James Went

Partner

James Went

Partner

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+44 (0)1865 813675

Oxford

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James is a partner in the corporate team in Oxford, specialising in advising life sciences and technology companies on corporate transactions and their day-to-day governance. Many of his clients are spin-outs from the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, and other universities and technology transfer organisations.

He advises businesses throughout their life cycle, from start-up or spin-out, through multiple funding rounds and ultimate exits. James also works with clients on employee share incentive programmes, ongoing corporate governance and other compliance needs, and generally how to achieve and maintain transaction-readiness. His deep knowledge of clients and the long-term relationships he establishes help pave the way for successful transactions.

I relish working with the many brilliant founders and entrepreneurs behind our life sciences and technology clients that are helping to change the world. I help companies be ready to face the challenges of fundraising or mergers and acquisitions, and then navigate the sometimes stressful process of closing them.

James Went, Partner

The breadth of James’s work means his experience includes complex and high-value mergers and acquisitions, often with cross-border elements, particularly UK-US deals. The venture capital funding transactions he advises on range from pre-seed and seed stage, through series C fundraisings and beyond. James joined the firm in 2001 after training in the City of London. He has a first-class degree in law from Lincoln College, Oxford, and an LLM from Christ’s College, Cambridge. He is recognised as a leading individual in the Legal 500.

Recent work highlights

Fintech M&A

Acting for Seedrs, the equity crowdfunding pioneer, on its $100 million acquisition by Republic via a scheme of arrangement.

Spin-out and seed funding

Advising Seloxium, a new company developing methods to extract valuable metals from waste, on its spin-out from Oxford University and seed fundraising.

Life sciences merger

Acting for University of Oxford spin-out Celleron Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, on its merger with Argonaut Therapeutics to form IngenOx Therapeutics.

Satellite technology financing

Assisting advanced satellite technology company Open Cosmos with its $50 million series B funding round led by Trill Impact, A&G and ETF Partners.

Series B fundraising

Advising Bramble Energy on its £35 million series B fundraising to develop its hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Life sciences seed funding

Acting for MitoRx Therapeutics, which is developing revolutionary mitochondrial-protective therapeutics, on its spin-out from Exeter University and seed funding.

Series C fundraising

Advising First Light Fusion, an Oxford-based global leader in researching energy generation via inertial fusion, on its $45 million series C fundraising.

Life sciences spin-out

Assisting Imperial University spin-out SPARTA Biodiscovery with its spin-out and subsequent partnership, and up to £3.5 million funding from international life sciences group Sartorius.

Medtech fundraising

Advising OrganOx, a medtech spin-out from the University of Oxford, whose metra device aids in the liver transplant process, on its £25 million growth round led by Lauxera Capital Partners.

Agtech financing

Advising moa Technology, a crop protection company developing new herbicide modes of action, on its £35 million series B fundraising.

Series C fundraising

Advising First Light Fusion, an Oxford-based global leader in researching energy generation via inertial fusion, on its $45 million series C fundraising.

Life sciences spin-out

Assisting Imperial University spin-out SPARTA Biodiscovery with its spin-out and subsequent partnership, and up to £3.5 million funding from international life sciences group Sartorius.

Medtech fundraising

Advising OrganOx, a medtech spin-out from the University of Oxford, whose metra device aids in the liver transplant process, on its £25 million growth round led by Lauxera Capital Partners.

Agtech financing

Advising moa Technology, a crop protection company developing new herbicide modes of action, on its £35 million series B fundraising.

External recognition
Rankings from respected legal directories reflect the reputation our lawyers have earned across their key sectors and areas of practice.

What people are saying

James Went is outstandingly able and experienced in a broad range of transactions and sectors. He’s always calm and considered and able to keep an eye on the bigger picture while maintaining a forensic attention to the detail.

Legal 500

James Went – a fantastic, detail oriented corporate lawyer whose skills shine through in particularly complex legal matters.

Legal 500

James Went is cool-headed and pragmatic, knowing when to push on negotiations and when to accept counter-proposals.

Legal 500

James Went – highly responsive and attuned to client needs.

Legal 500

Our main current relationship is with James Went, who is brilliant. He is both cerebral and commercial – always happy to discuss details of a point of legal analysis, while also constantly focused on the practicalities of what the business needs.

Legal 500

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