Cambridge Cluster science & technology companies have started the fightback against a virtual UK lockdown with global deals and strategies collectively worth billions.

Arm’s Japanese parent SoftBank has led the way by kickstarting the sale of $41bn worth of assets in a bid to restore former glories. AstraZeneca is investing £80 million in a new therapeutics play from its Cambridge HQ.

Abcam and AVEVA are back on the acquisition trail, with Abcam’s expansion in America spearheading a string of new trade deals between East of England businesses and the US.

A cohort of local companies are part of £multimillion projects to provide vaccines, diagnostic tests, sanitants and a battery of weapons to help the UK conquer the coronavirus, COVID-19. And amid it all comes ingenuity to burn. Redgate Software is using the home working period to launch a new coding club for children.

Also, Business Weekly unveils a 12-strong pantheon of ‘Super Scalers’ – companies in our TTP-sponsored Killer50 list of the hottest science & technology companies in the region who are scaling to fresh heights from already dizzy plateaus.

All this and more – including top quoted companies’ latest results and news of a new breed of spinouts and startups – is in a 42-page special digital edition of Business Weekly available to access FREE on this site today.

It shows just how strong the cluster is proving in adversity – and why our companies are attracting so much attention, even now, from global investors and collaborators.

Doors at physical offices may be closed but windows of opportunity for fresh trade have been left ajar to keep UK and cross-border trade ticking over nicely.

To access the digital edition visit https://bit.ly/2Jlmatz

Cambridge Consultants and Neuro Engineering Technologies Research Institute (NETRI) in Lyon, France have achieved a breakthrough in precision imaging of brain activity. 

Working with NETRI’s brain-on-a-chip technology and lensless imaging approach that detects the activity of neurons in brain tissue, Cambridge Consultants was able to accelerate the processing of individual images by over three orders of magnitude, moving from about 20 minutes to process an image to just hundreds of milliseconds. 

This step-change in speed opens up radical new possibilities, including real-time processing of neural activity and mimicking of neural activity on engineered platforms, supporting the development of novel treatments for conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Organ-on-a-chip is an emerging and highly promising area of biomedical research. The technology involves the ex-vivo (outside of the body) simulation of organ function on a chip. 

The ultimate promise of such technologies is to greatly reduce the time and cost of testing new therapies for safety and efficacy. Brain-on-a-chip technologies seek to apply this approach to the neural circuitry of the brain, the most complex organ in the human body.

French startup NETRI creates disruptive technologies for brain-on-a-chip applications in neuroscience. Its focus is on ex-vivo replication of human neural circuits in order to understand how neurological disorders, treatments and chemicals affect the brain. 

NETRI uses a combination of brain-on-a-chip technology and lensless microscopy to record the activity of millions of connected neurons, mimicking the neural circuits implicated in neurological disorders.

However, by detecting something as complex as neural activity, the approach generates an enormous amount of data, requiring many hours of computation effort in order to fully reconstruct the spatio-temporal map of neuron communication.

The imaging system runs at approximately 1,000 frames per second, and the baseline algorithm took an average of 1,090 seconds – 18 minutes – to process a single image on a powerful desktop PC. Without improvement, a single second of recording can take 12 days to process.

Recognising its world-class expertise in medical imaging and high-performance computation, NETRI approached Cambridge Consultants to address this bottleneck, challenging the company to develop a radical algorithm acceleration. 

A scientific imaging team was set to work within the company’s Data Lab, an on-site facility with state-of-the-art compute infrastructure, allowing rapid exploration of data and compute-heavy approaches, such as high-definition imaging and deep learning.

Cambridge Consultants chose the NVIDIA DGX POD architecture for the AI infrastructure, deploying the NetApp ONTAP AI solution that combines NVIDIA DGX-1™ with NetApp ONTAP storage and network fabric. 

Through a series of optimisations, the team was able to show that the NVIDIA DGX-1 system delivers the AI supercomputing power required to process a frame in an average of 0.3 seconds, around 3,000 times quicker than the original approach. 

This acceleration was achieved through a series of optimisations including the design and application of mathematical and algorithmic improvements, leveraging NumPY GPU-accelerated with RAPIDS (CuPy), and exploiting the sheer power of the DGX-1 system. 

The combined result enables NETRI to completely reimagine their approach and to set their sights on the most radical possibilities, including developing a fully scalable and real-time medical service for hospitals and pharmaceutical industries to perform both in-vitro diagnostics and personalised treatment for every patient suffering from a neurological condition.

Sally Epstein, head of strategic technology at Cambridge Consultants, said: “Lensless imaging replaces traditional optics with computation, creating a new set of optimisation challenges that our team was excited to address. 

“We’re proud to be at the leading-edge of developments in brain-on-a-chip technology and neural imaging, at the point where radical improvements can be unlocked by those with the right combination of vision, experience and compute power.”

Thibault Honegger, chief scientific officer, president &  co-founder of NETRI, added: “By combining the expertise of Cambridge Consultants with NVIDIA-based computational power, the real-time processing of neural communications becomes possible.

“This can mark a paradigm shift in assessing the functional aspects of in-vitro neural networks. With this level of resolution, we will be able to accurately measure the wellness of the network, in relation to neurological conditions and potential recovery.”

Scientists and clinicians from Welcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge and Quadram Institute in Norwich are weighing into a £20 million project to map how COVID-19 spreads and behaves by using whole genome sequencing. 

The Government and the UK’s chief scientific adviser have today backed the consortium which will look for breakthroughs that help the UK respond to this and future pandemics – and save lives.

COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium – comprising the NHS, Public Health Agencies, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Quadram Institute and numerous academic institutions – will deliver large scale, rapid sequencing of the cause of the disease and share intelligence with hospitals, regional NHS centres and the Government.

Samples from patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 will be sent to a network of sequencing centres which currently includes Cambridge, Norwich, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Nottingham, Oxford and Sheffield.

Dr Justin O’ Grady will lead Quadram Institute Bioscience’s work on analysing COVID-19 samples and take a targeted sequencing-based approach to the genetic material to help identify any changes in the virus. Head of informatics Dr Andrew Page will lead the bioinformatics analysis at the Quadram Institute at Norwich Research Park.

By looking at the whole virus genome in people who have had confirmed cases of COVID-19, scientists can monitor changes in the virus at a national scale to understand how it is spreading and whether different strains are emerging. This will help clinical care of patients and save lives.

The CLIMB project, which is led by Professor Mark Pallen, research leader at Quadram Institute Bioscience, and principal investigator on the Medical Research Council-funded CLIMB project, will be providing computing support to the national sequencing efforts.

Director of the Quadram Institute, Professor Ian Charles, said: “We welcome this vital work announced by the Chief Scientific Adviser to understand how COVID-19 spreads and behaves by using whole genome sequencing. 

“It’s a testimony to the excellence of the scientific expertise we have here in Norwich that we will be contributing to this national, collaborative effort.
“I am very proud of all the efforts that my colleagues at the Quadram Institute and across the Norwich Research Park are making to reach the scientific answers we need to deal with this pandemic.”

Government  chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance said: “Genomic sequencing will help us understand COVID-19 and its spread. It can also help guide treatments in the future and see the impact of interventions.

“The UK is one of the world’s leading destinations for genomics research and development, and I am confident that our best minds, working as part of this consortium, will make vital breakthroughs to help us tackle this disease.”

The UK Consortium, supported by the Government, including the NHS, Public Health England, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and Wellcome, will enable clinicians and public health teams to rapidly investigate clusters of cases in hospitals, care homes and the community, to understand how the virus is spread and implement appropriate infection control measures.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, said: “By bringing together public health expertise from Public Health England and genomic science from the Wellcome Sanger Institute the UK can crack the code of this virus, and we should give everyone involved huge credit for that.

“Rapid genome sequencing of COVID-19 will give us unparalleled insights into the spread, distribution and scale of the epidemic in the UK. The power of 21st century science to combat this pandemic is something that those going before us could not have dreamt of and it is incumbent on us to do everything we can to first understand, and then limit, the impact of COVID-19.”

Moments of crisis always mean change. In these times, it’s tempting to reach for quotes from leaders who successfully navigated through turbulent times. “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” is one often attributed to Churchill and requires us to remain level-headed despite the widespread panic. 

Companies founded during times of turmoil, like GE, IBM, and Microsoft, know that if they can make their business work during times of upheaval, they can go on to be even more successful in times of stability.

When humans and businesses face uncertainty, they must embrace it if they are to awaken inner creative abilities. A look back in history illustrates that crises and extreme threats can be useful for directing individuals, a country or the world to a solution. 

Once a crisis is in motion, turning it into an opportunity often requires new ways of seeing, thinking, and responding. Applying traditional responses may lessen the pain temporarily, but to lay the foundations for long-term prosperity, it’s essential to focus on solving the underlying problem.

