Cambridge warns Britain to expand investment to turn spinning into global success story
The University of Cambridge leaders issued a clear warning that the UK could fall behind world-class research in the competition unless it supports more academic textile companies working to expand.
While the UK remains a hub of scientific excellence, it lacks the investment infrastructure needed to transform breakthrough research into the investment firepower and infrastructure that defines global operations, university figures and venture capitalists said in a London showroom held in London.
“The world does not wait for the commercialization of British and European science,” said Gerard Grech, Managing Director of Cambridge founder, a Cambridge initiative aimed at increasing entrepreneurial growth. “The founders of Silicon Valley, Shenzhen and Bangalore are already building, very, very fast. The question is: Can European universities achieve speed without losing the depth of our research to match the depth of world-class research?”
Grech said many of the best business opportunities emerged when university science interacted with Bold Capital, adding: “This is where it’s really innovative.”
Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice highlighted the university’s good record in tailoring formations. Last year, the Cambridge Split raised more than $2 billion, and the institution now has more derivatives per capita than any other UK university.
“Cambridge is the highest performing innovation ecosystem in Europe,” she said. “International investors, large companies and world-class scientists are aware that we are surpassing our weight, but we need to go further.”
But the ability to develop these risks into globally competitive companies remains a major obstacle. Data from the trading room cited during the event showed that while Cambridge has healthy startup channels with up to $10 million in venture capital, the number of companies that continue to raise $100 million or more is still significantly lower than Silicon Valley.
“That’s the problem. It’s simple,” said Suranga Chandratillake, general partner at Balderton Capital. “You can build so many companies with $10 million, $20 million or $30 million. But you need hundreds of millions of dollars to build truly global, category-defined companies. And we just don’t have enough companies to raise that money.”
The display cabinet features several early, high-influence businesses that hope to solve complex medical problems. For example, Promomic is developing predictive diagnoses that can detect early onset of brain diseases such as dementia. Gastric cancer therapeutics are being studied tolerated stable antibodies for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases such as Crones, which may eliminate the need for injection.
This innovation demonstrates business potential within UK universities, but investors and scholars have warned that unless the UK finds a way to follow-up capital of scale, these businesses may never realize their full potential – or may eventually relocate abroad.
The message from Cambridge is clear: If Britain wants to transform scientific leadership into economic leadership, it must urgently improve its ability to fund, develop and retain its most promising businesses.
As international capital accelerates elsewhere, breakthrough research has been done on the soil of the UK, and the missing works are not inventions, but large-scale investments.
