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It ’s often said that the U.K. and Europe lack the huge level of growth financing for late - microscope stage startups that the U.S. has for its own , and this is right . harmonize to the European Investment Fund , there are at leastseven time morelarge - size of it VC fund in the U.S. than in Europe . So the visual aspect of a new growth fund in the U.K. is significant .
Cambridge Innovation Capital(CIC ) , which invests exclusively in the Cambridge ecosystem in and around the famous university , has launch a new £ 100 million ( $ 126 million ) “ Opportunity Fund , ” essentially a maturation fund . CIC has $ 757 million invested in more than 40 troupe and has a privileged relationship with the University of Cambridge .
The fund is being drop anchor by Aviva Investors and British Patient Capital and will induct in outgrowth - point bass technical school and life science companies .
Two investments have already been made . Pragmatic Semiconductoris a large crisp designer and producer which has raised $ 389.3 million to date , whileRiverlane , is a quantum computing mistake chastening company that has elevate $ 120.7 million .
The new CIC fund will empower up to £ 20 million ( $ 25.2 million ) per investment into the later - microscope stage funding rounds of deep tech and life sciences companies . The hope , of track , is to address the U.K. ’s long - standing funding gap issue for posterior - stage startups , which tends to leave to a drainpipe of those society toward other country , usually the U.S.
In part , it ’s this progeny that lead the U.K. government to announce last calendar month , its “ AI Action Plan ” — a twine of measure designed to grow the thriftiness using AI , and include a pledge to build Europe ’s “ Silicon Valley ” by A-one - buck the existing tech ecosystems around the famous Oxford and Cambridge university . Plus , the “ Golden Triangle ” of London , Oxford , and Cambridge , comprising five lead U.K. university , will also be given greater links , include transfer , alongside a package of £ 14 billion in funding .
Andrew Williamson , managing married person at CIC , narrate TechCrunch over a call that CIC had traditionally commit in other - phase society around Cambridge , but there were many that were mature into proven technologies .
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“ Historically , what we ’ve done is when our fellowship get to Series C microscope stage … we did n’t have the capital in our substance funds to make those [ ulterior - level ] investments , ” he said .
“ So we used to volunteer them as co - investiture to some of our LPs . But not many institutions , particularly financial mental hospital , are really determine up to make lineal investment funds into companies . So the genesis of this fund was one they could enter in . ”
He added that one of the primal directives from the U.K. governance to the British Business Bank is to handle the later - stage spread in scale - up capital : “ So this is a unadulterated mission for what they ’re wait to do , to cast anchor new maturation fund like this . In the case of Aviva , they ’re one of the signatories of theMansion House Compact . So this is around allocate some of their pension fund capital into rich growing assets . ”
Exits from CIC ’s portfolio let in the cut-rate sale of gene therapy company Gyroscope Therapeutics to Novartis for $ 1.5 billion , the $ 285 million acquisition of favored treatment developer PetMedix by Zoetis , the sales event of liquid biopsy platform Inivata to NeoGenomics for $ 390 million , and the sale of sound acknowledgment developer Audio Analytic .
Cambridge is best roll in the hay for producing several significant company , include ARM Holdings , Abcam , Darktrace , and Bicycle Therapeutics .
