Cambridge early-stage companies raise £9.1bn in a decade as average deal size grows five-fold

New analysis by Cambridge Innovation Capital, published as the Innovate Cambridge Summit 2026 gets underway, demonstrates the maturity of the Cambridge ecosystem, with the average equity raised per deal increasing five-fold over the decade, from £2 million in 2015 to £10 million in 2025. Greater Cambridge life sciences and deep tech companies also raised more per deal on average in 2025 than their counterparts in London, Greater Oxford and Greater Manchester.

The figures come after another strong year for the Cambridge ecosystem. Portfolio company and University of Cambridge spinout Nyobolt, as well as CuspAI and Cambridge Aerospace, reached billion-dollar valuations, and Cambridge-founded Quantinuum listed on Nasdaq. The region has attracted continued investment from AstraZeneca, new R&D headquarters for GSK and AVEVA, and new offices for NVIDIA, while signing the largest-ever corporate research partnership with IonQ, which will bring the UK’s most powerful quantum computer to Cambridge. The University of Cambridge’s role in developing research that addresses the world’s biggest problems continues to position it at the centre of the UK’s innovation economy, whose spinouts go on to raise capital from across the world.

Launched in 2022 by Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge Innovation Capital and the University of Cambridge, Innovate Cambridge connects government, academia and business to deliver an aligned innovation strategy for the region, creating opportunities in Cambridge and across the UK. Innovate Cambridge works with these founders and Partners including Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and Anglia Ruskin University, alongside more than 200 organisations across the ecosystem to accelerate innovation and ensure pioneering discoveries are successfully translated for local and global impact.

The Innovate Cambridge Summit 2026 brings together more than 600 leaders from research, industry, investment, government and the wider innovation ecosystem.

This year’s Summit will focus on the next phase of the Cambridge and UK innovation economy. Topics include how more companies can start, scale and stay in Britain, Cambridge’s role in powering UK growth, how partnerships between cities and clusters can accelerate innovation, and how the benefits of growth can be shared more widely.

Dr Kathryn Chapman, CEO of Innovate Cambridge, said: “Cambridge has demonstrated that it can create world-class innovation and globally significant companies. The next challenge is ensuring that success translates into lasting economic and social value. That means helping more companies scale from the UK, using the capabilities Cambridge creates to support growth across the country and widening access to the opportunities generated by innovation. It also means working with other regions, such as in The Cambridge x Manchester Partnership and OxCam Growth Corridor, so that Cambridge’s strengths contribute to prosperity across the UK.”

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge said:

“Excellence and partnership are in the Cambridge DNA. From research and business partnerships to philanthropy, we are at our best when we work with others. That spirit of collaboration has driven remarkable progress in 2026, from the IonQ partnership on quantum computing and the Bennett Innovation Labs on aerothermal, to the Rokos School of Government. Partnerships such as Cambridge x Manchester and the OxCam Growth Corridor are extending that collaboration across the UK. The results are extraordinary: world-leading research translated into new technologies, businesses and opportunities that benefit people locally and across the UK.”

Dr Michael Anstey, Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital and board member Innovate Cambridge, said: “A fivefold increase in average deal size over ten years shows how far Cambridge’s innovation economy has matured. Investors are backing Cambridge companies with larger rounds because there is now a proven route from world-class research to businesses that can scale globally. The increasing number of companies with £1 billion+ valuations illustrates the exceptional science and IP generated here, and that our pipeline is getting deeper every year.”

Turning Cambridge’s growth into prosperity for all

The Summit will also examine how Cambridge can ensure its economic success translates into better outcomes for people, communities and the environment.

In 2023, Cambridge set 16 economic, social and environmental targets for 2035. Interim analysis being presented at this year’s Summit shows strong progress against most of the economic measures, including venture capital investment, corporate presence and innovation infrastructure. Progress against the social and environmental measures, however, is more mixed, with some targets off track and others not yet measurable.

There are encouraging signs. The proportion of employees on low pay has fallen to 6.6%, less than half the national average; the gender pay gap has narrowed from 18% to 11%; and Cambridge has the third-lowest level of child poverty in the UK. But significant inequalities remain. There is a life expectancy gap of almost 10 years between the city’s most and least deprived wards, while the attainment gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers stands at 35 percentage points.

The Summit will call on the public and private sectors to bring the same pace, ambition and collective action to Cambridge’s social and environmental challenges as they have to its economic growth – ensuring that the benefits of innovation-led growth are felt across the city.

Cambridge as a national growth engine

The Summit will also examine how Cambridge’s innovation economy can support jobs, investment and industrial growth across the UK, and act as a template for, and collaborator with, other places.

The Cambridge x Manchester Partnership is the UK’s first deliberately designed cross-city innovation partnership, connecting two of the country’s most powerful yet distinct ecosystems to drive innovation-led economic growth and ensure the opportunities of innovation and entrepreneurship reach all communities. At its core is a simple premise: that Cambridge and Manchester, working together as one, can achieve more for the UK than either can achieve alone. Among its projects and initiatives, the Partnership is developing a joint investment proposition to support homegrown innovation to stay in the UK, employ more people, and scale here.

Through initiatives such as the Whittle Laboratory, Cambridge research and technology are also being linked with major employers and industrial centres elsewhere in Britain, including Rolls-Royce in Derby and Loughborough, and BAE Systems in Preston.

The aim is to show how innovation clusters can strengthen one another, connecting frontier science and technology with industrial capability across the UK, helping companies scale and creating economic opportunity in more parts of the country.

Mayor Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, said

“Cambridge is the second most innovation intensive city in the world and our collective aim is to use this incredible region of innovators and citizens to drive local and national growth. Our partnership with Manchester will be crucial in unlocking the potential of our economy and our Local Growth Plan – with support from both Mayors, Universities, Vice Chancellors and business we are building for global impact and creating opportunities for all the citizens of our regions.”