Cambridge Tech Podcast

What does it take to build a world class innovation ecosystem? More than brilliant research, ambitious founders and a fresh strategy. It takes connections that help ideas, capital and talent move where they can make the biggest difference.In this episode of the Cambridge Tech Podcast, Faye Holland and James Parton introduce a candid panel recorded at The Cambridge x Manchester Partnership Innovation Summit held at the start of October 2026. The Partnership brings the two cities together to accelerate growth, help companies scale and make sure the benefits of innovation reach more communities.Chaired by Fiona Tuck of Metro Dynamics, the discussion brings together Professor Dame Jessica Corner of Research England, Harriet Gordon of No. 10 North, Dom Hallas of Startup Coalition and Steven Lynch of the British Chambers of Commerce. Their challenge: identify what Britain needs to compete globally and turn innovation into lasting economic value.In this episodeCollaboration beyond city limits. Corner describes the partnership as an experiment in connecting innovation ecosystems that are not neighbours. Its potential lies in bringing universities, businesses, investors and local authorities together, then learning what other places can replicate.What founders actually need. Hallas puts the essentials plainly: talented people, money and a regulatory environment that lets companies build. Sales skills and investment terms matter too. Support should solve real problems without adding unnecessary complexity.Capital across the journey. Hallas argues that the UK needs investment at every stage, from early ideas to established companies ready to scale. He also makes the case for more UK pension capital to reach British businesses.Think global from the start. Lynch argues that international trade should be embedded in business planning, not treated as an afterthought. Established smaller businesses have an important role in adopting technology, joining supply chains and reaching new markets.Make growth tangible. Gordon asks how innovation can translate into outcomes people recognise, from faster cancer diagnoses to better apprenticeship opportunities. Devolution, she argues, must change how decisions are made, not simply where they are made.Build the foundations. Housing, lab space, energy, water and transport can all constrain growth. The panel also calls for stronger links between research, manufacturing, supply chains and local economies, so more value stays in the places that help create it.Expect a frank conversation about founder support, patient capital, practical collaboration and the infrastructure needed to turn ambition into action. Listen to the episode for the full discussion, and subscribe to the Cambridge Tech Podcast for more ideas from the people building the UK’s technology future.Headline sponsor Holden Polestar Produced by Cambridge TV #CamTechPod

Cambridge Tech Podcast Weekly News Drop - 6 November 2026The weekly Tech news roundup from in and around the Cambridge Tech cluster. Featuring University of Cambridge, Illumion, Cambridge Angels, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Foresight Group, ZEISS Ventures, Christoph Schnedermann, Echion Technologies, Arm, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Cambridge Pixel, EURONAVAL, Katie Yeo, Inspire 2 Ignite CIC, The Cambridge x Manchester Partnership Summit.Produced by Cambridge TV#CamTechPod

From Bootstrap to Breakthrough: How VetCT Is Building the Future of Veterinary AIIn this episode of the Cambridge Tech Podcast, hosts Faye Holland and James Parton meet Dr Victoria Johnson, founder and CEO of VetCT. Victoria shares how she turned a shortage of veterinary radiology expertise into an international business, why she bootstrapped for around 15 years, and how the company is exploring AI with radiologists firmly in the loop.Inside the episodeSpotting the opportunity: As digital imaging and animal CT scanners became more accessible, vets needed specialists who could interpret the results. VetCT built a service that connects veterinary practices with radiologists working remotely.Technology meets expertise: Vets send digital images to VetCT, where radiologists interpret them and return reports to support patient care. The model depends on both specialist knowledge and a platform that makes the process work smoothly.Building without venture capital: Victoria initially funded the business by carrying an ultrasound machine between practices in East Anglia. She explains how bootstrapping offered freedom and control, while requiring each stage of growth to pay for itself. VetCT took minority investment in 2023 to support technology and growth.Making data useful: VetCT has retained anonymised imaging data and expert reports dating back to 2009. Working with the University of Cambridge and its own AI team, it is exploring how that resource could support diagnostic insights and faster case triage.Keeping humans central: Victoria says AI tools will support radiologists rather than replace them. She describes patient safety and accuracy as essential benchmarks, alongside the potential to prioritise urgent cases.Navigating a changing market: Consolidation has brought larger veterinary contracts, but also pressure on margins and payment terms. Victoria reflects on rapid international growth, pandemic disruption and the challenges of scaling a specialist service.Finding the right ecosystem: Collaboration with Cambridge researchers has helped VetCT access expertise it could not easily build alone. Victoria also makes the case for bringing more bootstrapped founders into the wider innovation community.Listen to the full episode for an honest look at building a global business, finding value in specialist data and applying AI where accuracy matters. Subscribe to the Cambridge Tech Podcast for more conversations with the people building and backing the next generation of technology.Headline sponsor Holden Polestar Produced by Cambridge TV #CamTechPod

Cambridge Tech Podcast Weekly News Drop - 30 Oct 2026The weekly Tech news roundup from in and around the Cambridge Tech cluster. Featuring Quantinuum, Rajeeb Hazra, Plextek, King’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation, The European Space Agency, Brent Hudson, Victoria Johnson, VetCT..Produced by Cambridge TV #CamTechPod

