evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Cambridge Enterprise — University of Cambridge's Technology Transfer & Spinout Office

United Kingdom · Cambridge · See the United Kingdom profile · See the Cambridge profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 54% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge's tech-transfer arm since 2006, disclosed 1,129 inventions, signed 874 licences and formed 20 companies in 2024-25, while the university spun out 26 new companies in 2024 — the biggest single-year rise of the UK's top three.

1129
Invention disclosures (FY to Jul 2025)
874
Licences signed (FY to Jul 2025)
20
New companies formed (FY to Jul 2025)
£94,200,000
Investment portfolio value
26
New companies spun out (2024, independently reported) (2024)
Cambridge Enterprise — University of Cambridge's Technology Transfer & Spinout Office

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
University of Cambridge — Cambridge Enterprise Ltd
Period
2006-present
Keywords
University technology transfer, spinout investment, IP licensing

Context

Cambridge Enterprise Limited, formed 1 December 2006 as a wholly owned University of Cambridge subsidiary, handles technology development and licensing, company creation, spinout investment and academic-consultancy support.

Results

In FY to 31 July 2025, Cambridge Enterprise recorded 1,129 invention disclosures, 372 patent filings, 874 licences signed, 20 new companies formed, £4.3M invested across 32 spinout ventures plus £3.2M in patents/proof-of-concept funding, and support for 2,771 researchers. Its investment portfolio held 196 companies worth £94.2M, having raised £402M in external capital; across Enterprise Funds I-IX it invested ~£27M into 60 spinouts that raised over £550M in syndicated capital and are now valued above £1 billion. Independently, the University of Cambridge spun out 26 new companies in 2024 alone — the largest year-on-year increase among the UK's three leading spinout universities, per the Royal Academy of Engineering/Beauhurst 'Spotlight on Spinouts 2025' report, which ranked Cambridge second nationally for total spinouts since 2011.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Cambridge Enterprise technology-transfer and investment staff

Conditions for success

  • Single dedicated legal entity for technology transfer and spinout investment, sustained for nearly two decades
  • In-house investment capacity (Enterprise Funds I-IX) alongside licensing

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful