Cambridge Enterprise

Introducing Chris Gibbs, our Investment Director! Q. How long have you worked for Cambridge Enterprise Ventures? A. I've been here just over three years after arriving during Covid lockdown. I'm glad to be back in Cambridge and at the vibrant West Campus. Q. What did you do before Cambridge Enterprise? A. I arrived in England in the 1990s "flying and fighting" with the US Air Force. Later, I joined a Cambridge start-up during the CleanTech v1 era, where we were ahead of our time by 20 years. Before returning to Cambridge, I spent over a decade "lost in the wilderness" of London building and founding spin-outs from UCL like Bramble Energy and Amalyst. Q. Favourite industry to work with? A. As a chemical engineer by training and a Founder of a materials company, I have a soft spot for material manufacturing.  This extends to Cambridge Enterprise, where we offer Translational Investment Funding to support the development of Cambridge innovations and Matcelerate, which focuses specifically on accelerating materials development. I've also had some great experiences with Japanese multinationals such as Tokuyama, as well as collaborations with Johnson Matthey’s catalyst division and GSK’s FMCG division. Q. One innovation that still blows your mind and why? A. So tough to choose! Before I arrived at Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, I knew I wanted to do something with the barocaloric material from Professor Xavier Moya. He has invented a solid material capable of replacing greenhouse gases in heating and cooling systems. This breakthrough may revolutionize an industry that has remained largely unchanged for 120 years. We are pleased to be one of the first investors in his spin-out company, Barocal. During my time at the Akzo Nobel facility in Slough, the innovation team always had "removing titanium dioxide" on their agenda. This ubiquitous white pigment appears in everything from wall paint to cupcakes. After discovering an all-natural white pigment innovation from Lukas Schertel and Silvia Vignolini, I championed it from the start. Now Seprify is going from strength to strength, with great partners and investors. Q. What makes you lean forward and take note in a pitch? A. Easy – receipts and NEDs. We work with early-stage Deep Tech and Life Science businesses. While these spin-offs typically take years to generate revenue and attract repeat customers, those that bootstrap, engage customers for pilot projects and joint development agreements and secure payment, stand out. In Cambridge, our “critical mass” of differentiated science, talent and funding enables valuable connections for academics and entrepreneurs. Founders that attract complementary talent through non-executive directors or a chairperson demonstrate the leadership and team-building qualities I value. Q. One company you wish you'd got to invest in and why? A. ARM! Europe’s largest tech company and I’d be an angel investor now 😉 #Ventures #CambridgeInnovation #Entrepreneurship

With Europe’s largest life science cluster, Cambridge stands at the forefront when it comes to breakthroughs in drug development, personalized medicine, and biotechnology, massively benefitting society and the economy. Cambridge is also home to over 2,300 researchers and scientists, working for life science giants like AstraZeneca. Their collective expertise cements Cambridge as a premier destination for life science innovation. 🧬💡 At Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, we’re proud to collaborate with exceptional academics and visionary life science companies. Our partners drive transformative innovations; from AI-driven drug discoveries, to inventing new methodologies to treat mental health conditions, to harnessing T cells for chronic and infectious disease treatments. Our portfolio includes cutting-edge companies such as Aqdot Limited, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, PharmEnable Therapeutics, Psyomics, Sphere Fluidics Limited, and T-Therapeutics Ltd. 🌟🔬 Learn more about our work at Cambridge Enterprise Ventures here: https://lnkd.in/eqDDPqxq #LifeSciences #Biotechnology #CambridgeInnovation #Ventures

Another winner from the Cambridge Ecosystem! 🥳 Congratulations to Orr Yarkoni at Colorifix for being awarded the 2024 Princess Royal Silver Medal by the Royal Academy of Engineering. This award highlights Colorifix’s outstanding contribution to UK engineering. They are revolutionising the way we dye fabrics by harnessing microscopic life to make natural fabric dyes. These natural dyes massively reduce chemical pollution and save vast quantities of water, helping manufacturers meet their sustainability goals. It’s great to see our fellow colleagues across the Cambridge Ecosystem achieving well deserved recognition for their incredible innovations! To find out more about the Princess Royal Silver Medal winners, click here: https://lnkd.in/evtPUzeT #RAOE #CambridgeEcosystem #UKInnovation #Science #Technology

Congratulations to Ewa Marek and the team at H2Upgrade for winning the Energy category at this year’s Royal Society of Chemistry’s Emerging Technologies Competition 2024! 🎉 Their unique innovation for sustainable hydrogen production is truly remarkable and it’s great to see them receiving well-deserved recognition for their work. To find out more about their work, read here: https://lnkd.in/gcAPxybP #RSCEmergingTech #UKInnovation #Science #Technology

Despite the week’s unpredictable weather, we hosted our Cambridge Enterprise Ventures Partners Summer BBQ at Newnham College.   We heard 8 pitches from our portfolio companies who shared their transformative ideas and technologies with a room of investor partners. Thanks to Colorifix, AetoSense, Nanomation, Verinnogen, Immutrin, Semarion, JoltSynSor(Techstars '24) and StemBond Technologies for their exceptional presentations and contributions to the event. Whilst the networking BBQ had to be moved indoors, there was still plenty of opportunity for conversation and connection between our portfolio companies, CEVP investor partners, the Cambridge Enterprise Ventures team, and Investment Committee members. Thank you to all who attended, and we look forward to seeing you at the next CEVP event!

We are thrilled to announce that Declan Weldon has joined Cambridge Enterprise as Head of Technology Development & Licensing!   With a proven track record of leading business and technology terms across a wide range of areas, Declan Weldon brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge in research and innovation having successfully developed, executed and led on many university innovation strategies.   We are delighted to welcome Declan to the Cambridge Enterprise team.