The Cambridge Tech Podcast goes inside the Postdoc Venture Creation Challenge (PVCC), to meet seven University of Cambridge teams turning rigorous research into investable ventures. Hosted by Faye Holland and James Parton, this episode is a snapshot of where the next wave of Cambridge innovation is forming: construction intelligence, regenerative medicine, industrial biotech, robotics, grid analytics, battery circularity and climate resilience.What you will hearCamentis, led by Dr Ashan Senel Asmone, is piloting a construction data platform that gives site leaders earlier visibility of productivity risks, helping prevent delays and cost overruns.A therapeutics company, led by Dr Jin Seok Lee, is developing a temporary mRNA signal designed to help heart muscle cells regenerate. The team is progressing from encouraging animal data towards further preclinical studies.DroplexBio, led by Brian Ng, uses RNA nanotechnology to create compartments inside bacteria, aiming to make commercially valuable proteins that are difficult to manufacture today.Haptos Technology, led by Zhuo Chen, is building electronic skin for robots. Its sensors capture pressure, temperature, texture and slip, with industrial robotics as the first market before wider applications in care, agriculture and surgery.Loom Light, co-founded by Dipanshu and Leonie Muck, provides grid risk intelligence for renewable projects, lenders, insurers and infrastructure investors.PeatWaterWise, co-founded by Dr Neha Joshi and Dr Hamid Rahimi, combines satellite data and hydrological modelling to help farmers and land managers understand water tables without manual dip well measurements.MetCycle, founded by Esther Gray, is developing a room temperature process to recover critical metals from used batteries, with potential to fit into existing recycling operations.For founders and investors, the recurring lesson is clear. Great science is only the starting point. The teams making progress are validating urgent customer problems, narrowing their first market and using mentors to turn technical capability into a compelling commercial story.With the PVCC Grand Finale approaching, this is an early look at founders building technologies with the potential to reshape major industries. Listen for practical insight on commercialising research, then subscribe to the Cambridge Tech Podcast to follow the next generation of deep tech companies as they move from breakthrough to business.Headline sponsor Holden Polestar Produced by Cambridge TV #CamTechPod

Cambridge Tech Podcast Weekly News Drop - 23 Oct 2026The weekly Tech news roundup from in and around the Cambridge Tech cluster. Featuring University of Cambridge, IonQ The Ray Dolby Centre, The Cavendish Laboratory, Speechmatics, NVIDIA, Anglia Ruskin University, TWI, Innovate UK, Charlotte Ridley, Memorify, Kodak Moments, UKRI, Department for Business and Trade, Innovate Cambridge, Pascal Levensohn, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Postdoc Venture Creation Challenge, ie cambridge, Cambridge Enterprise.Produced by Cambridge TV #CamTechPod

What does it take for an established company to create the kind of breakthrough that changes its market? In this episode of the Cambridge Tech Podcast, host James Parton speaks with Joe Corrigan, Chief Technology Officer, and Tim Fowler, Chief Commercial Officer, at Cambridge Consultants about 'Radical Innovation'.The conversation explores the Deep Tech Index and a challenge familiar to founders, investors and corporate leaders alike: businesses say they want radical innovation, yet their systems often make it difficult to pursue. The guests unpack why incremental improvements can preserve the status quo while disruptive ideas create genuine strategic advantage.Joe and Tim argue that innovation is not simply a technology question. It is a leadership and execution question. Radical ideas can threaten an existing business model, which is precisely why they are often slowed down by familiar processes, short term return expectations and organisational caution. The organisations that succeed are those with a clear strategic direction, leaders who can sustain conviction and teams able to turn technical promise into commercial momentum.The episode also offers practical insight for startup founders selling into large companies. Rather than relying solely on procurement, the guests recommend building broad internal support among technical and economic buyers, identifying the value that is unique to the customer and creating enough stakeholder belief that a decision cannot be easily delayed.Subscribe to the Cambridge Tech Podcast for more conversations with the people building the technologies, companies and investment stories shaping the future. Headline sponsor Holden Polestar Produced by Cambridge TV #CamTechPod

Cambridge Tech Podcast Weekly News Drop - 16 Oct 2026The weekly Tech news roundup from in and around the Cambridge Tech cluster. Featuring CMR Surgical, Stryker, Massimiliano Colella, CuspAI, Darktrace, Andy Burnham, Chad Edwards, Ed Jennings, Echion Technologies, Proper Voltage, Alchera Technologies, Maven Capital Partners, British Business Bank, Nyobolt, Agility Robotics, Cambridge Design Partnership, Michael Zeitlyn, Patrick Pordage, Paolo Seresini, Joe Corrigan, Tim Fowler, Cambridge Consultants.Produced by Cambridge TV #CamTechPod

Recorded live at Cambridge Tech Week, this panel brings together a founder who is actively rewriting the economics of drug discovery, two of Europe's most respected deep tech investors, and a sovereign fund deploying capital from Seoul into the UK ecosystem. The result is a substantive conversations on what it actually takes to build a globally consequential company from Cambridge.The moderator is Sherry Coutu CBE a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, LP in five VC funds, and board member at Raspberry Pi, Pearson, Standard Life and Cancer Research UK. The panellists are Dr Tim Guilliams, Co-founder and CEO of Healx; Tom Wilson, Partner at Seedcamp; Amelia Armour, Partner at Amadeus Capital Partners; and Ute Kim, Head of the London Office at Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC).Subscribe on all major podcast platforms or visit cambridgetechpodcast.com.Headline sponsor Holden PolestarProduced by Cambridge TV#CamTechPod