Innovative Cambridge startups with potential to scale globally are being targeted by US technology giant Google as part of a UK initiative this summer.

Google is inviting entrepreneurial businesses from Cambridge and other UK tech hotspots to bid for places at its space for startups – Campus London – for an intense and potentially rewarding initiative in August.

Google mentors will also be coming to Cambridge later this month to cement its interest in the cluster; more details are promised in due course.

Google has already paid big money for two companies based on Cambridge IP both in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector – Photonic Arts and DeepMind Technologies. 
The latter features in the Cambridge Computer Laboratory’s hall of fame and was acquired by Google for $400 million in 2014 and since rebranded as Google DeepMind. Google legend Larry Page is said to have led the negotiations.

Amazon and Apple have also made more recent acquisitions in the Cambridge AI sector. Apple paid up to $100m for VocalIQ, a fledgling speech recognition company in the city.
Microsoft recently paid $250m for SwiftKey, an AI business started by two Cambridge University graduates. And Amazon snapped up voice recognition company Evi for a reported $26m.

It is estimated that US power players have already spent more than $1bn on Cambridge AI technology and the segment remains the hottest show in town.

For its Campus Exchange venture in London, Google is supporting 10 UK startups keen to go global and pledging to back them through the scale-up process.

The chosen startup founders will have access to bespoke support with insights from experienced mentors and investors and connections to a global community of successful entrepreneurs; providing a unique opportunity to learn and grow with the best.

‘Campus Exchange’ focuses on full immersion for founders – with fast tracked introductions to key players in the London tech community. Past graduates of the programme have gone on to Silicon Valley-based programs and secured major growth capital.

Applications are now open, with the residential programme set to start on Monday August 22. Ahead of applications closing, on July 29, Google mentors are on the road meeting startups across the country.

With sessions in Cambridge, Liverpool, Newcastle, London and Edinburgh startup founders who think big are encouraged to apply. They can register to attend 30 minute 1:1 sessions, covering topics ranging from ‘Analytics’ to ‘User Onboarding’, with specialists in Tech, Marketing, Sales and Data, on hand.

Francesca Dean, head of programmes at Campus London, said: “Amazing ideas can come from anywhere and there is incredible entrepreneurial talent across the UK.

“Pooling this talent with the knowledge and expertise of our international community of entrepreneurs, puts Campus London in a unique position to help propel the best startups to global scale.”

Google’s London community – which includes designers, developers, founders, and investors – is now 60,000 strong with members from 159 countries. Just last year, Google organised more than 1,493 mentorship hours between Googlers and entrepreneurs and members have raised £50.4m in funding, creating over 1,000 new jobs in 2015 alone.

Startups interested in taking part can apply for Campus Exchange at http://ift.tt/29OTiv2
 

Exports from Cambridgeshire UK companies exceeded £47 million in June 2016 – almost double the value of the same month last year.

The annual increase of over £23m was partly down to companies increasing their presence in the Chinese market.

Some £19m of the £47m total was destined for China, up £18.2m based on the same time last year due to four separate shipments each valued between £2.1m and £5.7m.

Figures show that in the last month Turkey’s market was worth £8.5m and Egypt £5.4m to the county’s exporters.

John Bridge, chief executive of Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “In spite of the nonsense currently emanating from the country’s politicians it’s clear that at least the business community is maintaining its focus on creating the wealth necessary to secure our country’s future success.

“This extraordinary increase in export activity is excellent news for the local economy and will, we hope, inspire others to continue to press into new markets and not demonstrate reluctance to exploit business opportunities overseas.

“It is essential that businesses stay positive and focused on creating the certainty in their minds that they can continue to perform. The one thing we can be certain of currently is that that attitude is fundamental to future wealth creation.”
 

Hi-tech, biotech and engineering transactions showed the versatility of the Cambridge UK business, science & technology cluster in a healthy transaction flow of more than $1.069 billion in June.

Despite caution over the EU Referendum, the June jamboree took the value of transactions to $106.123bn in the 39 months of Business Weekly’s Cambridge Deals Digest – a monthly average of just over $2.718bn.

Communications technology business Sepura backed an excellent set of full-year results by reporting that it had conditionally raised £65 million ($86.3m) through a placing of shares.

It will ease cashflow and help underpin bold expansion plans, notably in the United States. CEO Gordon Watling said: “The fundraising will significantly strengthen our balance sheet and provide the right capital structure to support our growth strategy.

