Welcome to the latest edition of CIC news
In this edition we're delighted to report that CIC recently raised £225m for our second fund and that this fund has already made six investments. Further details on the fund and our two latest investments, Epitopea and Salience Labs, are below.
We have also moved into our new office on Station Road in Cambridge, which we celebrated with an evening of drinks and networking. We had a great evening and hope that our guests enjoyed it as much as we did!
Finally, in this edition we have a video discussion with Catherine Ramsdale of PragmatIC Semiconductor and John Biggs, co-founder of ARM, plus some tips from Ian Lane on what founders need to prove 'before raising big'.
Andrew
On 25 April we announced that CIC has raised £225m ($300 million) for our oversubscribed second fund. The opportunity, and top-quality deal flow, in Cambridge continues to grow. CIC’s first fund invested in more than 30 companies, and Fund II has already made six investments. We now have the scale to support our portfolio companies throughout their life cycle, providing not just investment capital but strategic and operational support as well.
CIC has participated in Epitopea’s $13.6 million seed round to support its mission to transform cancer therapeutics.
In addition, we co-led Salience Labs’ $11.5 million seed funding round to develop ultra-high-speed photonics chips for artificially intelligent (AI) applications.
CIC has been rated in the top 10% for ESG performance in the ESG PE and VC Transparency Index 2021.
We are also proud to have become a founding partner of LSX Female Founders to help women raise more capital and facilitate knowledge-sharing through mentorship from relevant industry professionals.
Edward Inns has joined the CIC team as an Associate specialising in technology investments.
Previously Ed was at Williams Advanced Engineering where he was an Investment Manager focused on investing in hardware and industrial software startups through the Foresight Williams Technology investment funds.
One of the most iconic lines in the Jurassic Park canon is uttered by Jeff Goldblum’s mathematician Dr Ian Malcom: “Life finds a way.” In the film, he’s talking about a man-eating Tyrannosaurus, but the phrase is equally valid for deeptech founders and CEOs. “Life finds a way” for those founders who can roll with the punches and take advantage of opportunities when they arrive.
Ian Lane spoke to Sifted about deeptech investing.
"It looks like flexible electronics is following Moore's Law roughly three or four decades behind. And the interesting thing is, if that trend continues, we're going to see some exciting developments in this area".
In the video below, Andrew Williamson spoke to Catherine Ramsdale, Senior Vice President at PragmatIC Semiconductor, and John Biggs, Distinguished Engineer and Co-Founder of ARM, about all things FlexLogic.
Entrepreneurial pathways to impact: spinning-out your research
18 Oct 2022 | 15.30-17.30 followed by networking
Downing College, Cambridge
Jointly hosted by CIC and Cambridge Enterprise, with Nobel Laureate Sir Greg Winter as headline speaker. Register your interest
Coming to America: US expansion and fundraising
15 Sept 2022 | Discussion over dinner
Doing business and raising money in an unfamiliar, highly-competitive environment requires thoughtful advance planning and clinical execution.
Limited places. Register your interest
