Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the VC agency investing in British high-potential DeepTech and life sciences corporations, introduced they’re committing a minimum of €115 million to put money into spinouts from the College of Cambridge.
This funding varieties a part of the launch of Fund III, its newest €288 million early-stage enterprise fund targeted on the Cambridge ecosystem, to put money into College of Cambridge spinouts.
Andrew Williamson, Managing Companion, CIC, stated: “Cambridge is on the forefront of innovation in DeepTech and life sciences. Our new EIR programme will present teachers and researchers with entry to the £100 million we’re committing to College of Cambridge spinouts as they proceed to develop breakthrough applied sciences. This growth of CIC’s long-standing partnership with the College of Cambridge, which offers distinctive entry to the college’s teachers and analysis, will assist help the UK’s financial progress by creating the subsequent era of world-class corporations.”
Based in 2013, CIC is a longtime VC agency in what it calls “one of many world’s most impactful science and know-how ecosystems“, with a twelve-year observe report of figuring out, supporting and exiting science-driven corporations. Embedded within the UK innovation ecosystem and with entry to the College of Cambridge, CIC works intently with its buyers, together with main pension funds and household workplaces.
CIC manages over €693 million of capital and invests throughout DeepTech and life sciences, from most cancers therapies, genomic diagnostics and surgical robotics, to AI, semiconductors and quantum computing. Notable portfolio corporations embrace CMR Surgical, Pragmatic and Riverlane.
Cambridge spinouts contribute greater than €26 billion to the UK financial system yearly. The college has additionally produced the highest quantity of unicorn corporations of any European ecosystem. Notable successes embrace world-leading know-how corporations resembling Darktrace, ARM and Abcam.
Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, Professional-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation on the College of Cambridge, stated: “In 2024, the College of Cambridge created extra spinout corporations than another college. It has additionally produced probably the most unicorns of any European ecosystem and generates £23 billion in financial curiosity linked to analysis and commercialisation annually. We’re decided to do much more, and sooner, by means of initiatives resembling the brand new EIR programme and by attracting funding into our spinout corporations working with companions like Cambridge Innovation Capital.”
To coincide with the funding dedication, CIC is launching a brand new Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) programme, in partnership with the college, to establish IP with the potential for commercialisation and to help tutorial Founders as they start to construct an organization. By matching skilled DeepTech and life sciences executives, a lot of whom have achieved vital exits with their earlier companies, with teachers and high-potential IP, the EIR programme will intention to extend the variety of high quality spinouts and speed up the trail in direction of viable commercialisation of the know-how.
The EIR programme, which can keep a rolling cohort of as much as six EIRs, is the newest challenge to help spinouts from the college. The College of Cambridge has additionally launched the Founders programme to help new firm creation; the Know-how Funding Fund (TIF), a brand new proof of idea fund to de-risk world class analysis and allow sooner commercialisation; and an extra €34 million capital to the €115 million AUM Cambridge Enterprise Ventures (CEV) fund to help rising college funding in spinouts.
Corporations created throughout the EIR programme can entry the brand new funding to help growth from inception by means of proof-of-concept to early-stage progress.
Latest examples of College success tales which this EIR programme will construct upon embrace:
- Riverlane – A quantum computing firm based by former DAMTP tutorial, Dr Steve Brierley, with help from CIC and CEV. It has raised over €105 million to determine a number one place within the area of quantum error correction.
- T-Therapeutics – A therapeutics firm, based by Prof. Allan Bradley, with a TCR discovery engine that may unlock the facility of T cells to deal with most cancers and autoimmune ailments. Based mostly on College IP, the corporate has raised funding from CEV, CIC and institutional buyers.
- Cambridge GaN Gadgets (CGD) – after successful the 2017 postdoc marketing strategy competitors Dr Giorgio Longobardo and Prof. Florin Udrea based CGD. The corporate designs GaN energy electronics units for power environment friendly energy conversion and has raised over €43 million from CEV, CIC and a spread of institutional buyers.
The funding will search to make the most of the industrial potential in science and know-how innovation developed by Cambridge researchers and follows a sequence of current initiatives from the college designed to help entrepreneurial teachers. These embrace plans for 4 million sq. ft of high-tech growth at Cambridge West and a brand new Innovation Hub in central Cambridge to host spinouts, startups, and entrepreneurs.
