Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the VC agency investing in British high-potential DeepTech and life sciences firms, introduced they’re committing at the least €115 million to spend money on 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 spend money on College of Cambridge spinouts.
Andrew Williamson, Managing Associate, CIC, mentioned: “Cambridge is on the forefront of innovation in deep tech and life sciences. Our new EIR programme will present teachers and researchers with entry to the £100m 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 gives distinctive entry to the college’s teachers and analysis, will assist assist the UK’s financial progress by creating the subsequent technology of world-class firms.”
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 monitor file of figuring out, supporting and exiting science-driven firms. 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 firms 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 firms of any European ecosystem. Notable successes embrace world-leading know-how corporations equivalent to Darktrace, ARM and Abcam.
Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, Professional-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation on the College of Cambridge, mentioned: “In 2024, the College of Cambridge created extra spinout firms than some other college. It has additionally produced essentially the most unicorns of any European ecosystem and generates £23 billion in financial curiosity linked to analysis and commercialisation every year. We’re decided to do much more, and sooner, via initiatives equivalent to the brand new EIR programme and by attracting funding into our spinout firms 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 determine IP with the potential for commercialisation and to assist educational Founders as they start to construct an organization. By matching skilled DeepTech and life sciences executives, lots of whom have achieved important exits with their earlier companies, with teachers and high-potential IP, the EIR programme will goal 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 is able to keep a rolling cohort of as much as six EIRs, is the newest challenge to assist spinouts from the college. The College of Cambridge has additionally launched the Founders programme to assist 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 a further €34 million capital to the €115 million AUM Cambridge Enterprise Ventures (CEV) fund to assist growing college funding in spinouts.
Firms created inside the EIR programme can entry the brand new funding to assist growth from inception via 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 educational, Dr Steve Brierley, with assist from CIC and CEV. It has raised over €105 million to ascertain a number one place within the subject of quantum error correction.
- T-Therapeutics – A therapeutics firm, based by Prof. Allan Bradley, with a TCR discovery engine that may unlock the ability of T cells to deal with most cancers and autoimmune illnesses. Based mostly on College IP, the corporate has raised funding from CEV, CIC and institutional buyers.
- Cambridge GaN Units (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 variety of institutional buyers.
The funding will search to benefit from the industrial potential in science and know-how innovation developed by Cambridge researchers and follows a sequence of latest initiatives from the college designed to assist 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.