Cambridge Enterprise passes £10M milestone

Cambridge Enterprise, the technology transfer arm of Cambridge University, has announced income figures in excess of £10 million for the first time.

Figures for 2007/8 show income of £8.8 million from licensing, consultancy and royalties and an additional £1.7 million from equity realisations in five companies.

Chief Executive Teri Willey said it had been a record breaking year, both in the number of deals completed and in terms of income. “Importantly, over £8 million is allocated to departments and academics whose expertise and ideas are the basis of successful commercial programmes”.

One of the portfolio companies to reach a milestone during 2007/08 is CamSemi Ltd, a spin-out from the Department of Engineering, which is now the emerging leader in the development of energy-efficient power circuits. The company recently celebrated the shipment of ten million chips from its first product line.

During the financial year 80 intellectual property transactions were added to the portfolio, bringing the total number of active intellectual property and licence agreements under management to 459. Eighty three patent applications were filed.

The number of new consultancy projects increased by approximately 25 per cent on the previous year, with academics engaging with organisations around the world.

Over the year, Cambridge Enterprise held equity in 68 companies on behalf of the university and received £1.7 million from equity realisations in five companies, which was made up of £841,000 from seed fund investments and a further £809,000 from intellectual property investments through licensing transactions.

Over 80 per cent of income was returned to university academics and departments. A further 7 per cent was reinvested in patent assets and 8 per cent reinvested in seed funds.

Willey said, “Technology transfer is a long-term effort where decisions taken this year represent potential products and revenue streams 5-15 years from now. To achieve this, our team balances the need to build for the future while managing the current assets.”