It’s often said that the U.K. and Europe lack the huge level of growth funding for later-stage startups that the U.S. has for its own, and this is correct. According to the European Investment Fund, there are at least seven times more large-size VC funds in the U.S. than in Europe. So the appearance of a new growth fund in the U.K. is significant.
Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), which invests exclusively in the Cambridge ecosystem in and around the famous university, has launched a new £100 million ($126 million) “Opportunity Fund,” essentially a growth fund. CIC has $757 million invested in more than 40 companies and has a privileged relationship with the University of Cambridge.
The fund is being anchored by Aviva Investors and British Patient Capital and will invest in growth-stage deep tech and life sciences companies.
Two investments have already been made. Pragmatic Semiconductor is a large chip designer and manufacturer which has raised $389.3 million to date, while Riverlane, is a quantum computing error correction company that has raised $120.7…
