Gigi Wang Brings Decades of Global Entrepreneurial Expertise to Oxford


Gigi Wang (SCET Berkeley UC) and Stephen Clarke (Oxbridge Foundation) with a group of students and young entrepreneurs at IT Arena Lviv (Ukraine) in September 2024

Course Snapshot

– Dates: 7th-11th April 2025
– Location: Keble College, University of Oxford

This April, the Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, hosted by the Oxbridge Foundation at University of Oxford’s Keble College, will welcome one of the most seasoned voices in global entrepreneurship—Gigi Wang. Gigi is a Silicon Valley veteran, and has worked with some of the biggest names in business, including MasterCard, Pacific Internet (which went public on NASDAQ), as well as mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs and executives worldwide.

Gigi is an Industry Fellow & Faculty at UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Chair Emeritus of the VLAB (formerly MIT/Stanford Venture Lab), and sits on the advisory board of Mobility Ventures, iGlobe Partners amongst others.

Gigi is a frequent conference speaker and conducts entrepreneurship/innovation workshops for start-ups, corporates, incubators, and universities around the world, along with offering biz dev services to help companies scale.

With a career spanning 40 countries and deep experience in tech innovation, venture capital, and startup acceleration, Gigi Wang brings both practical insights and real-world expertise to the bootcamp in Oxford. But beyond Gigi’s impressive résumé, like Oxbridge Foundation, Gigi also has a profound personal connection to Ukrainian entrepreneurs, making her participation even more meaningful. For those not familiar with the Oxbridge Foundation, our primary objective is to bridge the gap between potential and opportunity for many talented young people.

Innovation Driven by Necessity

Having worked across vastly different markets, Gigi has observed how crisis fuels innovation, highlighting an example in the ongoing war in Ukraine, “in Ukraine right now, there’s much more urgency,” she explained. “Drone technology, for example, was needed yesterday to help save the country. You can’t sit there and over-engineer it—you’ve got to get it out there fast.”

She compared this urgency to Qatar’s 2017 blockade, which forced the country to innovate its way to self-sufficiency—even creating a dairy industry from scratch in just six months. “Necessity is the most powerful driver of innovation,” she emphasised. “Whether it’s wartime in Ukraine or an economic crisis like the 2008 recession in the U.S., when people are forced to think differently, that’s when the most revolutionary startups are born”. Gigi lists Airbnb & Uber as two unicorn businesses who are examples of this, who rose out of the 2008 recession.

A Transformative Experience for Bootcamp Participants

For Gigi Wang, a fundamental element in teaching entrepreneurship is shaping an entrepreneurial mindset. Gigi explained, “you can have perfect technology and work your ass off, but if you don’t have a risk-taking, resilient, adaptable mindset, it doesn’t matter how big the market is—you won’t succeed.”

Gigi explains the bootcamp will be highly interactive, focusing on hands-on exercises rather than just lectures. “Learning isn’t about how much knowledge you can store, it’s about how you take action using knowledge alongside an entrepreneurial mindset to make an ever-lasting impact.”

A Proven Track Record of Transforming Students into Entrepreneurs

Many of Gigi Wang’s past bootcamp participants have gone on to launch successful companies. Gigi highlighted two standout examples who are now multimillion-dollar companies:

  • LUMICKS (Netherlands): Founded by two researchers who attended Gigi Wang’s bootcamp, this company has since raised over €200 million – https://lumicks.com/
  • LatchBio: Co-founded by two of her former students, this AI processing platform for biotech companies to process data, has raised over $30 million in funding – https://latch.bio/

While some students may go on to launch startups right away, Gigi sees success differently: “I’m not just looking for startup success stories. I want to inspire the next generation—to give them the mindset and skills to create groundbreaking innovations, whether it’s today or a few years from now.”

A Longstanding Connection to Ukrainian Entrepreneurs

Gigi Wang’s commitment to supporting Ukrainian entrepreneurs goes back more than a decade. “I have been teaching and mentoring Ukrainian startups and Ukrainian entrepreneurs since 2012,” she shared. “I’m so impressed by their drive, their dedication, and their brilliance. I’m very excited to have a chance to teach and mentor a whole new generation of Ukrainian entrepreneurs.”

Her involvement began in April 2012, when she joined a Silicon Valley delegation for the Kyiv Open Doors programme. Since then, having been impressed with what she experienced, she has spoken at numerous Ukrainian conferences, advised startups, and even watched her mentees relocate to Silicon Valley to build successful businesses.

But her connection runs deeper than business. Gigi shared a particularly moving story: “One of the entrepreneurs I mentored in 2012 closed his startup to fight in the war. He initially joined the territorial defense forces, and now he’s working in the military. When I recently spoke at IT ARENA in Lviv, I got to meet up with my former mentee. So yes, there is a lot of emotion in this whole endeavour given the Ukrainian link to the bootcamp.”

Her deep admiration for Ukrainian resilience and innovation is evident. She and her husband have personally donated to humanitarian causes and towards supplying protective equipment for Ukrainian soldiers.

Finally Checking Oxford Off the Bucket List

Despite having taught in 40 countries, Gigi has never been to Oxford—until now. “Oxford has been on my bucket list since I was 20 years old,” she laughed. “Freshman year at Stanford, I wanted to do an Oxford exchange semester—but I didn’t go because I didn’t want to leave my then boyfriend! Now, 40 years later, I’m finally making it.”

Gigi’s eager to engage with brilliant students from around the world, emphasising that, “this bootcamp is going to be exhausting yet inspiring and transformative… And the connections these participants build? They’ll last a lifetime.”

With Gigi Wang’s unparalleled experience, deep personal connection to Ukrainian entrepreneurs, and passion for shaping the next generation of innovators, the Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship Bootcamp in Oxford promises to be a game-changing experience for all involved.

For students looking to build their entrepreneurial mindset, learn from a global expert, and gain the skills to turn ideas into reality, this bootcamp is not to be missed.

While the bootcamp has a strong and meaningful connection to Ukrainian innovators and students, we warmly welcome students and aspiring entrepreneurs from across the UK and beyond to join this extraordinary experience. Whether you’re a university student in Oxford, a young innovator in London, or someone passionate about launching a startup, this bootcamp is designed for anyone eager to explore the intersection of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. With the programme just around the corner, it’s an ideal opportunity to gain practical skills, build a global network, and learn directly from a world-class mentor like Gigi Wang—without leaving the UK.

Enquire via the following link: Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship Course – Keble College

Organisers and partners of the Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship Bootcamp:

  • Oxbridge Foundation
  • SCET Berkeley UC
  • Cherwell College Oxford
  • Oxford Entrepreneurs (Oxford innovation partner)
  • YEP Accelerator (Ukrainian innovation partner)