Commitment Ecosystem

In Cambridge, innovation is the engine of growth

A living system

Cambridge companies impact the world

  • Life Sciences
  • Combination
  • Physical Sciences
  • Rail
  • Tech & Digital
  • Roads

Cambridge is globally recognised for research and innovation. That reputation has always attracted talent, capital, infrastructure, and institutional and industrial investment.

As the European location of choice for a growing number of leading global life science and deep tech companies, the Cambridge innovation ecosystem now reaches out to every part of the globe.

  • Life Sciences
  • Physical Sciences
  • Tech & Digital
  • Combination
  • Rail
  • Roads

In Numbers

The Cambridge Ecosystem in numbers

5,000+
Knowledge intensive companies
£21b
Annual turnover generated by knowledge intensive firms
23
Unicorns
121
Cambridge affiliates awarded the Nobel Prize
72,000+
People employed in knowledge intensive firms
258.5
Patent applications published per 100,000 residents

Global innovation

Supporting innovation and growing the ecosystem

Through our unique relationship with the University of Cambridge, we sit at the heart of the ecosystem and play a central role in a wide range of initiatives supporting growth and opportunity in the region.

As part of our active commitment we co-founded accelerators in both life sciences and deep tech which enable early stage businesses to develop their commercial potential.

Our network of connections within the ecosystem is rich with the experience and knowledge of entrepreneurs, company founders, science and technology leaders and of course, a world-beating science and research community in the university itself.

Innovate Cambridge

Accelerating the sustainable and inclusive growth of the Cambridge ecosystem to ensure it continues to transform the UK and the world for the better

Cambridge Innovation Capital, Cambridge Enterprise and the University of Cambridge recently launched Innovate Cambridge, an initiative aiming to define an inclusive, ambitious, and broad-ranging innovation vision for the Greater Cambridge region.

  •  > £50m
  • £10 - £20m
  • £20 - £50m
  • £2 - £10m
  •  < £2m

There are four key ingredients central to this aim: putting the right infrastructure in place to ensure Cambridge continues to be a great place to live, work and base businesses; ensuring access to funding for those organisations does not become a bottleneck for innovation; enabling the ecosystem to attract the best talent from across the world; and ensuring the growth we are all driving is sustainable and inclusive, benefiting everyone in the ecosystem.

The initiative includes leaders from industry, the investment community, accelerators, the University and other research institutions, local government, science and technology parks, networks and programmes, start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Total annual Cambridgeshire investment (Q2 2018 - Q2 2022)
  •  > £50m
  • £20 - £50m
  • £10 - £20m
  • £2 - £10m
  •  < £2m

We believe Innovate Cambridge provides an inclusive, forward-looking vision for the ecosystem, which will ensure the city continues to innovate, compete, and deliver impact on a global scale well into the future.

Innovate Cambridge WebsiteInnovate Cambridge Charter

Discover more

Impact & ESG

Read More

Values

Read More