It is often said that Great Britain and Europe do not have a huge level of growth financing for later startups that the USA has for themselves, and this is correct. According to the European Investment Fund, there are at least seven times more Large VC funds in the USA than in Europe. So the appearance of a latest growth fund in Great Britain is significant.
Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), which invests only in the Cambridge ecosystem at the famous university and around it, has released a latest “Fund for Possibilities” latest ($ 126 million) of the growth fund. CIC has invested $ 757 million in over 40 corporations and has privileged relations with the University of Cambridge.
The fund is anchored by Aviva Investors and British Patient Capital and will invest in deep technologies and natural sciences.
Two investments have already been carried out. Pragmatic semiconductor He is a large chip designer and producer who has so far collected $ 389.3 million, and RiverlaneThis is a correction company of quantum errors, which collected USD 120.7 million.
The latest CIC fund will invest up to 20 million kilos (USD 25.2 million) for investment in later financial rounds of corporations dealing with deep technologies and life teachings. Of course, the hope is to deal with a long-lasting problem in financing in Great Britain for later start-ups, which tends to run these corporations in relation to other countries, normally the United States
It was partly a matter of the Great Britain’s government to announce last month, its “AI action plan”-a lot of means aimed at developing the economy by artificial intelligence, and included a commitment to build a “Silicon Valley” by super-loading in Europe by super- Charging existing technological ecosystems around the famous universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In addition, the “golden triangle” of London, Oxford and Cambridge, covering five leading British universities, may even receive larger links, including transport, along with a package of 14 billion kilos.
Andrew Williamson, a managing partner in CIC, told Techcrunch regarding a call that Cic traditionally invested in corporations at an early stage in Cambridge, but many matured to proven technologies.
“Historically, what we did is when our corporations get to the C series … We didn’t have capital in our basic funds to make them [later-stage] Investments – he said.
“That’s why we offered them as going to some of our LP. But few institutions, especially financial institutions, are really configured to make direct investments in companies. So the genesis of this fund was one in which they could participate. “
He added that one of the key directives from the Great Britain’s government to the British Business Bank is to take care of the later difference in the rock capital: “This is an ideal mission for what they want to do, anchor new such growth funds. In the case of Aviva they are one of the signatories A compact house in a residence. It is therefore the assignment of part of the capital fund capital for productive growth assets. “
Exit from the CIC portfolio include the sale of the Gyroscope Therapeutics gene therapy company to Novartis for $ 1.5 billion, the acquisition of $ 285 million Petmedix domestic animal treatment programmers by Zoetis, sale of a liquid biopsy platform for neogenomics for $ 390 million and sale Analytic.
Cambridge is best known for producing several significant corporations, including ARM Holdings, ABCAM, Darktrace and Therapeutics bike.