Venture capital firm Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) has announced it will invest at least £100 million in spinouts from the University of Cambridge.

The investor, which targets the UK’s highest-potential deep tech and life sciences companies, said the move will take advantage of the commercial potential in science and technology innovation developed by Cambridge researchers.

The £100 million investment is part of the launch of Fund III, CIC’s latest £250 million early-stage venture fund focused on the Cambridge ecosystem.

Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, pro-vice-chancellor for innovation at Cambridge University, says that in 2024, the university created more spinout companies than any other in the country.

He added that these spinouts have contributed more than £23 billion to the UK economy each year.

The announcement follows a series of initiatives from the university designed to support entrepreneurial academics, including plans for a new innovation hub in central Cambridge and a Technology Investment Fund known as TIF.

To coincide with the funding commitment, CIC said it will launch an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) programme in partnership with the university to support academic founders as they begin to build a company.

The EIR programme aims to increase the number of quality spinouts and accelerate the path towards viable commercialisation of technology.

CIC added that companies created within the EIR programme can access the new funding to support development from inception through proof-of-concept to early-stage growth.

“In 2024, the University of Cambridge created more spinout companies than any other university,” O’Brien said. “We are determined to do even more, and faster, through initiatives such as the new EIR programme and by attracting investment into our spinout companies working with partners like Cambridge Innovation Capital.”

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