It’s now time to consider a new digital business model, a different approach based on the availability of data and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

So, how does the pharmaceutical industry continue to engage HCPs during this crisis – and more importantly, what will be the long-lasting impact?

The restriction of movement, cancellation of key industry events and global travel bans have all impacted the ability to engage HCPs in person. The obvious answer is to increase the use of digital solutions like remote video calling. Veeva Systems has acted quickly, recently announcing a back-up solution for current CRM users They are offering Engage Meeting, a product designed to enhance HCP-to-sales rep communication via web-based audio and video content sharing capabilities, free of charge for six months. This is a commendable initiative and will go a long way to bridging our communication needs during this period.

Overcoming communication challenges with HCPs is far more complex than simply enabling remote engagement.

However, as the impact of COVID-19 worsens, merely moving to digital is not sufficient. Indeed, if you believe it will solve your problems, you are deluded.

Using technology to drive physician engagement is not new. Already, two thirds of HCPs are digital natives, and by 2025, 75% of the workforce will be millennials or younger. According to Across Health, tools like virtual e-detailing (without the presence of the rep) and eRep (live remote e-detailing) are seeing wide adoption with over 50% of pharma piloting or using this technology as standard practice. In the countries which currently account for over 86% of the first five years of New Active Substance sales, HCP engagement is very much digital. However, there still remains a divide between what pharma delivers and what HCPs require.

Overcoming communication challenges with HCPs is far more complex than simply enabling remote engagement. Delivering generic brand messages, whether in-person or virtually, is no longer good enough. Sales representatives must bring value to HCPs that are personalised. What is critical to supporting this personalisation? It is the ability to have systems support HCP engagement with data – delivering powerful insights based on a granular understanding for example of patient populations, the environment and historic activity that drives outcome.

These times of uncertainty must inspire us to seek solutions that close this divide between what Pharma delivers and what HCPs want. Switching from face-to-face interaction to remote video, for example, is an absolute minimum requirement for companies to continue engaging with their customers. But what do HCPs want and need? It’s now time to consider a new digital business model, a different approach and design based on the availability of data and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Does facilitating the HCP-sales conversation via digital channels (video, audio and email, etc.) help close the divide? It helps, but to truly close the divide we must deliver more value to both sales reps and HCPs. We must empower the sales teams with the ability to focus on engaging HCPs where the need is greatest, support them with suggestions around what conversations can be had and deliver the evidence they need to take action by explaining why.

Utilising data and AI will enable teams to both see and think differently about customers, at scale. Reps must be empowered to select the most suitable engagement method (remote or otherwise) that delivers value to the HCP.

As COVID-19 takes hold, how will reps decide on who to organise a video call with or who should get an email?

• Should it be everyone?
• Should it be those I can’t get access to?
• Should it be my target customers?
• Should it be the doctors I have a good relationship with?

In the future, how should reps decide on who to organise a video call with or who should get an email?

• It should be where the highest opportunity exists and reps know why
• It should be the highest priority HCPs and reps know why
• It should be where the highest urgency exists and reps know why

As further restrictions around the movement of sales reps are inevitable, utilising digital channels effectively will become critical for Pharmaceutical companies. Those two thirds of HCPs who identify as digital natives will only increase in number over the coming years, increasing the incidence of remote HCP-sales engagements as we move into 2021 and beyond. 

To drive the behaviour change desperately needed in our industry, engaging with HCPs remotely must be supported with intelligent AI recommendations. After all, if we change behaviour we can change the outcome.

• OKRA’s new FieldFocus solution combines multiple historical data sources to predict the future. Validated by top pharma, the system delivers the highest opportunity, priority and urgency of a potential engagement directly to the reps and then delivers suggestions on what could be discussed and why.

For more information visit OKRA.ai

Without a comprehensive testing program, the use of Big Data and help from large high technology companies efforts to permanently suppress COVID-19 will be limited to random – and in some cases highly destructive – stabs in the dark.

Schools are now closed and with them a window of opportunity to use mass testing for COVID-19 to build a model of how the virus has been exploiting gaps in our knowledge to spread by stealth,writes Cambridge technology innovator Peter Kruger. 

At some point, if we are to protect ourselves from this virus and its derivatives we must carry out comprehensive testing and develop intelligent computer technology to process the results.

