TechNation200 Almanac 2015/16

TechNation200 Almanac 2015/16 | Cambridge
Hermann Hauser
Partner
Amadeus Capital Partners
Cambridge is home to some of the UK’s most
innovative technology startups – supported
by the infrastructure of its university, big tech
business and a well-established investor
community.
Over the past 60 years, a technology cluster regarded as
one of the most mature and innovative in Europe has
developed around Cambridge University.
Once dominated by agriculture, Cambridge has become a
world-class centre of innovation credited with matching Silicon
Valley in terms of intellectual property generation, despite being
dwarfed in terms of scale.
A recent Cambridge University report suggested the city
boasts 18% of the world’s games market and, based on recent
estimates, the sector employs around 4,000 people.
Life sciences has recently outstripped high-tech in terms of
job and wealth creation. That was underlined when pharma giant
AstraZeneca moved its corporate HQ and R&D hothouse to the
city, with the fi rm expecting to create 2,000 jobs by 2016.
Digital Cambridge is also contributing to the UK’s
endeavours to improve the quality of healthcare. A growing
battery of software-based life-science companies are providing
digital solutions to help fi ght disease, especially neurological
conditions and cancer.
The other major growth area in the Cambridge cluster is
cyber security, with several companies now advising global
governments on protecting their systems from hackers.
Cambridge has a strong support network, principally
underpinned by serial entrepreneurs who have grown worldleading
science and technology fi rms before exiting and then reinvesting
in local startups – mainly university spinouts. They have
formed Cambridge Angels, which provides cash and ongoing
mentorship. The angels typically inject short-term capital but are
increasingly investing alongside international venture backers.
Cambridge is also blessed with networks that engage
with international infl uencers. Cambridge Network fulfi ls the
global engagement function for businesses of all sizes and
sectors; Cambridge Wireless, Cambridge Cleantech and the
life science members’ organisation One Nucleus do the same
for their own sectors. Cambridge Ahead engages with major
corporate players locally to take their views and needs on
infrastructure to local and central government.
The arrival in Cambridge of AstraZeneca and Apple adds
to the cluster’s credentials and will aid the fi ght for new
recruits by highlighting the city’s pulling power.With superchip
designer ARM, US heavyweight Qualcomm and Chinese ICT
powerhouse Huawei leading Cambridge’s growing internetof-things
capability, prospects for the cluster have never been
brighter.
TechCityinsider’s TechCities ambassador for Cambridge is Tony
Quested of Business Weekly (www.businessweekly.co.uk).
“For a cluster to really work well, you have to have a worldclass
university at its centre, and Cambridge has that. But
it’s very important that you have the entire ecosystem,
so you need lawyers who understand how to work with
early-stage companies, the
accountants for companies
that often don’t have any
revenues and the real-estate
infrastructure of science
parks. Very importantly, you
need to have a high enough
concentration of companies
in the same sector so that
they can feed off each other.
The sense of collaboration in
Cambridge is strong and that’s
one of the distinguishing
features of the city. We’re still very small compared with
Silicon Valley, but we’re not negligible anymore. We have
1,500 companies, we employ 57,000 people and we have
a combined revenue of more than £13bn. So we’re finally
making a mark in the world.”
Hermann Hauser is one of the true giants of the UK technology scene.
In 1978, he set up Acorn Computers and, as founder of ARM, he
helped create the processors that today sit in our iPhones and more. For
18 years he’s invested in others through Amadeus Capital.
@hermannhauser
Barnaby Perks
Chief executive
Ieso Digital Health
“There is a major problem in
the NHS with the supply of
mental health therapy, with
long waiting times because of
scarce resources. We use the
internet to connect patients with
therapists. Patients can attend
therapy at a time and place in
which they are comfortable. A lot of people really struggle with the
embarrassment of attending therapy, and mental health is often a
diffi cult thing for people to deal with. This method enables them to
do it in a way that is very low stigma and also incredibly effective.
We ran a clinical trial of our method back in 2007, published in
The Lancet in 2009. Without the inter-social baggage of face-toface
therapy, people tend to get to the point and deal with their
issues more quickly.”
Ieso provides behavioural therapy services to NHS and private patients.
The patients, who are dealing with depression and anxiety issues,
are treated one-to-one by accredited therapists over a secure online
connection. @Ieso_Health
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