Technology Investment Fund

Bridging the gap between early-stage research and commercialisation

In our continuous efforts to develop new pathways and mechanisms to commercialise research, we have created the Technology Investment Fund (TIF), with the aim to support our academic entrepreneurs to secure higher value licensing deals faster and support spin-out opportunities by providing investment in those final experiments needed to de-risk intellectual property (IP) and bridge its journey from lab to market.

TIF has been created specifically for our portfolio where University research will deliver life-changing impact and enhanced economic return, allowing our academics to quickly advance their technologies with critical proof-of-concept funding. TIF already has an active pipeline, and investments have already been awarded to more than ten individual projects including a digital mental health assessment tool, development of an in-vivo immunotherapy, and developing a prototype for stem cell direct-delivery for neurodegenerative diseases. Over the next five years, TIF will invest in over 100 University technologies and deliver enhanced impact and economic return.

“The TIF programme is going to provide us with an exceptional opportunity to support tech-transfer of novel technologies emerging from our academic research which wouldn’t have been possible without it.”

Professor Erwin Reisner, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge

What the fund offers

The fund has been created to support opportunities identified by our Technology, Development and Licensing team. These projects are selected against key criteria; a process supported by governance and industry led decision-making to confirm approval. Decisions are made swiftly to ensure that projects can continue with momentum and transparency, no matter the outcome.

Alongside a commitment to invest £10 million over the next five years to bridge the gap between early-stage research and commercialisation, we aim to de-risk and add value to technologies to increase the probability and value of future licensing.

This will not be achieved with financial investment alone. The dedicated TIF team also offer the following to help accelerate projects:

Project management
Pitching and governance
Project design and delivery

Through external partnerships and collaborations, TIF funding will be used to drive commercial endpoints, and can be used for the following illustrative project types:

In vitro and in vivo PoC studies for therapeutics development (e.g. Clinical Research Organisations)
Market research and strategy
Regulatory advice
Prototype development for medical device and diagnostics
Software development to create Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test with partners and validate market need
Consultancy support

Investments awarded so far

Protonera

Annually, over 400 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated. The majority of which (390m tonnes) is either burnt or sent to landfill either because of contamination or because it is cheaper than recycling.

Professor Erwin Reisner and Dr Jack Chengzhi Guo have developed a novel chemoenzymatic photoreforming process which is able to take contaminated waste polymers and using light and catalyst, are able to turn these into hydrogen and monomers which can be re-processed. TIF will be used to design, build and demonstrate scalability of the process.

Learn more

Investments awarded so far

Supercharged CAR-T immunotherapy

Colorectal and hepatocellular cancers are leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with limited treatment options, resulting in nearly two million deaths per year.

Researchers Dr Marc de la Roche (Department of Biochemistry) and Dr Maike de la Roche (Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute) are developing supercharged CAR-T cells, an immunotherapy treatment specifically designed for and highly effective against these kinds of cancer. The joint funding from TIF and Cancer Research Horizons has been awarded to advance this research to clinical study.

Learn more

De la Roche - Targeting Colorectal And Liver Cancers

Learn more about TIF

If you would like to learn more about TIF and our other translational funding opportunities, please contact your case manager who will be more than happy to discuss this further.

Frequently asked questions

How do I apply?

The Technology Investment Fund team can only consider projects where individuals or teams are already working with Cambridge Enterprise (i.e. an invention disclosure has been made), and that have been nominated by a case manager within the Technology Development and Licensing team. If you feel that your project may benefit from from TIF, please contact your case manager to discuss this further.

If you don’t have a case manager yet, but you have an invention you would like to discuss, you can learn more and make your disclosure here.

What can I use it for?

TIF has been created specifically for our portfolio where University research with a clear commercial endpoint which will deliver life-changing impact and enhanced economic return. It helps our academics to quickly advance their technologies with critical proof-of-concept funding in those final experiments needed to de-risk IP and bridge the journey from lab to market.

Who is eligible for this fund?

Early-stage research projects who are looking to commercialise and need support to de-risk and add value. These projects may have previously been seen as currently unlicensable, or at a higher risk for industry and investment, but the aim of the project is to spin-out and create life-changing impact and economic return.

The Technology Investment Fund team can only consider projects where individuals or teams are already working with Cambridge Enterprise (i.e. an invention disclosure has been made), and that have been nominated by a case manager within the Technology Development and Licensing team.

If you feel that your project may benefit from from TIF, please contact your case manager to discuss this further. If you don’t have a case manager yet, but you have an invention you would like to discuss, you can learn more and make your disclosure here.

What are the key criteria?

The key criteria for projects to be considered for investment are:

Actively working with Cambridge Enterprise and nominated by case manager
High commercial value, meeting a currently unmet need and impact
Validation of its market opportunity, with industry-facing evidence
Clear demonstratable commercial endpoint
Supported by SMART deliverables, milestones and plan