The advantage of schools, from the point of view of disease monitoring is, thanks to OFSTED, their uniformity of operation and a standard interface with the local community. 

Employees of a hairdressing salon in Hartlepool will interact with each other differently than the staff of a restaurant in Reading. However, teachers and pupils interact in much the same way no matter where in the country their school is located. Also, when it comes to viruses, a school acts much like the canary in the coal mine, being responsible for one of the two or three degrees separating everyone in its catchment area.

Why might Britain need to test large numbers of people showing no obvious signs disease and who are not considered to be of risk? Perhaps to solve a puzzle which suggests COVID-19 may be unique in the way it is transmitted.

Cambridge, as far as the virus is concerned, has proved something of an enigma. The city was still receiving large numbers of Chinese tourists, many who came to see the tree referred to in China’s most well-known poem, Xu Zhimo’s ‘Farewell To Cambridge Again.’ 

The city’s university and its various hi-tech and biotech hubs all have close links with companies and institutions in China, many in or close to Wuhan, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite this, when the virus was first detected in Britain, there were no cases in Cambridge and even now the number of people found to be infected in the city and surrounding area is less than towns such as Watford and on a par with York. 

The number of Cambridge residents tested positive is far less than in similar sized towns in Italy which have fewer direct links with China. Cambridge has not so much dodged the bullet as stood in the rain for two months without getting wet. 

The analysis and, perhaps more importantly, the testing, which might throw some light on the mystery is either partially incomplete or completely absent.

On the 16th of March Imperial College produced a report on the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand: basically what action can be taken, in the absence of a vaccine, to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed. 

It was based on this report that the Government decided to backtrack on creating herd immunity by letting the virus rip in Britain – a plan which seemed to have been inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove.

To explore the scenarios for the progression of COVID-19 in Britain, Imperial College used a modified transmission simulation model developed to support influenza planning. 

Assumptions as to how the virus is passed on in schools have been used in this model, including how likely it is for someone to pass on the virus if they exhibit no symptoms. 

However, children with COVID-19, unlike children with influenza, all seem to be asymptomatic. The importance of wide-scale testing to come up with a more reliable model has been highlighted by Imperial’s own work in the small Italian town of Vò where blanket testing detected up a number of asymptomatic spreaders.

Returning to the enigma of Cambridge there are many factors which may have suppressed the progression of the COVID-19 in the city. 

Cambridgeshire has a young demographic who tend to communicate with each other electronically rather than face to face, even when in the same room! Visitors from China also tend to fall into this younger demographic cohort.

It could be with such a young native population and youthful visitors the virus never encountered enough of the 14 per cent of the population aged over 65 to gain traction. (It obviously had more success in Italy where 22 per cent of the population is aged 65 and over.) 

Genetic unpicking of the virus may reveal it was not carried directly to Britain from China but instead bounced around Europe; from Munich to Milan and then to London. Basically, we are working with too many of what Donald Rumsfeld described as ‘known unknowns.’ 

The testing in hospitals, while important to protect health workers, tells us little about the virus spreads; the results are prone to distortion, the converse of survivorship bias. Consequently, we are still fighting crocodiles rather than draining the swamp.

Eventually the swamp will need draining because even if peak COVID-19 is delayed, the absence of that herd immunity will see us under attack again; most likely shortly after returning to work and our children are back in school. This will be as true in China as in Britain and the rest of the world. 

When, or if, we reach the stage China is at now we should carry out those large-scale tests because rather than having been beaten the virus will have merely switched into stealth mode; carried only by asymptomatic spreaders.

Once the data on the asymptomatic carriers has been collected it should be analysed with the help of technology companies such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook, who could provide anonymised tracking, friends and family data generated by people within the catchment area of the schools where tests take place. 

AI software should be used to create transmission models robust and accurate enough to allow us, in lieu of a vaccine, to hold COVID-19 in check. Already South Korea is making moves in this direction.

At some point in the future, our smartphones will inform us if we have recently been in contact with someone infected with new strain of coronavirus. We will be asked to use the phone to take our temperature and either a swab our mouth and smear a sample across the biochip on the rear of the handset or, alternatively, breath into the microphone. 

This was how, 15 years ago, we saw the smartphone evolving. At that time the company I worked for produced a report called 101 Uses for a Mobile Phone in Healthcare: disease monitoring was 92 on the list. 

Perhaps inevitably health took a back seat to entertainment and taking selfies with high resolution cameras was more fun than measurement of vital signs with a so-called ‘lab on a chip.’

