Cambridge Tech Podcast

This week we talk about a career in tech transfer, commercialisation, and seed funding with Anne Dobree.We hear about the growth of Cambridge Enterprise, the introduction of new programmes like Founders at The University of Cambridge, how the relationship with Parkwalk Advisors began, and how Cambridge Innovation Capital started.It’s a fascinating discussion about how Cambridge developed from nascent to buoyant for science and tech innovators, with Anne as a key anchor for over two decades.Anne shares some sound advice to entrepreneurs, including:·       Don’t underestimate the value of boards·       Connect on LinkedIn·       Use your network to get an introduction·       And one we particularly like – never underestimate young teams!Anne, now Investor Director at Parkwalk Advisors, also talks about how things are different on a practical level. She talks about seeking companies to invest in and helping them as they grow, deal flow, and how she’s more likely to say ‘no’ now than in the Cambridge Enterprise Ventures. Produced by Cambridge TV

Join us for the first episode of the THIRD series of #CamTechPod.Joined by Linh Richardson, Programme Manager of impulse, Thomas Albrow-Owen, CTO of Prospectral, and Tim Jones, Product Manager for Digital Engineer and Data Science from NPL.Linh talks to us about the impulse programme and how it takes hi potential tech innovators and helps them to determine if there is potential for their invention, including alumni such as Steve Brierley from Riverlane, Marc Rodriguez Garcia from Xampla, Jean de la Verpilliere from Echion Technologies, Cyan Williams from Radiant Matters, and Andrew Kadis from Cambridge Vision Technologies.Tim talks to us about the role of NPL and how he found himself on the impulse programme in 2023 as a lifelong learner.Tom talks about the huge opportunity for computer vision - the branch of AI on how software recognises images - from the innovative work at Prospectral.And we collectively talk about the importance of taking the leap from an academic idea into the commercial domain, the ability to leverage very impressive mentors and advisors through the programme and making new connections.Produced by Cambridge TV

From ARU to Allia to Cambridge Enterprise, this week’s guest, Caroline Hyde of IE Cambridge, shares her long-held passion for supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the importance of connectedness. We talk about the new Innovation and Entrepreneurship report and the investment the University of Cambridge is making to support its students, researchers and alumni. Did you know that for every £1 the university spends, it creates £11.70 of economic impact? And that out of £30bn of economic impact annually, more than £23bn comes from commercialising University research?Caroline reiterates that it’s not just economic impact but societal impact where companies like Xampla, Colorifix, T-Therapeutics are making a huge impact in the world.You can find the link to the report here https://ie.cam.ac.uk/resource/innovation-and-entrepreneurship-at-the-university-of-cambridge-2024/ And check out the new website that Caroline refers to for even more information https://www.enterprise.cam.ac.uk/ Produced by Cambridge TV

In this special episode of #CamTechPod, recorded with a live audience during #CamTechWeek, we talk to guests Ray Anderson, Executive Chair of Bango, and Marc Rodríguez, CTO of Xampla, about how to scale smarter, not harder. We talk about two huge components of successfully scaling.Firstly, we hear about the inflection points that have signalled key points in the scale up journey, how to set targets, adapt structures, and even how to take a company public.Both Ray and Marc also share thoughtful advice on the second topic - culture and leadership. How do you navigate from startup to scaleup whilst not losing the culture and people dynamics? and, When do you know it’s time for changes to be made in the leadership team?We have audience questions before challenging Ray and Marc to answer what they are most proud of, and what they’d go back and change if they did it all again – you’ll need to tune in to find out what they said!Produced by Cambridge TV

In this episode we talk more about the business than ‘tech’ so get ready for a super interesting conversation with the person behind a successful Cambridge portfolio business. As the founder and now Executive Chair we caught up with Ciaron Dunne who talked to us about:·       Growing up with business in mind·       Doing ‘everything’ in startups·       The importance of luck and good judgement·       Having excitement and passion for what you’re doing (even Bingo!)·       Being inherently commercial, and·       Doing recruitment a little differently.Ciaron talks to us about Genie Ventures which includes Broadband Genie, Genie Goals and Genie Shopping, and celebrates the importance of team and doing the right thing.And I think we can all aspire to be the ‘last click’ – you’ll have to tune in to find out more.Produced by Cambridge TV

We can’t let a $75million raise go without a fanfare, so we invited Rebecca Simmons back on to tell us about the latest fundraise, and provide a moment to pause, reflect and celebrate their news.Tune in as Bek answers:·       What was the process like? ·       How long did it take? ·       What are the differences between A, B and C rounds (the answer may be a surprise)? ·       What does this mean to the board and decision making? ·       How do you spend $75m to scale? ·       What are some of the new challenges?And keep listening to be (re)inspired by Bek’s episode from January 2024.Produced by Cambridge TV

Cleantech Venture Day searches for the most interesting 16 companies across pre-seed, seed and Series A in a range of cleantech areas. In this week’s episode Sylvie Russell, COO of Cambridge Cleantech shares details of the day, the industry and the new #Cleantech Super Cluster. We also hear from two of the founders who pitched on the day:Sarah Blake, Commercial Director and Co-Founder of Minimass – a construction tech company focussed on reproducing beams in a more sustainable way - tells us about her startup experience and the funding journey they have been on.Chloe So, CEO and Co-Founder of Pulpatronics – a RFID company who are simplifying the production of tags and revolutionizing sustainability with chipless, metal-free, paper RFID tags – shares her rather different experience from Sarah’s.

It’s our 100th episode! We thought this episode we’d pick three tech areas that are gaining in traction – do you agree with our choices? What other technologies are the ones to watch?#FemTech - Stasa Stankovic – talks to us about her goal to crack the code on reproductive genomics. Stasa talks about how #FemTech as a term often remains taboo, and how it was only in 1993 that women started to be included in female clinical trials. We need government, investment and funding, and research and innovation, to increase awareness and interventions around infertility, contraception, menopause, and broader women’s health. Who do you know in the #FemTech space? Faye referred to two of the recent impulse alumni - Melis Eda Ekinci, Lorna MacLean#BatteryTech - Dr Simon Engelke, Founder and Chair of Battery Associates joins to talk about the battery industry and the extensive range of batteries not only available but in development. The industry is still driven greatly by cost, but niche applications offer more room for novel improvements which may change future trends for the larger industries. We have some great showcase companies here in Cambridge in the #Battery space – Nyobolt, Prof Clare Grey, Sai Shivareddy, Ismail Sami, Molyon, Echion Technologies.#Dementia #Alzheimer #Technology - Andrew Kadis of Cambridge Vision Technology talks through how Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of death with one in three people not even being aware that they have it. Not only does Andrew share some huge statistics, but he also demonstrates the economic impact of not identifying Alzheimer’s early enough. Andrew shares their focus on biomarkers in the eye, iterating a business plan, and being part of future policy.And having put the overview together, we’ve just realised that our guests, and many of the companies mentioned in the episode are all previous #21toWatch or Trinity Bradfield Prize winners!Produced by Cambridge TV