Our (epic) year in review

2015 wasn’t just a great year for Cambridge Enterprise (CE), it was a record year. We reached an all-time high for spin-out investment from our £16 million seed fund, putting £3.9 million into 13 promising companies. We supported the work of more than 1,400 researchers through funding, licenses, patents and administrative help. And we launched an innovative film that got people talking about the work we do to support the inventions spawned from the University.

Want to know more? Our performance, our highlights, and some really interesting statistics on University innovation are showcased in CE’s 2014-15 Annual Review, which was just released. Did you know, for example, that our portfolio companies have raised £1.4bn since 1995? Or that last year we helped University staff and students by filing 159 patent applications?

Take a look inside and you’ll read about biological anthropologist Dr Danny Longman, who, with the support of CE, works as a consultant for Helly Hansen to develop performance clothing technology and the work of Professor Steve Young, a pioneer in the field of spoken dialogue management, whose company, VocalIQ, we co-funded among many others. Among the success stories we illustrate, we’ve included the stunning photographic work of Professor Julian A. Dowdeswell, a glaciologist and Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, who works with CE providing consultancy advice to multinational oil and gas companies.

The New Year already holds great promise for Cambridge Enterprise thanks to the academics and students we support. It’s going to be an exciting ride…