is to increase these numbers many-fold across sub-Saharan Africa over time.
For further information please contact: James Alexandroff (advisor to the Trustees) at info@perivoliinnovations.com