Good growth: Innovate Cambridge Summit 2026

New analysis from Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), published ahead of the Summit, showed the average equity raised per deal across both life sciences and deep tech has increased five-fold in the last decade, with Cambridge-based early-stage companies having raised £9.1 billion in that period.

Taking leadership in innovation

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge reflected on what makes Cambridge such a thriving innovation economy and the importance of taking a proactive and global leadership role in driving innovation that works for everyone: “There are three ways in which Cambridge takes leadership: through research excellence, by acting as one ecosystem and through our partnerships with other places and organisations.” 

These themes were echoed by speakers throughout the day, including Mayor Paul Bristow, Peter Freeman (Chair of the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation) and Roland Sinker (Chair of the Inclusive Innovation and Growth Review, University of Cambridge) with a recurring focus on breakthrough research, ambitious partnerships and a shared sense of purpose across the ecosystem.

Strengthening the life sciences ecosystem

Following GSK’s recent announcement that it will be moving its R&D headquarters to Cambridge in 2029, Chief Scientific Officer, Tony Wood spoke about the increasing need for collaboration in the life sciences and that by moving to Cambridge GSK will be able to create more opportunities to achieve breakthroughs in drug discovery and patient care.

Global ambitions for quantum computing 

John Aston, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Cambridge led a discussion considering the UK’s global leadership role in spearheading the development and application of quantum computing. The University’s partnership with IonQ, which next year will bring the UK’s first commercial scale quantum computer to Cambridge, combined with the University’s research strengths in both quantum and its potential applications, underpinned by the ecosystem’s strength in supporting commercialisation, means that Cambridge is uniquely placed to play a national – and global - leadership role. 

City partnerships: Manchester and Cambridge

Faye Holland (Director, Cambridge x Manchester Partnership) described the increasing success of the partnership between Cambridge and Manchester in combining the regions’ complementary strengths to increase the UK’s global competitiveness. The pioneering model for this cross-city approach is now being championed by government and adopted by other city partnerships across the UK.

Keeping jobs and know-how in the UK

How to create the right conditions for start-ups to grow, scale and stay in the UK was explored, and the creation of a new task force announced by Pascal Levensohn (Chair of Cambridge Innovation Hub Global Advisory Board) to take forward a new approach (outlined in a white paper published ahead of the Summit) to keeping a company’s footprint in the UK even if it is acquired internationally.  

The Summit also heard from some of Cambridge’s most successful start-ups including Nyobolt and T-Therapeutics (both of which spun out of the University with support from Cambridge Enterprise) as well as Pragmatic Semiconductors, Cambridge Aerospace and CuspAI.

Widening opportunities 

Ensuring that innovation-led growth benefits everyone who lives and works in Cambridge and the wider region was a central and recurring theme. Included, a new initiative to create more opportunities for young people in Greater Cambridge was announced at the Summit, with organisations present asked to contribute opportunities such as workplace visits, work experience and mentoring.  

Accelerating the energy transition

In a parallel session, leaders from across the Cambridge cleantech ecosystem discussed accelerating the UK's clean energy transition. Hosted by DESNZ, Innovate Cambridge and Cambridge Zero, and chaired by Professor Emily Shuckburgh, Chief Scientific Adviser at DESNZ, the session brought together experts from industry, investment, academia and government. Discussions explored the opportunities and barriers to scaling cleantech innovation and commercialisation, alongside the role that innovation clusters such as Cambridge can play in addressing national clean energy challenges.