Is Cambridge one of the UK’s foremost business ecosystems?
In each edition of Business Leader Magazine, we profile one of the UK’s leading business destinations – in our last edition we focused on Cambridge. Through its role as a mecca for the world’s educational elite, its relentless drive to innovate new technology, and its proximity to the capital, have all made it an attractive proposition for businesses and entrepreneurs.
CIC piles on the assets in boom year for investments
Cambridge Innovation Capital expanded its portfolio to 30 companies and increased net asset value by 46 per cent to £301.7 million in the year to March 31.
Cambridge AI firm says drug identified in April could have saved 5,000 lives
AI VIVO, the Cambridge company combining systems pharmacology and AI to accelerate drug discovery, reveals that its platform correctly identified dexamethasone as having high potential for the treatment of COVID-19 as early as April.
Serendipity may be a thing of the past, says Cleevely
Fewer opportunities for serendipity – chance encounters leading to unexpected ideas and relationships – may be one tragic outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic, says Dr David Cleevely, serial entrepreneur, co-founder of Cambridge Network and a leading business figure in the region for many years.
Cambridge Angels' top tips for remote working
It’s no secret that Coronavirus has caused a seismic shift in the way that we work. Remote working has been part of our lives for a number of months now and it seems it will be a feature that will continue to influence the way we do business, even after a return to an office environment.
It’s no secret that Coronavirus has caused a seismic shift in the way that we work. Remote working has been part of our lives for a number of months now and it seems it will be a feature that will continue to influence the way we do business, even after a return to an office environment.
Cambridge Angels has since the start of lockdown, hosted regular online sessions with both its members and our portfolio. One of the key topics for us, as for most people, has been the non-trivial matter of making remote working work. We’ve collated a list of the top tips for remote working that we’ve heard from our portfolio and our members.
As we head into the summer season, and as remote working fatigue may be starting to set in, we hope that you’ll find these reminder tips handy.
Look after your and your team’s mental health
Exercise regularly, take regular breaks, create a routine, manage your information intake, set a daily ‘no meetings’ period in your team’s diaries
Set the tone
Create an informal chat or social sessions to keep spirits high. Allow for feedback for employees to submit improvement suggestions for how we communicate and work together at this time. Make remote working work for you. Change where you sit, put on music, whatever helps you work. And enjoy the perks – no commute or uncomfortable shoes, and all your home comforts!
Keep in touch
Have a ‘war room’ call with your team at the start of each day and keep all communication explicit and transparent. Keep up one-to-one contact. Be prepared for each meeting to communicate effectively
Conference call tips
Always switch on the camera. Seeing each other’s faces really helps. Use facilitation technologies to help (e.g. Mentimeter and Kaptivo)
Remote customer contact
Behave as if every dollar of revenue is the last you’re going to see from that customer and focus on upselling. Engage with your customers on a human level – their businesses are going through the same crisis. Consider the risk associated with every revenue assumption and put contingency plans in place for each.
AI VIVO seeks collaboration partners to progress top-ranked COVID-19 therapeutic candidates
AI VIVO, the Cambridge based company combining systems pharmacology and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate drug discovery, has announced that it is seeking pharma and biotech collaboration partners to progress therapeutic candidates that have been identified by the Company as “top-ranked” for COVID-19. The announcement follows the finding that 41 of the candidate drugs from AI VIVO’s top-ranked list for COVID-19 are now in clinical trials for COVID-19 by multiple groups globally.
Future Fund ‘could be updated in weeks’, say Cambridge insiders
The government’s latest scheme to support UK businesses, the Future Fund, is open to applications from May 1 – but Cambridge-based sources believe the system will be “tweaked” within the next fortnight.
Cambridge AI top-ranks likeliest drugs to effectively fight coronavirus
A revolutionary systems pharmacology platform powered by artificial intelligence has identified the top candidate drugs highly likely to be effective in treating COVID-19 disease.
How secure is Zoom?
In recent weeks we’ve all become home remote workers. And that means we’re relying on video conferencing software like Skype and Zoom. And this has led to concerns about the security of the information being exchanged. Adam Murphy was joined by tech commentator and angel investor Peter Cowley…
Simon Thorpe talks about his new role as Chair of Cambridge Angels and emphasises the UK growth opportunities in ‘digital manufacturing’
As we reach the end of another financial year, it’s the perfect time to look forward at the opportunities that the year ahead could bring for angel investors. With plenty of buzz around artificial intelligence and a continued drive to increase the number of women angel investors, we spoke to Simon Thorpe, Managing Partner at Delta2020 and Chair at Cambridge Angels to find out his thoughts.
SaaS veteran joins board of Essentia Analytics
Essentia Analytics (Essentia), a provider of behavioural data analytics and consulting for professional investors, has added Martin Fincham to its Board of Directors effective immediately.
Policing social media: is it possible?
The British government will soon grant its communications watchdog Ofcom sweeping new powers to police social media. The announcement is linked to the death of teenager Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017, and whose Instagram feed was later found to contain graphic suicide-related content. Ofcom will now target violence, cyber-bullying, and child-abuse - but how effective will they actually be? Our tech correspondent Peter Cowley joined Chris Smith and Phil Sansom...
Second Invested Investor book looks at founders’ challenges
The second book from Cambridge publisher The Invested Investor was launched at WeWork on Station Road last week.
CIC a unicorn in its own right after wooing £1bn investment to Cambridge
Funding powerhouse Cambridge Innovation Capital has now attracted £1 billion of investment into Cambridge companies and managing partner Andrew Williamson has hired more Silicon Valley talent to ensure the technology cluster maintains its upward trajectory on the global stage.
LINX appoint Pieter Knook as New Chair for its Board
The London Internet Exchange (LINX) have recruited Pieter Knook as non-executive Chairperson for its Board of Directors.
UKBAA Angel of the Year Sunil Shah highlights the emerging opportunities in the biotech space and shares his experiences of working in it
Earlier this year, The Association of The British Pharmaceutical Industry (APBI) conducted research that found that life sciences was one of the highly innovative which could be responsible for contributing to a new wave of growth worth an extra £14 billion a year to the UK economy by 2025. The research found that life sciences could account for £8.5 billion of that growth and potentially create 31,400 more jobs.
Sunil Shah, CEO, o2h Discovery Wins Special Recognition Award by OBN UK Ltd
We are absolutely delighted to announce that Sunil Shah, CEO, o2h Discovery, has won the Special Recognition Award at the industry leading OBN Awards 2019 event organised by OBN (UK) Ltd, the membership organisation that supports the life sciences industry.
Chair of Raspberry Pi takes helm at Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub
David Cleevely CBE FREng has been appointed as Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Committee, which oversees the highly successful Enterprise Hub. David will replace Ian Shott CBE FREng, the founding chair of the Enterprise Committee.
New Fellows 2019
The Academy is delighted to welcome its new Fellows for 2019: leading engineers from the UK and around the world who have been elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering in recognition of their outstanding and continuing contributions to the profession.
How Cheyney Design uses X-rays to keep our food free of foreign bodies
How do supermarkets ensure they keep unwanted bones out of fish or chicken?
And how do they spot if food is contaminated by a foreign body?