British Patient Capital has invested £20m in Cambridge Innovation Capital’s (CIC) second investment vehicle (CIC II). CIC was launched in 2013 and invests in deep-tech and life sciences businesses that have a connection with the Cambridge ecosystem.
The £20m investment forms part of CIC II’s total fund size of £225m. The new fund will lead, or co-lead, investments in R&D intensive businesses across deep-tech and life sciences which have the potential to become global category leaders. They will predominantly be early-stage companies at their Series A round.
CIC II will invest in businesses with a link to Cambridge, either those with an operational presence in Cambridge, or a connection to the University of Cambridge via an IP license or a founder who has strong ties to the university.
Judith Hartley, CEO of British Patient Capital, said: “British Patient Capital supports UK innovation by backing ambitious entrepreneurs with brilliant, scalable ideas, to help cement the UK’s position as a global science superpower. CIC II helps address the funding gap faced by many early-stage life science and deep-tech businesses, by providing the capital they need to grow. The scientific ecosystem around Cambridge, and the University of Cambridge specifically, offers significant opportunities for investors and with this commitment to CIC II, British Patient Capital is supporting the growth and commercialisation of R&D intensive companies linked to the Cambridge ecosystem.”
Andrew Williamson, Managing Partner of CIC, said: “Cambridge, UK is one of the fastest-growing science and technology innovation ecosystems in the world. Since our inception, CIC and our co-investors have invested more than £2bn in sectors as diverse as robotics, semiconductors, genomics, gene therapy, therapeutics, liquid biopsy, artificial intelligence, and edge computing. We are delighted to launch our new fund and to work with a dynamic group of entrepreneurs and investors to capture the full potential within the thriving Cambridge ecosystem.”