Attention, all students, innovators, and entrepreneurs with ties to both Cambridge and Manchester. Share your inspiring Cambridge x Manchester stories in the link below!💡🚀

Get to know Amanda Wooding, our Deputy Head of Ventures! 🔍 Q. How long have you worked for Cambridge Enterprise Ventures? A. Since October 2021 full time, but for many years aligned alongside Ventures in my previous capacity as Deputy Head of Life Sciences Technology Transfer where I supported life sciences investment more broadly, for example with 52 North Health and T-Therapeutics. In fact, I have been involved in supporting our portfolio of spin-outs and start-ups since 2008, when I first joined the board of Sphere Fluidics Limited.      Q. What did you do before Cambridge Enterprise? A. Life before Cambridge Enterprise involves a career spent at the interface between academic research, industry and translational / early-stage venture funding - sitting at different points in each of these camps. My research activity (PhD, University of Cambridge) focused on intracellular signaling pathways in disease and normal states both here in Cambridge and in industry with Ferring Pharmaceuticals. From Ferring I joined Catalyst Biomedica, part of the Wellcome Trust, and from Wellcome I jumped back into industry in a senior business development role with Acambis, leading on the out license of a Phase III asset to Sanofi Pasteur amongst many other things.      Q. Favourite industry to work with?  A. I am a life sciences specialist so have to shoot with that! For me, those businesses that are driven both by fantastic science and a desire to make a real difference to the lives of their target patient populations are the best.       Q. One innovation that still blows your mind and why? A. Still blows my mind… so something that’s been around a while and still making a massive impact has to be antibody therapeutics. Over 35 years after the initial discovery of monoclonal antibodies last year (2023) 21% of FDA approved drugs were antibody based – 8 single antibodies and 4 bispecifics. The antibody innovation is one that has been and continues to be truly impactful.      Q. What makes you lean forward and take note in a pitch? A. I lean in for an engaging speaker who both tells a compelling story and who is humble enough to understand that they can’t do this alone. When we put cash into a business we are investing in an impactful opportunity that can only be delivered by a team of dedicated, passionate people. Q. One company you wish you'd got to invest in and why? A. Womens’ health remains a very under-researched topic, especially common conditions such as endometriosis. Companies such as Gynica are aiming to improve the lives of women with the condition, but I’m excited for someone to develop enough mechanistic understanding of the disease to be able to consider developing a fully-fledged treatment.  To find out more about Cambridge Enterprise Ventures visit: https://lnkd.in/eqDDPqxq #Ventures #CambridgeInnovation #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #InvestmentOpportunities

From a degree in the Netherlands to the first satellite launch in Costa Rica in 2018, to the UK to launch a space company, we talk to Marco Gomez-Jenkins, Co-Founder and CEO of SuperSharp. Marco talks about his background, going to MBA at Imperial College to learn ‘business’, which led him to Professor Ian Parry at the University of Cambridge who together with George Hawker became co-founders of SuperSharp. SuperSharp is an Earth-imaging company developing unfolding space telescopes to capture high-resolution thermal infrared (TIR) images of the Earth. These images can be used for applications such as tackling climate change, crop monitoring, and maintaining global security, allowing high-quality affordable Earth-imaging solutions to empower the world in responding to global change. With a space launch mid-2026, SuperSharp will have had just over 15 years of R&D funded by the UK Space Agency, Innovate UK, the European Space Agency - ESA, the UK Ministry of Defence Accelerator, plus equity investment from Cambridge Enterprise, and some individual angel investors. Tune in to find out more about the SuperSharp journey and how the Cambridge ecosystem has helped at all stages of its growth: Apple podcast: https://apple.co/3P9RegV Google podcast: https://bit.ly/CTPgoogle Spotify: https://lnkd.in/enP_4QVr Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3VHqGGs YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eAg5Wv42 Acast: https://lnkd.in/esg7xgq2 CamTechPod: https://lnkd.in/eB5Aznm6 Delft University of Technology, Planet Labs, SATLANTIS, Cambridge Judge Business School, #AccelerateCambridge, Cambridge Innovation Parks Ltd #Engineering #SuperSharpTeam #ThermalImaging #Technology #SpaceSustainability #GreenTransformation #Innovation #SmallSats #NewSpace #CamTechPod In this week’s news and updates: Michelle Lambrecht, Cambridge Innovation Capital, impulse, Maxwell Centre, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, #deeptech, ideaSpace, Chris Cleaver, DeepForm, Ismail Sami, Molyon, Molly Haugen, AetoSense, Bill Yost, Cambridge Electric Cement, Jean de La Verpilliere, Echion Technologies, Teja Potocnik, Charlotte Esler, Nanomation, Marc Rodríguez Garcia, Xampla, Christine Martin, Chris Gibbs, #InnovationAlley, Cambridge Tech Week, The Trinity Bradfield Prize, Simon Thorpe, Uber, Bango, Parkwalk Advisors, HutanBio, Paul Beastall 

Another exciting announcement as Cambridge Electric Cement (CEC), a University of Cambridge spin-out, has raised £2.25m in a seed funding round to industrialise their world-leading low carbon cement! 🏗️ Chris Gibbs, Investment Director at Cambridge Enterprise, says, “CEC’s co-production process for sustainable cement is an elegant and revolutionary innovation. Cambridge Enterprise Ventures is delighted to invest and support the team as they commercialise this transformative technology which has the potential to make a significant impact on carbon emissions." This round was led by Zero Carbon Capital, alongside Legal & General, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Parkwalk Advisors, Delph25 and Almanac Ventures. This investment will allow CEC to industrialise production of their cement, deliver a real-world construction demonstrator and advance offtake agreements with partners and customers. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/eZJA52NR #Cambridge #Innovation #Sustainability #ZeroCarbon #CleanTech