A $3 Million Funding Breakthrough
Cambridge, UK – 30 November, 2023
Cambridge Future Tech (CFT), the uniquely tech-first venture builder, is excited to announce the initial close of its recent funding round, raising over $3 million, marking a significant development in its ongoing expansion.
Since Cambridge Future Tech’s launch in 2022 it has crafted a pioneering portfolio of nine DeepTech ventures spanning the breadth of the UK, such as Cambridge-based Mimicrete, a leader in self-healing concrete technology, Mignon who are set to form the next generation of ultra-efficient Artifical Intelligence and the transformative synthetic biology startup, GitLife Biotech spun out of Newcastle University.
The team has a proven track record in building companies and are joined by an exceptional network of over 100 seasoned founders, technical specialists, and business leaders.
Panel Talk from Cambridge Future Tech’s September 2023 Founder’s Development Day Event
Advancing society
CFT’s portfolio continues to grow at pace having created over 50 highly skilled jobs, raising over $3.7m in external funding, and being awarded over $2.5m in grant funding, with over $30m in aggregate valuation at pre-seed.
Cambridge Future Tech continues to expand its venture building activities, with an ambition to co-found over 40 tech-first companies in the next five years, plus further expansion of its ‘venture-building-as-a-service’ provision with a growing number of prominent corporate partners.
Cambridge Future Tech believe that DeepTech’s potential for disruption is unprecedented, and the breadth of problems it could address is vast, with technologies which will positively shape and evolve industries, and continue to advance society.
Owen Thompson (CFT’s CEO) Demoing Portfolio Company Neuro XR‘s Emotional Heat Mapping Technology
Michael Beer, Partner at Vest Coast Capital (US-based CFT investor), and CFO at FreeWire Technologies, said:
“The Cambridge Future Tech team continues to deliver on its well-articulated plan for growth and value creation. We’re highly encouraged by the milestones achieved within the current portfolio and see a robust pipeline of future opportunities identified through CFT’s dynamic and unique approach.”
Ribal Alkhatib, Deputy Operations GM at Bin-Shihon Group & Investor Director at CFT , said:
“By investing in CFT, the team has managed to provide Bin-Shihon with a sustainable and steady source of investment opportunities in DeepTech. Without CFT, access to these DeepTech investments would be very limited. It’s a privilege to be a part of such innovations and technologies, and we are optimistic for what the future of CFT and DeepTech will hold.”
Owen Thompson, Co-Founder and CEO at Cambridge Future Tech, said:
“Our tech-first venture builder model addresses the critical challenges often faced by technology founders. During the nascent stages of a venture, academic founders grapple with the dual tasks of advancing their technology while simultaneously fostering a commercially viable business. By co-founding DeepTech companies, our team assumes an operational role within those ventures, bolstered by our extensive network of advisors.
This additional funding allows us to expand our integrated venture building activities, while also building out new corporate partnerships, bringing the DeepTech community together around the unified goal of commercialising nascent technologies for global impact.”
Professor Alex Yakovlev, Head of µSystems Research Group at Newcastle University & Co-Founder at Mignon (a CFT portfolio venture), said:
“As an academic founder, collaborating with the co-founders from CFT has been an enriching experience. Their invaluable support has been instrumental in commercialising our ultra-energy-efficient and explainable AI technology.”
Jem Davies, Former General Manager for the Machine Learning Group at Arm, with Chair and NED roles at multiple DeepTech startups including within the CFT Portfolio, said:
“The journey to building a successful DeepTech startup is fraught with challenges. In my experience as a non-exec and advisor for CFT and its portfolio companies like Cam AI and Mignon, I’ve seen the effectiveness of the CFT model in supporting these high potential ventures on their path to success.”
The future
With a target to build over 40 innovative DeepTech companies over the next five years, Cambridge Future Tech’s focus is on tackling the world’s most pressing challenges head-on, with a concentrated effort in the areas of ClimateTech, DeepTech, and Artificial Intelligence. CFT catalyses transformative technology, it is not just building companies, it is sculpting tomorrow’s reality; shaping a world where innovation meets necessity, resulting in profound societal advancement.
Notes to Editors
About Cambridge Future Tech: Cambridge Future Tech (CFT) is a uniquely tech-first venture builder, harnessing ground-breaking academic and corporate research, transforming it into pioneering DeepTech ventures that shape industries and advance society. CFT works to commercialise scientific discoveries and technical and engineering innovations and focuses on Digital (AI, Data) and Physical sciences (Semiconductors, Materials, Quantum, Robotics).
For more information about Cambridge Future Tech and the DeepTech companies it supports, please visit camfuturetech.com
