This year marked the 30th anniversary of our venture funds – three decades of nurturing and providing essential early investment into impactful companies from the University.
With £55 million invested as at 31 July 2025 to support companies originating from the University, our portfolio spans sustainability, AI, quantum computing, therapeutics, healthcare, diagnostics and beyond, all connected to Cambridge research and innovation, and/or Cambridge people addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges and future technologies.
This year also marked 15 years of the Discovery Fund, a donated fund raised to invest in science that has clear commercial potential. With 47 companies supported to date, the original fund of £1.8 million has returned £8.6 million to invest in the next generation of innovation, most recently investing in social ventures and Founders at the University of Cambridge companies.
The University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund X with Parkwalk Advisors closed oversubscribed and ahead of target, raising £3.5 million. The 10th in a series, this fund can double the capital provided to investee companies by investing alongside the University. The first funds have made more than 100 investments into early-stage science and technology-based businesses, such as Paragraf, Cambridge GaN Devices and Cytora.
T-Therapeutics is one of several portfolio companies showing strong momentum, announcing a Series A extension to $91 million to advance its next generation T cell receptor therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disease towards the clinic. In December 2025 Nu Quantum announced a landmark and oversubscribed $60 million Series A round – the largest ever by a pure-play quantum networking company, and the largest quantum Series A in the UK to date.
These successes demonstrate the results of our commitment to supporting founders as they build and scale their vision and to accelerating the translation of groundbreaking research into world-changing impact.