Technology is partially responsible for the globalisation and universal connectivity that a new generation of diseases exploit. At some point we will need to develop devices and write software that removes this vulnerability rather than resorting to firing cannons at plague ships attempting to dock in San Francisco harbour. 

COVID-19 has transformed our world into a laboratory and is providing test data that will enable this development to take place; best we use both wisely.

A home test for flu designed to give an accurate diagnosis inside 20 minutes could be adapted to identify coronavirus.

The potential breakthrough has been identified by Iceni Diagnostics in Norwich.

Recognition of a sequence of sugars on the cells of its host is essential to the viability of a virus and this mechanism is used by Iceni technology. Sugar recognition overcomes the limitations of existing tests which need laboratory equipment and require knowledge of the viral genetic code. 

Viruses typically invade the body through cells in the respiratory tract. These cells are covered in a coat of sugar chains, known as glycans, which are used to recognise beneficial substances. Viruses can utilise these glycans as part of the infection process. This process can also be used in reverse to identify the virus in saliva or nasal fluids.

Professor Rob Field, a globally renowned expert in glycan science and director of the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, is the co-founder of Iceni Diagnostics; the biotech company is based on Norwich Research Park. The company has developed this diagnostic technique that uses an artificial glycan receptor to capture the virus.

Professor Field said: “Right now, everybody is talking about a vaccine for coronavirus but vaccine development, validation, safety-testing, manufacture, regulatory approval and deployment is a time-consuming process.

“A low-cost, easy to use screening test that can be performed at the point of care is an ideal way to limit initial disease transmission in the country or location of origin.

“Current COVID-19 tests are largely based on PCR (polymerase chain reaction) that requires a laboratory setting for analysis and relies on prior knowledge of the viral genetic code. This code can change as the virus evolves, limiting the effectiveness of the test.

“The Iceni Diagnostics approach uses glycan recognition, which is unaffected by seasonal variation in the genetic code, and can be offered as a handheld home or field-based test.”

Iceni Diagnostics has already developed a series of prototype products that can specifically detect pathogens such as Norovirus and different strains of influenza in less than 20 minutes. The most advanced product, for equine influenza, is performing well in early stage clinical trials.

The hand-held device uses lateral flow – like a home pregnancy test – to give a simple yes/no answer. It requires no refrigeration and no training, meaning the test is usable in any location, by any person, in order to detect flu or other pathogens.

The current Iceni Diagnostics products detect a single virus. However, the next generation of diagnostics will enable the detection and discrimination of a series of pathogens that give rise to similar symptoms. 

This would enable, for example, a distinction between flu and COVID-19 in a single sample. This increases the versatility and robustness of the diagnosis.

Additionally, the way the virus interacts with its glycan receptor makes it seasonally consistent, so, even if the virus genetic code mutates, it will still be detected – meaning the Iceni Diagnostics’ test should remain effective indefinitely.

Professor Field says the device holds huge promise for changing the way we manage global disease: “This new approach, which is based on host-pathogen glycan recognition could potentially result in a more universal detection technique, crucial in early diagnostics of outbreaks.”

Iceni Diagnostics is currently in an investment round to support the validation and roll out the commercial launch of its initial product portfolio. It is also looking at additional funds from EU and BARDA.

In an industry dominated by protein/DNA technology the glycan-based platform offers opportunities for the development of novel medicines and tests. 

• Interested parties are invited to contact Iceni Diagnostics directly at www.icenidiagnostics.com.

A Cambridge University spin-out working towards a vaccine against COVID-19 is seeking critical funding and a Big Pharma partner to help accelerate the breakthrough.

DIOSynVax was set up in 2017 with the support of Cambridge Enterprise, the university’s commercialisation arm. It believes that with the right funding and partner it could have a vaccine ready by June.

Mastermind Professor Jonathan Heeney has won significant funding and investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Innovate UK and Cambridge Enterprise in recent years to develop new vaccines for diseases ranging from influenza to Ebola and other haemorrhagic fevers. It is this technology that he and his team are now applying to the coronavirus.

DIOSynVax’s approach is much faster than current vaccine development technologies, says Professor Heeney, which means that even allowing for essential pre-clinical mouse studies, his vaccine candidate could be ready for human clinical trials as early as June. 

Head of the Laboratory of Viral Zoonotics at the University of Cambridge, Professor Heeney says that coronaviruses present a particular challenge to vaccine developers.

