'It's now or never' - cleantech leaders respond to fresh funding for Cambridge tech scene

Earlier this year, the UK’s economy minister Rachel Reeves announced the government would ‘invest heavily’ in the city, along with neighbouring 'frenemy' Oxford, improving transport and infrastructure, to try to make the region “Europe’s Silicon Valley.”

And this week, a Cambridge-based VC has announced a major fund to boost Cambridge’s deeptech and life sciences scene. Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) launched its €120m ($126m) ‘Opportunity Fund’ – backed by Cambridge university as well as Aviva Investors, the investment arm of the major global insurer, and UK heavyweight venture investor British Patient Capital – with a clear stated intention to help home-grown startups get the scale-up funding they need without having to turn to overseas investors. That gap in funding, from seed to scale-up, appears to be one of Cambridge's, and the UK's, biggest hurdles in establishing dominance in the sector.

“I think the analysis from CIC is correct, that there is this gap,” says CEO of Cambridge Cleantech Sam Goodall. “There is a lot of strong early-stage innovation in Cambridge, but it lacks those funds that will allow those companies to properly scale. I think (CIC) are correct in filling that gap in the market.

Goodall also tells Impact Loop that VC money in the region tends to have a heavy focus on software, with less patience for long physical development times, so the CIC focus on deeptech, which typically involves solving complex engineering questions, is welcome.

Sitting next to Goodall in their cen...