Cambridge Innovation Capital

The UK continues to lead Europe in deep tech investment 🚀 New Dealroom.co data shows the UK attracted more deep tech venture capital than any other European country, underlining the strength of its research base, founder talent and specialist investor ecosystem. What’s particularly encouraging is the breadth of this activity, with deep tech growth spanning sectors such as life sciences, future compute, advanced materials and climate‑relevant technologies, and extending well beyond a single city or cluster. At CIC, we see this momentum first‑hand through the companies emerging from the UK ecosystem and the increasing depth of capital backing them to scale responsibly and globally. Lorenzo Chiavarini

Great to see CIC portfolio companies recognised for their innovation - congratulations to all shortlisted, winners and runners up.    Cambridge Independent 2026 Science and Technology Awards – shortlisted for: TRIMTECH Therapeutics Limited - Start-up of the Year Nuclera - Life Science Company of the Year   Winners and runnders up in the One Nucleus Awards 2026  Best Therapeutic R&D Programme of the Year ⭐Winner: Resolution Therapeutics⭐ Finalists: Serenatis Bio, TRIMTECH Therapeutics Limited   Best Use of Emerging Technology of the Year ⭐Winner: Nuclera⭐ Finalists: Ignota Labs, Constructive Bio   Tech Nation Future Fifty – unveiled its first 2026 cohort of the UK’s most ambitious scaleups, including Salience Labs Ltd. Michael Chen, Nicki Thompson, Vaysh Kewada

We have been shortlisted for the Life Science Company of the Year category in the 2026 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards!   Testament to the power of eProtein Discovery to transform protein access, we are delighted to be recognised among companies that are at the forefront of driving scientific innovation across Cambridge.   See the full shortlist here: https://lnkd.in/ephQsHZC #SciTechAwards

🚀 Tonight at 11 Downing Street, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves will welcome the newest Future Fifty companies as we unveil our first 2026 cohort of the UK’s most ambitious scaleups. This year’s first group of 25 companies highlights the strength and breadth of UK innovation: • £1.3B+ combined funding raised • 2,900+ employees across the cohort • 96% expanding internationally • 32% headquartered outside London We’re proud to welcome the Future Fifty 2026 cohort: 🤖 AIApply - candidate-side AI infrastructure for navigating today’s job search. 🧬 Amber Therapeutics - developing implantable therapy for incontinence. 🧠 Ankar AI - AI operating system for patent professionals. ⚙️ Ascendx - enterprise software solutions provider enabling agentic CRM. 🔬 Automata - fully integrated lab automation platform. 👩💻 Ben - helping teams manage employee benefits across markets. 🧪 CuspAI - developing breakthrough materials to power human progress. 🏡 Dwelly - AI-first platform for lettings and property management in the UK. 💊 Evaro - enabling consumer brands to deliver regulated services online. 💧 FIDO Tech Ltd - creating solutions for a water-secure world. 🛍️ Fleek - AI-native marketplace for second-hand fashion. ⚡ Fuse Energy - lowering energy costs and accelerating energy abundance. 📩 Fyxer - reducing admin so professionals can focus on client-facing work. 🚲 Laka - micromobility insurance partner for cyclists and fleet operators. 🩺 Numan - delivering personalised care through a single online service. 📦 Omnea - transforming how procurement teams operate & manage suppliers. 🏠 OpenRent - letting agency, making renting fairer, safer and cheaper. 🔐 PQShield - upgrading security across the global supply chain. 🌐 Red Sift - building a safer internet through proactive protection. 💡 Salience Labs Ltd - all-optical switching tech for AI data centre networks. 📄 Summize - contract lifecycle management embedded into everyday tools. 📊 TransFICC Ltd - improving access and automation in fixed income trading. 🔭 Universal Quantum - computing focused on solving global challenges. 🎧 Yoto - screen-free audio platform for kids with stories, music and learning. 📈 9fin - provider of AI, data and analytics for the debt capital markets. Together, they represent the next generation of UK tech champions, building globally and tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. 👉 Read more about this year’s cohort: https://lnkd.in/d-Rdp3j HSBC Innovation Banking | Emerald Technology | EY | Harmonic Finance™ | Certified B Corp | Capsule Insurance | Carolyn Dawson | Brent Hoberman | Founders Forum Group | Ellie Steel | Johnny M. | Rob McManus | Imogen Granger | Charlotte Laws (Née Harris) | Karishma Singh | Megha Malhotra | Emily Miller | Michael Mander | #FutureFifty2026 #ItTakesATechNation

We won the 2026 One Nucleus Best Use of Emerging Technology of the Year Award! 🏆   Collecting the award, our COO, Gordon McInroy attended the awards ceremony in London last week. This recognition reflects the hugely important role that increasing protein access plays in accelerating drug discovery.   Thank you, One Nucleus, for a great evening and congratulations to all the other winners – see the full list here: https://lnkd.in/e9DKjRMA   #ONAWARDS26

The UK was the top Deep Tech nation in Europe by VC investment in 2025. The UK raised 36% more deep tech funding than any other European country in 2025, and 61% more in 2020-2025. The biggest UK deep tech rounds from 2025 included: Quantinuum - $600M + $200M Isomorphic Labs - $600M Synthesia - $180M Eleven Labs - $180M PhysicsX - $135M CuspAI - $100M CMR Surgical - $100M Cambridge Aerospace - $100M Dexory - $100M The UK deep tech ecosystem is more distributed that it's tech ecosystem overall, with many of the rounds being raised outside London, including in Cambridge and Oxfordshire. Paris therefore came out as the top funded individual hub in Europe. 2026 is off to an even quicker start. While UK deep tech startups raised $5.2B in 2025, they have already raised $3.7B in the first three months of 2026 alone. Full 160-page deep tech report out now. Link in comments.

I recently shared some thoughts on the evolving UK pension landscape in FT Adviser. It's an important topic that impacts the returns that UK pension plans generate for their savers, and the global competitiveness of the UK economy. For those interested in learning more, I encourage you to review recent publications from UK Private Capital's excellent policy team. Chris Elphick, Sarah Adams, Isobel Clarke, Kerry Baldwin, Michael Moore

Following the recent debate in Parliament about whether pension funds should be mandated to invest in private capital as part of the Mansion House reforms, Andrew Williamson, Managing Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, shares his view in the FT Adviser.   At CIC, we don’t believe mandation should be necessary. The investment case for private markets, including venture capital, stands on its own merits when the right conditions are in place. International experience bears this out. Pension systems in countries such as Australia and Canada have built significant, long‑term exposure to private capital through strong governance, scale, and well‑developed investment ecosystems, not through blunt mandates.   As the article suggests, a more effective route for the UK may be “soft compulsion”: where individuals have the choice of opting out, but with encouragement to opt in by removing structural barriers, while holding schemes transparently accountable, and leaving investment decisions with fiduciaries acting in savers’ best interests.   Getting this right matters both for pension outcomes, and for building a sustainable pipeline of capital into high‑growth UK science and technology companies. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/evMm3TX6