If new ideas and new ways of doing things are to make a difference to our lives, they need people and organisations to put them into practice.
At the heart of one of the world's most successful innovation ecosystems, the University of Cambridge is full of entrepreneurial researchers and students with the drive and imagination to bring research ideas out of labs and libraries and into the real world.
Ten Cambridge spinouts and start-ups making a difference are highlighted here.
1. Cavendish Kinetics – Making our phones faster and greener
A technology developed by Cambridge physicists is used in 35 million phones to send and receive data faster, using less power and with lower CO2 emissions.
A team of physicists came up with a low-cost micro-electromechanical (MEMS) alternative to expensive switches connected to fixed capacitors. Its digital variable capacitors both increase the speed at which data can be sent and received and reduce the power needed to do so, increasing efficiency by as much as 100% in comparison to broadband antennas. Its capacitors also reduce CO2 emissions. The energy saved by the 35 million phones containing this technology equates to an estimated combined 2 million kg of CO2 emissions per year. Cavendish Kinetics was spun out of the University in 1994 and acquired by Qorvo Inc in 2019 for more than $300 million.
2. BioBullets – Unclogging our pipes
The UK's water pipes are being cleared of blockages caused by an invasive mollusc.
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3. Astex Pharmaceuticals – Discovering new drugs
A new technique that speeds up drug discovery has led to the development of two successful cancer treatments.
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4. Cyted – Diagnosing us early
A non-invasive test coupled with AI is helping to spot the early signs of oesophageal cancer in tissue samples.
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5. Geomerics – Upping our games
More than 2 billion gamers have had their online lives transformed by geometric algebra.
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6. KuDOS Pharmaceuticals – Making us better
More than 30,000 cancer patients have been treated with Olaparib, a revolutionary new cancer drug developed by Kudos Pharmaceuticals.
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7. Inivata – Targeting new treatments
Lung cancer patients are getting more targeted treatment, thanks to the development of a non-invasive blood test.
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8. Inotec AMD – Healing our wounds
An ingenious device called NATROX® O2 is helping to heal chronic and hard-to-heal wounds by generating oxygen and delivering it directly to the wound site.
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9. Solexa – Sequencing our genomes
More than 1 million genomes are sequenced every year thanks to a technology developed by Cambridge chemists.
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10. SwiftKey – Saving us time
300 million mobile phone users have been spared a collective 100,000 years of typing, thanks to Cambridge computer scientists.
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These new ventures were included among the examples of impact in the University's 2021 REF submission. They are a representative few of the many spinouts and start-ups founded by Cambridge researchers, staff and students in recent years.
Original University of Cambridge article
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