University of Cambridge

This Impact Insight video tells the story behind the creation of iKVA

iKVA is a University of Cambridge spin-out that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to quickly discover internal and external knowledge for employees in large companies. It was founded in 2017 by leading academics from the University’s Department of Computer Science and Technology, Dr Liang Wang, Professor Richard Mortier and Professor Jon Crowcroft, who is also Researcher at Large at The Alan Turing Institute.

iKVA’s novel AI platform was designed for knowledge-intensive, multinational firms and was developed with input from the BBC, the Home Office and others in a process which has helped to influence its design. The technology is already being used by global engineering giant Mott MacDonald and Cambridge University Library.

Cambridge Enterprise has been involved from the very beginning of iKVA, formerly known as Kvasir Analytics, when it was one of the finalists in the Chris Abell Postdoc Business Plan Competition in 2016; we contributed to their pre-seed funding in 2018 and co-led the £1.5m seed round they closed in 2021. We have provided advice and support throughout the entire process, including input from Entrepreneur-in-Residence Chris Doran and Board support from one of our senior investment managers.