Innovate Cambridge Summit assesses global, national and local challenges

The centrepiece of the Innovate Cambridge Summit at the Guildhall may have been the announcement of the £400million of initial government funding to accelerate development in the region – but more than buildings, more than infrastructure, Cambridge needs to make explicit what sort of future it is asking the political, investment, scientific, business and indigenous communities to set sail for.

With a global audience listening in, Innovate Cambridge executive director Kathryn Chapman introduced the Guildhall innovation summit showcase as a unique opportunity to join more than 500 founders, researchers, investors, civic leaders and partners to shape our future.

The first panel, hosted by Tabitha Goldstaub, non-executive director at Innovate Cambridge, was titled ‘How AI is changing innovation and what can be done to maximise the opportunity’. The five speakers were:

- Prof Zoubin Ghahramani, VP of research, Google Deep Mind

- Victor Mulas, chief innovation officer, Cambridge Innovation Centre

- Léa Wenger, CEO and co-founder, Cyclana Bio

- Ian Lane, partner, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and

- Sir Andy Hopper, chairman, CommonAI.

Tabitha described the future of Cambridge as an environment of “citizens and deep tech” before asking the panellists to introduce themselves. Dr Wenger was applauded when she described the progress of Cyclana Bio, whose whole tissue-based methodology for women’s health as showcased in the Cambridge Independent earlier this month.

The pre-seed £5m funding round for a start-up emerging from stealth is just the sort of success story that suggests Cambridge is in rude health when it comes to turning research into commercial success, and a determination to address women’s health issues in particular has proved hugely welcome.

Ian Lane quoted the Prime Minister’s goal of a nation of “AI makers not AI takers”. Victor Mulas described Cambridge as “an incredible creative environment”, adding: “We need to have incredible confidence that the UK is incredibly powerful in terms of its talent pool.

“We have a very very vibrant environment here in terms of being the makers of the UK. It’s important to see the fact that there is so much international investment coming here from the US and other countries. We should see that as a net positive.”

While the contributing speakers at Innovate Cambridge were all there to encourage and support the city’s phenomenal growth, they sometimes differed on how best to achieve a mutually desired outcome. While some want to position the city as a hub for life sciences and tech R&D, others are keener to nurture the talented entrepreneurs emerging from the research and academic fields.

Sir Nigel Wilson, chair of Cambridge Innovation Capital, also chair of the Canary Wharf Group, didn’t seem so sure that overseas investors should get first bite of the cherry. In session with the provost of King’s College, Gillian Tett, a former US managing editor of the FT, Sir Nigel urged inward investment by asset owners “otherwise investment will come from foreign capital”.

The provost pointed out that “Cambridge has a lot of seed, Series A and B capital but if you want to scale up you have to go elsewhere”.

It’s a fundamental point. Should – can – Cambridge recalibrate away from selling equity early to overseas asset holders? Can obstacles in the path of home-growing companies from start-ups to unicorns be removed? Bear in mind that the £400m announcement contains no indication as to where the money will go, except for £15m allocated to the University of Cambridge Innovation Hub to create lab space for science start-ups. But with Cambridge Enterprise and Cambridge Innovation Capital among summit sponsors, a possible roadmap opens up.

Sir Nigel suggested the investment landscape has to change. And, with £400m on the table, it has: on this occasion, the state has stepped in, but if you consider that the recent revamp of Melbourn Science Park – a substantial expansion by Bruntwood SciTech involving the creation of 390,000 sq ft of new and redeveloped workspace for life science and tech businesses – cost £250m, the scale of the challenge becomes apparent.

“The Chancellor has to step up and invest hundreds of millions if not billions into this sector,” Sir Nigel said, “but government borrowing is so high, and to get it down you need growth and that needs massive investment.

“We need to continue the direction of travel but speed it up three or four times. It needs to go faster.”

Speaking of the upcoming Budget, he said to applause: “It needs to be right this time because it was such a cock-up last time.”

Andy Hopper urged the audience to think clearly – and globally.

“On AI,” he said, “how do you make yourself a player in a situation where the US is dominant? China has an approach. What do we do? What we have here [with this government initiative] is a common AI approach – a coalition of companies which will make different AIs so as to share a common platform.”

Hermann Hauser’s assessment came in a section titled ‘Innovation Without Borders’, led by Kathryn Chapman with Roxanne Varza, director, Station F in Paris – the biggest start-up campus in the world. They discussed how much cross-fertilisation - financial, scientific and ideological - can take place with our European neighbours.

“The big challenge is how we succeed in the context of both the US and China who have so much talent and firepower,” said the Austrian entrepreneur, who more than any other individual midwifed the birth of Cambridge as a global technology powerhouse. “What we need is scale-up capital.”

Cambridge’s next trillion-dollar company “will probably be in life sciences, in synthetic biology”, he noted.

The £400m funding was heralded as a positive signal from a government keen to turbo-charge growth, and looking to Cambridge for insights on how to deliver that.

Prof Sir John Aston, pro vice-chancellor for research at the University of Cambridge, was on a 2pm panel titled ‘Innovate Cambridge progress and plans’.

“It’s a fantastic announcement today,” Sir John said. “This is a fantastic opportunity that will deliver for national growth and on to the global stage.”

Jim Glasheen, chief executive of Cambridge Enterprise and also on the panel, pointed out that Cambridge has an incredible record of contribution.

“There are 126 Nobel Prize winners associated with the University of Cambridge,” he said. “There’s something in the water. “And, in terms of the ecosystem, whatever metric you use, we’re elite. It’s also a launchpad and a welcome mat. How can we better tap into local resources?

“I’m incredibly excited about today’s announcement.”

Cambridge Growth Company chair Peter Freeman, who may have a central role to play in the development of Cambridge in this crucial period in the city’s history, was unruffled.

“If I had a sole KPI that everybody should say, it is that Cambridge is the most beautiful city in Europe,” he remarked.