“We need a Big Pharma partner to help us scale up our activities,” he says. “Our vaccine designs are made so that they can be easily integrated into any proprietary vaccine platform that a pharmaceutical company may have ready.”

DIOSynVax uses computer modelling of the virus’s structure, created using information on the COVID-19 virus itself as well as its relatives – SARS, MERS and other coronaviruses – and identifying chinks in its armour; crucial pieces of the exterior spikes that will form part of the vaccine to disable the virus but without making the infection worse.

“A vaccine strategy needs to be laser specific, targeting those domains of the virus’s structure that are absolutely critical for docking with a cell, while avoiding the parts that could make things worse,” he says. “Our technology does just that.”

The approach of the Cambridge UK business is to look at the genetics of these viruses to identify the key piece of genetic code that the virus uses to produce the essential part of its coat – the spikes, that are important for docking with a cell – and to target these elements with the vaccine.

Professor Heeney says: “What we end up with is a mimic, a mirror image of part of the virus, but minus its bad parts, the non-essential parts that could trigger those bad immune responses. What remains is just the magic bullet, essentially, to trigger the right type of immune response.”

Then, using a combination of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology, the team create a vaccine that includes this piece of genetic code, which can be injected into an individual. 

The body’s immune cells will then find it, decode it and use the information to program the rest of the immune system to produce antibodies against it.

The next step is to then test the vaccine in pre-clinical trials – in other words, give the vaccine to mice to check that it is safe to use. Mice are an important part of vaccine research: their physiology and immune systems are similar enough to ours to enable researchers to minimise the risk to humans taking part in clinical trials.

Cambridge is one of Europe’s fastest growing European technology cities, with an increase of 33 per cent in VC investment into digital tech companies from £380m in 2018 to £500m in 2019, new figures from Tech Nation reveal.

Cambridge is also one of the leading cities in Europe when it comes to robotics investment and development with £411m in total funding in 2019. 

The search for talent to drive technology capability has driven up the median digital technology salary in Cambridge to £39,000.

In a related development, rare disease drug pioneer Healx and Cambridge neighbour BenevolentAI, which is unlocking the power of scientific data to make more effective drugs, have been named in Tech Nation’s Future Fifty 8.0 programme.

Across the East of England as a whole, the region attracted £800m total VC investment in 2019. Between 2015 and 2019, £998m was invested in emerging tech in the region with £486m pumped into AI ventures. Scale-ups and new unicorns abounded locally over the same period.

There has been widespread praise for both Healx and BenevolentAI which join Tech Nation’s Future Fifty 8.0 programme for late-stage tech companies in the UK. 

This is regarded as Europe’s longest serving and most successful programme for late-stage tech companies, with nine IPOs and 30 mergers and acquisitions in its cohort.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Cambridge is home to one of the world’s top universities and has a hugely talented workforce so it’s no surprise the East of England has become a thriving technology hub and secured more tech funding than many major European capitals.

“We are determined to create the conditions digital businesses in Cambridge need to succeed. Right across the country we are investing £5 billion in gigabit speed broadband, 5G, cyber security, digital skills, research and development.”

Thea Goodluck, Entrepreneur Engagement manager, East of England for Tech Nation added: “The Tech Nation report 2020 findings show the East of England tech scene is thriving. Close to £1bn has been invested in emerging technologies in the region between 2015 and 2019 and it is exciting to see the three emerging sectors identified in the report as Agritech, Cleantech and Healthtech. 

“Emerging technologies and sectors are visible and growing across the region as a whole, with Cambridge producing incredible AI and healthtech scaleups, Norfolk and Suffolk leading the way on agritech and cleantech, and Essex having a vibrant digital creative and AR/VR presence. 

“Local unicorns such as Darktrace and CMR Surgical are providing high value, highly skilled jobs in the area and I’m delighted to see Healx and BenevolentAI join our Future Fifty 8.0 programme for late-stage tech companies.”

Poppy Gustafsson, CEO for EMEA at Cambridge-based Darktrace, said: “It is fantastic that the UK stands as one of the top three countries investing in AI globally. 

“The lifeblood of brilliant technology companies is access to capital and great talent, and Britain has both of these ingredients. Darktrace is a fantastic example of Great British AI proving itself fundamental in solving one of the society’s greatest challenges.

“Thousands of organisations around the world are using this technology to fight back on their behalf to protect their critical data and systems from crippling cyber-attacks.”