“We see significant opportunities to build on recent success in the global transport sector such as New York City Transit, as well as grow our business in North America – the world’s largest PMR market. We also expect FY17 and beyond to benefit from our recent investment programmes. The board believes that the group is well positioned to exploit key growth markets.”

Engineering group Amec boasted the biggest deal of the month, winning a £75m ($99.6m) contract from the MoD related to the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet.

Property and construction transactions topped $107.9m while our old friend ‘undisclosed’ deals were easy enough to work out on industry averages, market caps and other factors and exceeded $397m.

Among them was the sale of sensor technology company Cambridge CMOS Sensors in a multi-million dollar deal to Austrian business ams to create a world leader in sensor solutions for consumer, automotive, industrial, and medical applications.

Another saw product design innovator Cambridge Consultants agree to acquire Synapse, a US West Coast business, to further increase its geographic presence for a growing global client base.

The acquisition, expected to be completed in Q3, will allow the combined business to create one of the world’s largest and most powerful product development hothouses with significant presence on both coasts of the US. It is part of Cambridge Consultants’ stated strategy to double its scale and enhance its geographic footprint in the US and Asia.

Cambridge inkjet printing business Xaar plc made a key acquisition in the US that could stack up to $18.5m. It has bought Engineered Printing Solutions in Vermont, a leading provider of product printing equipment in North America – the first acquisition in Xaar’s strategic vision to achieve £220m ($292m) of annual sales by 2020.

John Henry Group (JHG), a telecoms infrastructure services provider based in Cambridge, raised £23.3m ($31m) investment from Growth Capital Partners. Established in 1985, JGH has seen significant growth in recent years and today operates 10 sites across the UK, helping major telecom operators maintain and develop their broadband infrastructures.

Owlstone Medical in Cambridge closed a $7m fundraising to commercialise its disease breathalyser. The business was spun out of parent company, Owlstone Inc, by co-founder Billy Boyle to develop and commercialise the breath test for use in clinical diagnostics and precision medicine with applications in cancer, inflammatory and infectious disease.

The investment round was led by UK-based Medtekwiz Advisory and will be used to fund ongoing clinical trials of the breathalyser in lung and colon cancer screening.

Cambridge University spin-out Storm Therapeutics raised £12m ($16m) Series A cash to develop novel cancer therapeutics. The funds will be used to identify small molecules that target RNA-modifying enzymes as the basis for the development of new cancer therapies.

Babraham-based Imperial Innovations Group led the seed funding round for its portfolio company – formerly called Iceni Therapeutics – in May 2015 and has now committed a further £3m to the Series A alongside existing investors Cambridge Innovation Capital, Merck Ventures BV and Pfizer Venture Investments.

A US Federal authority supporting development of medical countermeasures for possible mass casualty incidents agreed to fund Avita Medical a further $7.96 million to support the regenerative medicine company in its plans for US market approval and product launch of its ReCell® technology.

Avita also announced it planned to another $8m fresh capital for its planned US launch and commercialisation strategy. Almost half the amount is already underwritten.

Cambridge wireless technology business Cyan agred to acquire Swedish smart metering specialist Connode Holding AB in a move that opens up growth opportunities with technology for the Internet of Things and smart cities. The $17m transaction value comprises a placing and subscription plus the equity consideration of the acquisition.
 

Cambridge UK inkjet printing technology business Xaar plc has made a key acquisition in the US that could stack up to $18.5 million.

It has bought Engineered Printing Solutions in Vermont, a leading provider of product printing equipment in North America – the first acquisition in Xaar’s strategic vision to achieve £220 million of annual sales by 2020.

EPS has built a successful business through supplying customised and bespoke printing solutions to a wide variety of market sectors including promotional, packaging, medical, automotive, apparel, appliances, sports equipment and toys. One of its focuses has been to develop flexible and cost effective digital inkjet solutions.

EPS employs 60 people. In 2015 it generated a five per cent operating profit margin on $14m of revenue. Initial consideration for the acquisition is $11m with deferred consideration of $7.5m based on revenue and profit performance over a three-year period.

Xaar CEO Doug Edwards said: “The product printing market is served by multiple print processes today and the fastest growing is inkjet. “Here, just as with other industry sectors, there is great potential to accelerate the adoption of inkjet. EPS has established a successful business and is well positioned to continue to grow.

“Xaar gains a strong customer base and footprint in North America, a region we have been targeting for growth. The integration capabilities EPS brings to Xaar will enable us to provide greater support to our existing and new OEM partners.”

