Cambridge Tech Podcast

Laura Hood joins us from Anglia Capital Group (ACG) talks to us about the angel investment network and the Halo Programme.Our guest Mark Merrywest tells us that 84% travellers are influenced by social media and Yond brings together a way to book your holiday and activities all in one place. The programme helped to direct the seed of an idea into something funded and ready to launch.And from the most recent cohort Alex Howard Founder of AAH Software providing clinical research, shares how his company has morphed from services to technology led.We talk about ·       How the size of opportunities developed in Norwich might not be the same magnitude as some of the #Cambridge #deeptech startups, but there is still applicability and marketability.·       Getting guidance on the valuation of a startup·       The importance of refining your message to the different audiences ·       How important pitch practice is and the subsequent constructive discussion post-pitch – is nice feedback ever useful?Produced by Cambridge TV

In an episode of two halves, we talk to Amy Weatherup about two decades leading iTeams and her personal journey before and since.iTeams bridges the gap between students who are experts in their own sector, and entrepreneurs and innovators who are looking to drive commercialisation and turn their ideas to reality. Amy tells us more including three lessons she’s learnt along the way:·       Technology is far earlier than you think it is·       It’s going to cost you a lot more money·       IP and patents are only part of what you have.We then talk about Amy’s own career at the start of the commercial internet and supporting schools to startups. We cover: ·       Being a young entrepreneur·       Building a company, quickly, and keeping cash flowing·       Contracts with some of the largest electronics companies·       How securing funding has changed over the last decades·       Being open with corporates·       Angel investing·       Paying it forward.Produced by Cambridge TV

This week we revisit our interview with Eben Upton of Raspberry Pi from 2022. Tune in to hear about:·       Eben’s route to Raspberry Pi·       Celebrating the people that have been part of the journey·       Doing business in the pub (a very Cambridge thing)·       From managing a supply chain (please remember numbers and comments are from 2022), to moving into retail·       The weird and wonderful uses of a Raspberry Pi (and a challenge for someone to achieve Eben’s desire to get a Pi beyond low earth orbit? #LEO)·       Stories of breaking websites and thoughts on office-based working·       And of course, floating the company, on which Eben recently said: “Nearly sixteen years ago, in the autumn of 2008, a handful of us set off on this journey together. We were driven by a shared realisation that something had gone badly wrong in young people’s interaction with technology; a shared conviction that we should do something about it; and the beginnings of a shared idea of what that something might be.“In the years since, we’ve accomplished amazing things, as a company, as a Foundation, and as a broader movement. We’ve designed PCBs; written software; taped out chips; published magazines; filed patents; trained teachers; run after-school clubs; and seen our products taken to space, to the bottom of the ocean, and to the ends of the earth.“We’ve sold over sixty million low-cost, high-performance, general-purpose Raspberry Pi computers to the enthusiasts and educators who remain at the heart of the Raspberry Pi movement, and to the industrial and embedded customers who today account for over two-thirds of our sales.“And thanks to the availability and salience of those computers, and to the curriculum reform and teacher training initiatives championed by the Foundation, we have seen a resurgence in interest in computing among young people. In sixteen years, Computer Science has gone from being the easiest subject to get into at Cambridge to the hardest, a change that has been reflected across the UK higher education sector and beyond. We have engineers working for us today who got their first experience of computing on a Raspberry Pi platform.”Produced by Cambridge TV

From a degree in the Netherlands to the first satellite launch in Costa Rica in 2018, to the UK to launch a space company, we talk to Marco Gomes-Jenkins, Co-Founder and CEO of Super-Sharp Space Systems Ltd.Marco talks about his background, going to MBA at Imperial to learn ‘business’, which led him to Professor Ian Parry at Uni of Cambridge who together with George Hawker became co-founders of SuperSharp.SuperSharp is an Earth-imaging company developing unfolding space telescopes to capture high-resolution thermal infrared (TIR) images of the Earth.These images can be used for applications such as tackling climate change, crop monitoring, and maintaining global security, allowing high-quality affordable Earth-imaging solutions to empower the world in responding to global change.With a space launch mid-2026, SuperSharp will have had just over 15 years of R&D funded by the UK Space Agency, Innovate UK, the European Space Agency, the UK Ministry of Defence Accelerator, plus equity investment from Cambridge Enterprise, and some individual angel investors.Tune in to find out more about the SuperSharp journey and how the Cambridge ecosystem has helped at all stages of its growth.Produced by Cambridge TV

Today we hear about how a business grew from research in the lab, to creating material samples for academic collaborators as customers, to a complete pivot in industry sector. Post his PhD, Ruizhi Wang then realised he had a hammer, so started looking for a nail! He found a gap in manufacturing where a quick turnaround device was required and where his analytical instrument had a role – and Abselion was born.Funded through grants and awards, and a bit of bootstrapping we hear about Ruizhi’s own entrepreneurial journey from prototype to the formal launch this month, his fundraising and acquisition goals, and not listening to advice.Produced by Cambridge TV

