OXCCU, a University of Oxford spin-out that makes jet fuel from waste carbon, has been named a finalist in The Purpose Beyond Profit Award at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards 2026.
The company’s case rests on a stark premise. Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, because long-haul flight cannot be electrified and needs a dense, drop-in liquid fuel. Today’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is scarce and dominated by waste-oil HEFA, whose rising price, the business says, is drawing virgin food crops into the market. OXCCU’s route uses only waste-stream carbon, whether captured CO₂, forestry residues or biogas, so it never competes with land or food.
One step from CO₂ to jet fuel
Spun out from Oxford in 2021 and built on a decade of peer-reviewed research, OXCCU has patented a one-step catalytic process that converts CO₂ and green hydrogen directly into jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons, consolidating the conventional two-step Reverse Water Gas Shift and Fischer-Tropsch route into a single reaction. According to the business, independent techno-economic modelling indicates roughly 50% lower capital cost and about 25% lower fuel cost than conventional e-SAF, while its third-party-audited greenhouse gas model puts lifecycle carbon intensity at around 5.7 gCO₂e/MJ, about 94% below fossil jet fuel.
Purpose priced into the product
Central to the entry is the claim that purpose is built into the product, not bolted on. The founders deliberately chose the harder waste-carbon route over the easier crop- and waste-oil-based SAF that dominates today, the company says, because the business only works if emissions fall and food security is protected. Policy sharpens that alignment. The UK SAF Mandate, which the Department for Transport says starts in 2025 at 2% of UK jet fuel demand and rises to 10% in 2030 and 22% in 2040, pays more for lower-carbon fuel, so cutting emissions directly raises revenue. Mission and margin, in the company’s framing, are the same decision, which is precisely the logic The Purpose Beyond Profit Award exists to recognise.
From Oxford lab to airport demonstration
The company reports that OX1, its demonstration plant commissioned at London Oxford Airport in September 2024, is to its knowledge the world’s first single-step CO₂-to-jet demonstration plant, a milestone covered by the Financial Times, Reuters and The Times. OXCCU says it has raised around £41m of equity, including an oversubscribed £20.75m Series B in 2025 backed by IAG (British Airways) and Safran, plus £8.75m in non-dilutive UK grants. It has created 32 skilled jobs, records an employee net promoter score of 73, and welcomed His Majesty The King on a visit in 2025.
More on the technology is available on the OXCCU website, and the full 2026 shortlist can be found at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards.