Julian Joffe, who founded EPS in 1985 and who becomes Xaar’s new president of Engineered Printing Solutions, said: “Engineered Printing Solutions has a long track record of success through providing both analogue and digital inkjet solutions to its customers. Xaar values our brand, engineering capability and the innovative solutions we bring to the marketplace.

“Xaar brings deep knowledge of inkjet technology and access to wider channels. We are looking forward to working together to better serve our global and US customers and accelerate the growth of the business.”

In another significant transatlantic deal, Essex-based Synthomer plc – a FTSE 250 chemicals business formerly known as Yule Catto & Co – has completed the acquisition of American-owned HEXION Performance Adhesives & Coatings.

Hexion PAC’s business in China – representing approximately one per cent of the parent’s revenues – is subject to a deferred completion expected in Q3 2016.

The total consideration of $226 million (£157 million) has been funded from both existing cash resources and utilisation of additional credit facilities. The consideration was hedged at the time of the initial announcement on March 21 at an FX rate of £1:$1.44.

The acquisition significantly strengthens Synthomer’s position in the performance adhesives and coatings market, offering access to new product technologies, customers and markets. 
 

Entrepreneurial postdocs from Cambridge University have founded one of the most significant knowledge transfer organisations in the history of the UK’s science & technology cluster.

Cambridge Minds is a supercharged brains trust whose members are pledged to help new generations of entrepreneurs forge lives outside of academia.

And with echoes of the start of the original Cambridge Phenomenon, the organisation is prepared to offer that brainpower to existing companies looking to stay ahead of the curve through a novel crowdsourcing model.

Over time the initiative could trigger another world-leading Cambridge consultancy – evoking the spirit of Tim Eiloart who, in 1960, offered “to put the brains of Cambridge University at the disposal of the problems of British industry.”

That was the birth of Cambridge Consultants, now a global technology design innovator and credited as founder of the Phenomenon.

Fifty-six years on, Cambridge Minds arguably fills a void in knowledge transfer that could hardly be better timed with startups and established businesses in the cluster seeking differentiating factors at the bleeding edge of industry.

Cambridge Minds is an initiative of the Entrepreneurial Postdocs Of Cambridge Society (EPOC), a university-based group of postdoctoral researchers. It allows companies to not only leverage the expertise of existing postdocs but also to tap into the organisation’s 4,000-plus research crowdsource community worldwide.
President Neil Rzechorzek told Business Weekly: “We aim to support Cambridge postdocs looking to leave academia while helping external organisations to tap the expertise of these highly trained individuals.

“In its simplest form, Cambridge Minds is indeed a consultancy initiative, although our model is a little unusual. The overarching purpose is to provide fast turnaround solutions to organisations with specific technical challenges.

“Once a project is defined, we crowdsource solutions from our community.  Initially, we approach our dedicated list of registered postdocs, but if this does not yield results we can then reach out to the entire Cambridge cohort of more than 4,000 researchers. To our knowledge, no other consultancy organisation can do this!  
“Cambridge Minds is intended to be flexible. While the original purpose was to realise postdoc consultancy opportunities, some organisations have also expressed an interest in providing internships to postdocs and we are exploring ways to facilitate these.”

EPOC’s consultancy team lead, Dr Tom Simmons, and IT guru, Dr Tom Meany – who runs the Cambridge Minds website and database – are excited at the potential for the initiative.

Neil Rzechorzek adds: “In the current climate postdocs are keen to explore alternative career options and use their expertise outside an academic environment. It hasn’t taken long to develop our own more than 500-strong mailing list of entrepreneurially minded individuals, and these are our first port of call for projects.
“EPOC doesn’t presently charge a fee for the matchmaking – we do it because we want to make a positive impact, both for postdocs and for external organisations.

“In the future, this may well spin out into something as a fee for service simply to cover time commitment costs (we’re all doing this in our spare time) but for now, we’re keen to build up a large portfolio of completed projects to demonstrate utility.”

In this ‘have brains, will travel’ scenario client location is not an issue. Neil says: “The university is experienced in arranging consultancy contracts with clients around the world,and the Cambridge Minds platform utilises this.

“Also, there is no restriction on subject matter. While the original plan was to encourage technical queries (e.g. engineering, computing, physical and life sciences), we’re only too well aware that difficult challenges often require completely novel approaches.

“Our own mailing list covers most disciplines but we can further approach every postdoc in Cambridge if something unusual comes up. The beauty of crowdsourcing is that the best solution may not always come from the most obvious source – we’re particularly interested to see how Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences researchers can contribute to some of the projects.”

To find out more about the initiative, email info [at] epoc-soc.org or visit http://ift.tt/297tydz