Meet the sponsors of the 2021-22 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards
The 2021-22 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards will be a celebration of talent and achievements.
We are proud to be supported in these awards by a fantastic set of sponsors, representing a diverse array of fields.
The fifth Science and Technology Awards will once again helps us to spread the stories of innovation across the Cambridge region in sectors from biotech to cleantech, AI to research. To enter, complete the form on this website.
Here, we introduce our sponsors and thank them for their support.
Allia Future Business Centre Cambridge
Sponsoring The Tech for Good Award
Allia Future Business Centre Cambridge offers flexible workspace, business support and a vibrant community for businesses who are creating social and environmental change. It is home to a range of small businesses that develop and create tech-for-good innovations in areas such as Cleantech, Agritech, and Healthtech – as well as education, wellbeing and community regeneration. Our Tech for Good award will recognise the very best businesses that work hard to develop innovative solutions using technology with purpose, to address local and global challenges and create positive impact.
Appleyard Lees
Sponsoring AI Company of the Year
Appleyard Lees is a leading intellectual property law firm with over fifty patent and trademark attorneys and litigators.
Who we are and what we do – but also, how we do it – makes us distinctive.
We help our clients protect and monetise their intellectual property, and manage post-grant challenges, should they arise.
We offer broad sector and industry knowledge, plus the ability to adapt our services to specific client requirements, in an agile way.
With offices in UK innovation hotspots, we are positioned to give clients expert strategic IP advice in the UK and worldwide.
AstraZeneca
Sponsoring Researcher of the Year
This year more than ever has highlighted the importance of scientific innovation and its impact in society and healthcare. The Researcher of the Year category in the 2021-22 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards recognises accomplishment in scientific endeavours, particularly where the researcher has overcome hurdles to achieve outstanding scientific results. The breadth of this category, which covers all areas of research and technological advancement in both commercial and academic settings, demonstrates the increasing porousness and transferability of skills in Cambridge’s scientific cluster, a cluster that AstraZeneca is very proud to be part of.
Bidwells
Sponsoring CEO of the Year
Bidwells has been the number one property adviser to the science and technology sector in the UK for five decades. Technology hasn’t stood still and neither have we. Today we represent 32 science and innovation districts across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, advising on more than 20 million square feet of R&D labs, manufacturing space and data centres.
We work with global investors, science park owners, developers, tech businesses and the world’s largest university spin-out investment fund.
In a region that’s home to the most significant life sciences and space clusters in Europe, we bring together investors and developers to support the growth of the Arc’s knowledge economy, attracting talent and pioneering technologies that are changing the world.
BioStrata
Sponsoring Life Science Company of the Year
As a specialist life science marketing communications agency, BioStrata helps drive scientific progress by connecting people and technology, working with customers worldwide to assist in the adoption of cutting-edge products and services that drive scientific discovery and help improve the world for everyone.
With a growing team of over 25 life science experts spread across the company's Cambridge (UK), London (UK) and Boston (US) offices, BioStrata delivers a range of integrated marketing services to help companies increase brand awareness, generate sales leads and convert leads into customers. Clients include companies working in sectors such as research tools, healthcare, contract services, diagnostics, lab automation, biotechnology, drug discovery and more.
Chesterford Research Park
Sponsoring Biotech Company of the Year
Chesterford Research Park offers modern, dynamic and flexible laboratory and office space set within 250 acres of parkland near Cambridge.
Its prestigious, bespoke HQ buildings and fully fitted advanced laboratory space and office facilities are perfectly appointed for both established and early stage biotechnology, pharmaceutical and technology R&D companies.
Chesterford’s innovative occupiers thrive in the state-of-the-art buildings and enjoy contemporary, central facilities - scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs working side by side on the development of life-changing drugs, devices and technology, all within this sustainable environment. To discover more, please visit www.chesterfordresearchpark.com.
CityFibre
Sponsoring STEM Initiative of the Year
CityFibre is the UK’s largest independent Full Fibre platform. Founded in 2011, we are building in more than 60 towns and cities, including Cambridge. Our networks are solely Full Fibre, meaning our Internet Service Providers can offer their customers the fastest available internet speeds in the UK. To put it simply, we own the tracks – but not the trains.
We’ve made a £20million investment in Cambridge, and we’re committed to making it one of the best-connected places in Europe.
And in December 2019, the first homes received access to our Full Fibre broadband thanks to CityFibre’s partnership with Vodafone. As of 2021, TalkTalk and local provider Air Broadband have joined the network to offer their services to residents and we look forward to welcoming more ISP partners to Cambridge’s residents in due course.
Nationally, we aim to connect 20 per cent of UK households to our Full Fibre network by 2025.
To find out more, visit cityfibre.com/cb.
COEL
Sponsoring Employer of the Year
COEL specialises in office and laboratory refurbishment including fit out for both landlords and tenants. The company offers a full turn key service enabled by their in-house design and project management expertise, as well as by their 2 subsidiary companies: CPMS, a Mechanical Services provider incorporating property maintenance, and CMS, which provides office furniture, commercial relocation and storage.
