Winter Update From CFT

Written By Bhumit Masrani

2024 was a year of growth. The company rebranded (new logo!) and worked to build foundations to scale Cambridge Future Tech into the next decade. We’ve expanded our access to dealflow, creating an international network of leading universities and corporate research groups. Our ventures are successfully moving into the right markets, attracting big-name VCs and building global traction - particularly in the USA.

We’re reimagining venture building as a sustainable, impactful model, backed by partnerships with industry giants like Nokia Bell Labs, Anglo American and Cemex.

Over the past four years we have raised over $24m in external funding, created over 80 skilled jobs and secured over $5m+ in grant funding for our ventures.

With this ambitious team and bold vision, we’re on track to hit some major milestones in 2025.

We ended the year celebrating together at our Christmas party at King’s College, Cambridge, reflecting on our shared successes and looking ahead to 2025.

Cheers!

WELCOMING …

Two hugely exciting ventures to the portfolio:

OMNIBUDS

A spinout from Nokia Bell Labs, OmniBuds is an ear-worn computing platform designed to continuously monitor vital signs while providing augmented hearing capabilities.

REMEPHY

Spun out of Imperial College London, RemePhy offers a sustainable phytoremediation solution, enabling polluted land to be repurposed for agriculture, housing, and re-wilding.

  • Pitched at Extreme Tech Challenge at CES and launched Automata News on AI architectures. Subscribe to it here!

  • Piloting chatbot demos in UK schools with potential expansion through a leading student well-being platform.

  • Secured contracts to integrate AI services across defence and aviation, expanding commercial partnerships.

  • Appointed Beatrix Ellis as CEO, secured an Innovate UK grant for market exploration, and opened its seed funding round.

  • A substantial pre-seed round sees them relocate to LA, while securing NASA and Rocket Lab engagement, and winning a $100k Zenzic contract. Soon to be SAIF Autonomy (more on this soon!)

  • Expanded Emotiv partnership for global software rollout, advancing emotional AI models and progressing their current seed round raise.

  • Won the Robotics and Automation Innovation in Agriculture Award, built Daphne prototype for testing, and doubled LOIs in the asparagus market.

  • Advanced railway projects, secured new investments, and expanded global engagement through key industry events.

  • Gained good early commercial traction and now preparing for a pre-seed round and new CEO hire.

ON THE HORIZON

  • A groundbreaking steel decarbonisation technology capable of retrofit to traditional steel manufacturing plants.

  • An integrated battery analytics platform using digital twins to unlock value and deliver clear, actionable insights.

CURRENTLY EXPLORING

  • Low-energy process to produce porous silicon battery anode material.​

  • Cooling system for data centres, combining advanced efficiency with innovative evaporative cooling technology.​

  • Temporal computing system to optimise the trade-off between computation time and energy consumption.​

  • Unique optical microscopy technique for unprecedented accuracy and sensitivity in metrology.​

ANNOUNCING: JAMES

Back in November I was delighted to announce that James Hayward has been appointed COO. This appointment is recognition of James’s outstanding leadership and expertise as a venture builder.

Over the past years as Research Director at CFT, James has developed the best tech scouting mechanism in the UK, leading the research team with energy, insight and commitment. His vision perfectly aligns with CFT’s mission, and he’s the perfect person to take on the mantle…

CFT Christmas family pizza night

INSIDE CFT

This quarter, the CFT team has been busy:

  • Brazil: Steve and James jetted to Brazil to meet the country’s biggest businesses and help solve their innovation challenges.

  • CERN: James, Maxim and Steve attended the CERN Innovation Partnerships Venture Connect Summit to connect with key players in the CVC ecosystem.

  • Slush Helsinki: Katie and I met with LPs under the dizzying lights and abominable weather of Slush 2024.

  • TechCrunch San Francisco: Katie networked with US-based VCs, refining the CFT VC fund thesis and supported Literal Labs at Extreme Tech Challenge.

  • Cambridge Entrepreneurship Panel: A real honour to be invited to Wolfson College as an alumni to share insights on resilience and entrepreneurship.

  • Ickworth House Retreat: The management team retreated together to refocus, build and strengthen our vision for the year ahead.

COMING UP...

James has already hit the ground running. He’s recruiting the brightest minds to fill various roles across our growing CFT portfolio, including CEOs and key advisory positions. To register interest in roles, click here.

SAVE THE DATE!

20.03.25 - Investor Pitch Event and Drinks Reception, London.

A selection of CFT ventures pitch to investors. To express your interest in attending, email info@camfuturetech.com

25.06.25 - Founders Development Day and Annual Summer BBQ, Cambridge.

Our biggest event of the year. Mark your diaries now!

Thanks for being part of the journey,
Owen Thompson | CEO

Bhumit Masrani
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Autumn Update From CFT