·  CIC commits £100M to spinouts from University of Cambridge via new Fund III.

·  Launches Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) programme to commercialise university IP.

·  Focus on scaling deeptech and life sciences startups from research to market.

Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), one of the UK's top deeptech and life science venture capital firms, has pledged £100 million to fund spinout businesses from the University of Cambridge. The investment represents an important milestone with the close of CIC's third fund Fund III, worth £250 million and underscores CIC's ambition to grow early-stage, research-led businesses into globally relevant startups.

The University of Cambridge is a hotbed of innovation, creating more than £23 billion each year via spinouts and creating unicorns such as ARM, Abcam, and Darktrace. CIC's new fund is focused on finding and accelerating the future generation of high-growth start-ups based on academic innovation. Funding will enable start-ups to move from proof-of-concept to early growth, eventually accelerating their route to market readiness.

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In addition to Fund III, CIC is launching a new Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) programme in partnership with the University of Cambridge. Under this, seasoned startup executives, some of whom have started and exited successful businesses, will be paired with academic researchers to craft business models, sharpen strategy, and accelerate company creation.

Six entrepreneurs will be included in a rotating team that will offer strategic and leadership assistance to newly established enterprises during the most important early phases.

Empowering Cambridge's Startup Ecosystem

- The EIR programme is supported by a number of other initiatives led by the university including:

- The Founders Programme – supporting researchers down entrepreneurial routes

- Technology Investment Fund (TIF) – offering proof-of-concept funding to de-risk early research

- Cambridge Enterprise Ventures (CEV) – a  $115M venture fund, recently augmented by another  $34M to support spinouts

These activities collectively form a robust innovation ecosystem, taking academic findings all the way from the lab bench to worldwide markets.

Established in 2013, CIC has more than £600 million of assets under management and a robust history of investing in science-led startups across industries such as oncology, genomics, AI, quantum computing, robotics, and semiconductors. Its joined-up model, closely aligned with the Cambridge innovation ecosystem, makes it an important catalyst for translating the UK's scientific capabilities into commercial success.