Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) has launched a new £100 million Opportunity Fund to back deeptech and life sciences companies. The fund has received backing from Aviva Investors and British Patient Capital and the potential returns from the UK.
The focus on Cambridge
Cambridge is widely regarded as one of the world’s most prominent deep tech and life sciences clusters. Ranked the world’s leading science and technology hub by intensity in the Global Innovation Index 2024, Cambridge boasts a rich history of innovation, with University of Cambridge-affiliated founders responsible for some of the UK’s most successful companies, including ARM Holdings, Abcam, Darktrace, and Bicycle Therapeutics.
CIC, established in 2013, has a unique relationship with the University of Cambridge, providing privileged access to university spinouts and affiliated startups. The Opportunity Fund builds on this foundation, focusing on growth-stage investments to bridge the UK’s persistent scale-up financing gap.
Scaling deeptech and life sciences
The Opportunity Fund targets later-stage deep tech and life sciences companies, with investments of up to £20 million per round. These sectors represent a major potential while also addressing major societal challenges. The UK has long struggled with scaling promising startups domestically, often losing them to foreign investors.
This fund aims to anchor high-growth UK companies within the national ecosystem, helping them reach global competitiveness while remaining locally headquartered.
Portfolio of investments
The fund has already made its first two investments:
- Pragmatic Semiconductor: A UK-based flexible chip designer and manufacturer, innovating in semiconductor technology to develop ultra-low-cost, scalable electronics.
- Riverlane: A quantum computing company specialising in error correction, a critical component in making quantum computers commercially viable.
Both companies highlight the fund’s strategic emphasis on high-impact, cutting-edge technologies with strong commercial viability.
Besides these, CIC has a well-established track record in deeptech and life sciences investments. Notable exits from its portfolio include:
- Gyroscope Therapeutics: A company specialising in gene therapy and was acquired by Novartis for $1.5 billion
- PetMedix: A pet antibody therapeutics company acquired by Zoetis for $285 million
- Inivata: It is a liquid biopsy diagnostics player acquired by NeoGenomics for $390 million
- Audio Analytic: A pioneer in sound recognition technology.
Additionally, Bicycle Therapeutics was successfully listed on NASDAQ in 2019, exemplifying CIC’s ability to guide companies toward successful public offerings.
Is it a step towards the UK’s “Silicon Valley” vision?
The UK government has emphasised its ambition to create Europe’s answer to Silicon Valley, with Cambridge as a focal point. The fund signals growing confidence in the UK’s ability to nurture and scale deep tech and life sciences firms. The Opportunity Fund represents a major step in cementing the UK’s leadership in cutting-edge technology and scientific innovation.
Andrew Williamson, Managing Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, said: “CIC has traditionally invested in early-stage opportunities around Cambridge and has seen many of these companies mature into highly commercial businesses developing proven technologies. With this new fund we will support our portfolio companies, and scaleups from the UK ecosystem, as they reach a defining moment in their growth – and at exactly the point where the UK often loses its most exciting businesses. We want to be a part of that change, and we’re delighted to be working with Aviva Investors and British Patient Capital to achieve this ambition.”
Christine Hockley, Managing Director, Funds, British Patient Capital, said: “We’re pleased to be expanding our relationship with CIC. Cambridge has long been a global research centre, but it is now a growing hub for breakthrough technology as its spin-out ecosystem matures. CIC has unparalleled access to the opportunities emerging from that ecosystem and is providing critical growth funding that can help these businesses to reach their commercial potential, ultimately allowing British entrepreneurs to build successful, globally competitive companies.”
Ben Luckett, Managing Director, Venture and Strategic Capital, at Aviva Investors, said: “We are very pleased to complete our latest investment in the Cambridge innovation cluster. CIC has a wealth of expertise in life sciences and deep tech, discovering and supporting pioneering companies like Pragmatic and Riverlane which are putting the UK at the forefront of global innovation. As an investor with a long-standing presence in Cambridge, we understand its reputation as a world-leading technology cluster, the huge value of the unique ideas being created here, and their potential to create growth, success and impact. We believe CIC’s new Fund and its unrivalled access to these early-stage companies, will enable us to support their growth whilst aiming to deliver long-term investment outcomes.”
Chris Smart, Investment Director, Funds, British Patient Capital, said: “We’re delighted to continue our relationship with CIC. This investment will contribute to addressing the need for crucial growth-stage capital enabling some of the most promising IP rich companies in the UK to scale their groundbreaking technologies and realise their commercial potential on the global stage.”
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