Cambridge Consultants restarts corp venture unit

Cambridge Consultants, the technology design and development company that specialises in the areas of wireless, drug delivery, diagnostics, radar and electronics, is restarting its spinout business with the creation of a new venture fund that is expected to produce one spinout every two years on average. The venture fund will only invest in Cambridge Consultants’ intellectual property, although investors in the fund will be drawn from outside the company also, and the first spinout is expected to come on line next year.

Over the past 25 years Cambridge Consultants has produced more than 20 new spinout ventures, some of which went on to achieve successful floats on the London Stock Exchange, such as Domino, Xaar, Prelude Trust, Cambridge Silicon Radio and Inca.

Ray Edison, ventures director at Cambridge Consultants, said: “We learnt a great deal about creating new ventures in the late 1990s and early part of this decade, including the effects that creating spinouts have on a business of our size. Venturing can be a very disruptive process, however, we believe we can bring significant benefit to our clients, our staff and our business?. Creating spinout companies is also a significant factor in helping us to attract top-flight engineers who want the benefits of a structured career path, coupled with the opportunity to be truly entrepreneurial.”