2 minute read

In Europe’s leading innovation hub continued

CIC contributes to the Cambridge ecosystem

The Cambridge ecosystem helps to sustain CIC

The foundation for innovation is the steady supply of excellent ideas, of which there is an abundance in Cambridge. Ingenuity and creativity, alongside the fundamental research that underpins these ideas, combined with the constant exchange of ideas between academics and companies, governments and NGOs, has provided the recipe for this success. This combination of commercial and scientific expertise, working in tandem, has promoted the propagation of a wide range of knowledge-intensive businesses. Our focus enables us to be uniquely connected and deeply embedded within the community. We have established our reputation based on the strength of our relationships, our deep domain and operational expertise, and the mutual trust with the people with whom we work. This strategy ensures that we are not only the most active Series A investor in the Cambridge ecosystem, but we also participate in the biggest deals.

A responsible approach to investment

Knowledgeable and experienced team with an extensive global network

Substantial Series A and follow-on capital

Co-investment further improves job creation and local economy

World-class academic and commercial research

Rich pool of exceptional talent

Significant seed capital activity

Deep heritage and proven ecosystem to help scale knowledge-intensive start-ups

A strong track record and growing portfolio Global tech companies offer potential for strategic partnerships and channels to market

Innovation is critical to local, national and global prosperity and is central to the UK’s growth agenda. Innovation is also key to solving many of the world’s issues by: creating jobs and prosperity; • helping to tackle inequality, congestion and the scarcity of resources; addressing longer-term issues of low growth, productivity and investment; protecting national security by increasing UK ownership and control over critical IP; and finding solutions to the world’s greatest challenges ranging from climate change and biodiversity loss to pandemics, food security and poverty.

Innovate Cambridge, which we created with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Enterprise, aims to ensure that the Greater Cambridge region is positioned to continue competing internationally and to enhance its reputation as a location for both ground-breaking research and a place to start, grow and locate knowledgeintensive businesses that will change the world.

Innovate Cambridge was officially launched at the inaugural Summit in September 2022 when we were joined by over 200 industry leaders, politicians, start-up founders and members of the Cambridge technology community to begin an ecosystem-wide conversation about the future of the Greater Cambridge region. Following the event, attendees were asked to sign the Innovate Cambridge Charter, in which they pledged to come together to support, promote and enhance the ecosystem, and to help develop a set of initiatives to enable the delivery of the Innovate Cambridge vision.

Since then, the Innovate Cambridge Steering Committee and Boston Consulting Group have been working collaboratively with all the key stakeholders to develop an ambitious and exciting vision for Cambridge, together with a set of priority actions to deliver this vision. The priority actions, once implemented, will enable the Greater Cambridge area to compete effectively on the international stage, ensuring more global businesses want to establish a presence in and around Cambridge and for us all to realise the wider benefits those moves bring to the local, regional and national economy.