Founded 35 years ago, COEL has enjoyed working with many companies in the science and technology sector. Their priority remains to create enhanced workspaces, which are adapted to meet each client’s bespoke requirements. Designing and fitting out exceptional working environments, which provide a platform for employees and their organisations to develop and thrive.
cofinitive
Sponsoring The One to Watch
As a Cambridge-based PR and marketing communications business, cofinitive are at the leading edge of the entrepreneurship and start-up scene on a local, national and international basis.
Faye Holland, founder of cofinitive, said: “In 2018 we created The One to Watch category in the Science and Technology Awards, to support the Cambridge ecosystem, and as a key part of our own #21toWatch campaign. This award seeks to identify the next raft of companies that are setting the standards in innovation and entrepreneurship in Cambridge. We’re excited to be leading this award again in 2021-22 and can’t wait to see the shortlist.”
The Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School
Sponsoring The Enterprise Skills Award
The Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School has a mission to support the University of Cambridge’s entrepreneurial talent development and commercialisation of new ideas; develop and share thought-leadership for the University as a global knowledge locus for innovation and entrepreneurship and to enhance the development of leadership and management capacity within the Cambridge ecosystem and beyond. The Centre works closely with staff, students, alumni, academic, industry and government partners to design, develop and deliver a range of initiatives that drive economic and social impact through education, research and practice.
Faculty of Science and Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University
Sponsoring Technology Company of the Year
The Faculty of Science and Engineering offers taught and research degrees across the diverse disciplines of science and technology, from animal behaviour to sport and exercise therapy, optometry to psychology, computing and artificial intelligence to biomedical science and from forensic science to mechanical engineering.
We are committed to increasing the numbers of women and under-represented groups in STEM careers, and work closely with industry to ensure that our inclusive and innovative programmes provide students with the skills that employers need. Our world-leading research informs our transformative teaching, and provides opportunities to add value to businesses and the wider community.
Illumina
Sponsoring the Award for Innovation
At Illumina, innovation is at the heart of everything we do, discoveries that were unimaginable just a few years ago are now becoming routine.
As the global leader in DNA sequencing, with the mission of improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome, we work tirelessly to create the leading-edge technology that enables clinicians and researchers not only to understand the genome, but to fully tap into its power.
We are proud to be the 2021-22 sponsors of The Award for Innovation and look forward to seeing how this year’s nominees are pushing the boundaries of science.
JDJ Creative
Sponsoring the In Search of Wonder Lifetime Achievement Award
Founded in 2011, JDJ Creative is a brand design and digital agency that enables our clients to communicate better through integrated creative and content strategies.
In Search of Wonder has always been our company ethos. We are inspired by the ground-breaking developments made by our clients in Cambridge and across the globe.
Energised by the world-changing ideas we see each day, we are always curious to learn more. It is why we immerse ourselves in our clients’ projects, taking the time to understand the content we produce on their behalf.
We are delighted to be sponsoring the Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating others who have dedicated themselves to a pursuit of wonder.
Kao Data
Sponsoring Start-up of the Year
Specialist data centre Kao Data is sponsoring the Start-up of the Year Award at the Science and Technology Awards for a second year running.
Located within the heart of the UK Innovation Corridor, the award-winning, hyperscale-inspired campus houses amongst its clients the UK’s most powerful supercomputer, NVIDIA Cambridge-1 – an integral part of NVIDIA’s Cambridge-based AI Centre of Excellence, a hub for innovation and collaboration between AI start-ups across the UK.
Spencer Lamb, vice president at Kao Data, says: “Cambridge has a phenomenal reputation for ground-breaking innovation thanks to a long-established ecosystem of disruptive startups. Kao Data has been engineered to underpin and support innovation like this, and so we are delighted to be sponsoring this award once again, recognising the significant contributions these start-ups are making.”
Sagentia Innovation
Sponsoring Medtech Company of the Year
Sagentia Innovation is a global science, product and technology development company. Our mission is to help companies maximise the value of their investments in R&D.
We partner with clients in the medical, consumer and industrial sectors to help them understand the technology and market landscape, decide their future strategy, solve the complex science and technology challenges and deliver commercially successful products.
Woodfines
Sponsoring Cleantech Company of the Year
Woodfines Solicitors is pleased to again be sponsoring the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards, having done so since their inception.
The firm, who provide a full range of legal services across Cambridge, Bedford and Milton Keynes, are known for providing specialist legal support to a wide range of businesses, from the day an idea is formulated, through to fruition and beyond. Woodfines’ commercial team, advising on business transactions, property requirements, employment law and dispute resolution, and based in Cambridge, are associate founder members of Cambridge Cleantech and are passionate about supporting innovative companies from the cleantech sector.
Read more
Enter the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards 2021-22
Sign up for our weekly newsletter and stay up to date with the awards
Read about the winners of the 2020-21 awards
