Unpacking 2025 and looking ahead to what's next, with Innovate Cambridge

This week’s episode features a rapid-fire yet insightful interview with Kathryn Chapman and Michael Anstey from Innovate Cambridge.

“It’s been a really good year for Cambridge. There’s a huge amount of momentum, inclusive innovation, and people really getting behind the agenda.”

Here are the key takeaways

A more united Cambridge tech cluster

• Innovate Cambridge has helped align the ecosystem around a clear, collective vision
• One voice into government is paying off, with £400m secured for ecosystem infrastructure
• Strong buy-in across academia, founders, VCs and industry
• AI is accelerating fast, while early-stage life sciences face tougher conditions, but the depth of local support continues to be a differentiator

Scaling ambition through partnership and inclusion

• Cambridge’s strength is not just density, but collaboration beyond the city
• Growing partnerships with Manchester and Oxford to unlock talent and investment
• A strong focus on inclusive innovation, from schools through to scaleups
• A push to raise ambition: less talk of unicorns, more focus on building decacorns

What’s top of the agenda for the year ahead

• Activating the Cambridge–Manchester partnership in a meaningful way
• Making innovation careers accessible to local talent through work with schools and councils
• Attracting more global R&D leaders to the region
• Backing founders to build, scale and exit globally

Quick facts from the conversation

• Cambridge now ranks 37th globally for tech cities (Savills)
• £60m raised for quantum networking, a new sector record
• Inclusive innovation and growth capital remain front and centre
• A call to tell the Cambridge story better on the world stage, spotlighting companies like TRIM and Cusp AI
• “We need more company creation, more exits, more global syndicates.”

Produced by Cambridge TV

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.