What’s your value?

Every August, while everyone else is enjoying the summer holiday, our Seed Funds team -- led by the incomparable Jodie Todd -- works on an annual portfolio valuation.

This two-month exercise collects information from each of the 60-plus portfolio companies held by Cambridge Enterprise on behalf of the University of Cambridge, and provides a robust, auditable value for each company using British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) guidance.

Simple though this might seem for one company, once you multiply the task by 60, it’s quite an effort. I’m not sure our companies find it much fun either.

But the exercise is vital, allowing us to demonstrate the impact generated by the University through its support for new ventures.

Last year, the valuation showed that our portfolio had:

• generated £50 million in turnover
• attracted £1.3 billion of follow-on funding since 1995
• leveraged funds invested by us 81x (that is, for every pound we invested, £81 followed)
• employed ~700 people

Not bad for a small, evergreen seed fund.