From an academic learning about commercialisation, to a career spanning 25 years working on novel technology, we were thrilled to talk to Ben Brown, CTO at Cambridge Mechatronics this week.From colloids at the University of Cambridge, to ink at TTP, and jumping into the world’s best loud speaker development at Cambridge Mechatronics, Ben has much experience to share with our listeners.Now with a focus on actuators, we learn about the magic of Shape Memory Alloy and how Cambridge Mechatronics have cornered that market globally with a list of patents that would rival Arm to Rolls Royce.We talk to Ben about the company move from ‘hidden gem’ to a much more public profile, triggered by their first external funding round by Atlantic Bridge, Sony and Intel, and what that means to the business model and future portfolio.Ben also shares useful lessons about building relationships in Japan, Taiwan and China, and the dynamics of doing business is the Far East.We think you’ll agree that Cambridge Mechatronics is a great representation of a multi-disciplinary tech team of silicon, firmware, software, material scientists, physicists, and more. And with an expansion into new premises on Cambridge Science Park, and a new office in Copenhagen, they are certainly a tech company to watch. Produced by Cambridge TV

Did you know that false barriers about studying science and technology can put children off pursuing #STEM from earlier than age 11?Cambridge Science Centre connects everyone with science - from tots, through school years with teachers and parents, to expert communicators and supporters - in an enjoyable and inspiring way.Originating out of a conversation between entrepreneurs ten years ago, who wondered why Cambridge didn’t have a science centre, the Cambridge Science Centre was born, and the interconnectedness of Cambridge has kept going within it for the last 10 years. This week Cambridge Science Centre announced a new home on the iconic Cambridge Science Park, and we can’t think of a better place for it to be based.With 6,000 square feet of 20 new exhibits showcasing #STEM, and portable exhibits taking STEM on the road, join the excitement and passion as you hear CEO John Bull and Trustee Amy Weatherup talk about their goals and aspirations.Opening in July 2024, it’s time to galvanise the community to become part of the Cambridge Science Centre’s journey – as a volunteer, an expert, a supporter, a school leader, or as a family with a membership season ticket. Find out more at https://www.cambridgesciencecentre.org/Produced by Cambridge TV.

This week’s guest is Hanadi Jabado, co-founder and Managing Partner of Sana Capital, one of the first early-stage funds in Europe focusing on #TechBio. Hanadi founded one of the UK's first Deep Tech accelerator programmes, Accelerate Cambridge, at the University of Cambridge where she supported 180 early-stage ventures over six years, building a portfolio with an estimated collective value of over £2bn with over £250m of risk capital raised.We talk to Hanadi about so many things, this is not an episode to miss. Tune in to hear about this, and so much more…·       Commercialisation from academia needs constant work·       Turning ‘no’ into ‘yes’·       Making waves for women and entrepreneurship within Cambridge Judge Business School·       The birth of #AccelerateCambridge and the Entrepreneurship Centre – start, scale and grow a business·       Making entrepreneurs relatable ·       The role and impact of being a board member, preferably an independent non-exec·       Changing the investment ecosystem with Sana Capital for #healthtech and #climatetech·       Targeting spinouts and ‘sneakouts’ – founders from within and outside of the University of Cambridge·       Investment capital won’t start flowing again until 2025 – quality not quantity·       Personal experiences with DEI – ‘whatever I did, it seemed like I was the only woman in the room’ – ‘it’s not about lowering the bar – it’s about widening the gate’·       The role of Deputy Lieutenant in Cambridgeshire·       Supporting those companies that ‘keep going’ with the #KingsAwards·       Learning not to walk, but to march.Produced by Cambridge TV

We don’t think anyone would disagree that it is a global imperative to tackle food waste and address the economic and environmental loss it causes. Let’s face it, people work hard to grow nutrients so why not turn waste into something more useful?We talk with Miha Pipan, Co-founder and CEO of Better Origin about:·       The size of the problem – food waste generates 4 Gigatons (Gt) of CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq) each year·       The efficiency of using the #Black Soldier Fly, they produce a high quality source of 1:1 fat:protein ·       Creating sustainable feed from grain waste for chickens, fish, pets….·       Better Origin’s X1 birth to automate insect farming on farms in the UK, and the growth to X2 the huge potential of the OriginX·       Using #AI and #deeptech to make the X1 fully automated for farmers - it takes care of seeding, feeding, growth, and harvest·       A partnership with Morrisons to create a carbon-neutral egg – the cost of which is an increase of pence, not pounds·       A sustainable feed proposition that brings together performance, health and welfare ·       Changing minds and attitudes to alternative food sources·       The start-up journey over the last 8-9 years, and how the bumps in the road make you more resilient.Produced by Cambridge TV