About the Event
Ideas only rule the world when they are converted to real-world solutions. Sometimes all we need is the right mentorship, partnership, support, validation through probing of those ideas, the right network or just listening to a conversation.
Whether as an entrepreneur, investor or you just want to build your entrepreneurial skills which employers are now looking for to hire across industries in the form of intrapreneur, Cambridge offers a rich ecosystem that students, staff members, alumni and businesses can tap into.
In this series, we would like to x-ray the Cambridge entrepreneurial ecosystem, what each component of the system represent and how you might leverage on them to drive your businesses, entrepreneurial journey or build your portfolio to land that dream job. Join us in this very interesting discussion.
The panel will be moderated by David Izuogu, the Wolfson Entrepreneurs Society President.
About the Panellists
Chief Executive, Cambridge Enterprise
Tony is the Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge.
After graduating with a First in Physics from Manchester University, he obtained his MSc and DPhil from the University of Oxford. He worked at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories and Osaka University before joining Cambridge-based PA Consulting in 1983.
In 1985 he was a founder of Summit Technology, the market leader in laser refractive surgery, which was acquired by Nestle Alcon in 2000 for $893 million. In 1987 he co-founded Cambridge-based Sagentia Group plc, a technical and management consultancy which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 1991 he founded Diomed Inc, a pioneer and world leader in therapeutic medical diode lasers, and served as CEO and Deputy Chairman until 2000. The company listed on the American Stock Exchange in 2002.
From 2000-2011 he was Director of Research and Innovation Services at the University of Southampton where he established with IP Group the first “patient capital” university investment fund, creating 11 spin-out companies with four listings on the London Stock Exchange. He also created the model for SETsquared incubation which was ranked the Global #1 university business incubator in 2017.
Tony joined Cambridge Enterprise as CEO in 2011. At Cambridge Enterprise, he has focussed on engagement of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in commercialisation and putting in place the investment funds to support the flow of new opportunities with a West Coast level of ambition. These include the University of Cambridge Enterprise (seed) Fund for alumni (£8m to date), the £40m Apollo Therapeutics (proof of concept) Fund for developing new drug candidates and the £50m Cambridge Innovation Capital follow-on fund. Income from commercialisation in 2015 is 240% of that in 2011.
Tony is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a Member of the Institute of Directors.
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Head of Education, Entrepreneurship Centre, Cambridge Judge Business School
Rebecca joined the Entrepreneurship Centre at the Cambridge Judge Business School to establish entrepreneurship education programmes for the research community at Cambridge. The first was EnterpriseTECH in 2018, which has seen over 400 PhD students and postdocs attend - working on over 75 commercialisation projects. She went on the create EnterpriseTECH STAR as follow-on programme which completed its first run in November 2019. Other programmes that fall within her remit include EnterpriseWOMEN and Enterprise Tuesday.
For close to 20 years, Rebecca’s home was the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. She is an organic chemist by training having done her PhD with Prof Chris Abell FRS. After her PhD, Rebecca went on to a long postdoc with Prof Steven Ley CBE FRS also in the Department of Chemistry. During this time, she also worked with Prof Sir Shankar Balasubramanian FRS as the Associate Director of the Cambridge-CRUK PhD Training Programme in Medicinal Chemistry for 10 years. Her research has covered many areas of chemistry, mostly at the medicinal chemistry interface, and particularly around cancer research. Rebecca values collaborative efforts and is passionate about cultivating meaningful research impact and creating opportunities for researchers to thrive beyond academia.
Managing Director, The Bradfield Center
James is a chartered marketer who specialises in marketing to software developers and similar technical audiences. He is currently the managing director of the Bradfield Centre, which specialises in supporting corporate innovation strategies, scaling tech startups and helping students to tap into tech and entrepreneurship. Microsoft, AWS, Google and Cambridge University are just a taste of a few of the partners The Bradfield centre works with.
James has spent over 20 years working in the field of telecommunications and web-focused innovations. This has manifested in his creation and management of three API programs with developer outreach, launching more than 20 products to market for O2 and Telefonica and much more. James also co-hosts a podcast, mentors and advises various startup and has lectured at the University of Oxford and Reading. Notably, James has been recognised for these contributions to the mobile and technology community by a number of publications, including 2013 TechCityInsider list of the most influential people in UK tech and in Revolution magazine’s 2009 “Future 50”.
Deal Sorcerer at Cambridge Angels
Deal Sorcerer - quite likely the best job title in the world. Emmi runs the angel investment group, Cambridge Angels (CA) - some of Europe's leading early-stage investors, sourcing and completing deals in innovative technology companies seeking global impact.
Cambridge Angels is a group of more than 60 high-net-worth investors who have proven experience as successful entrepreneurs in technology, internet, software, hardware, tools and technologies supporting healthcare and digital healthcare. Members invest in and mentor high-quality start-up and early-stage companies in these sectors in Cambridge, London, Oxford and throughout the UK. Members have been responsible for a large number of the "Cambridge Phenomenon" success stories over recent years. In addition to providing funding for early-stage companies, Cambridge Angels also offer start-ups the considerable benefit of a wide range of expertise, contacts and directly relevant experience in establishing and growing entrepreneurial businesses successfully.
Emmi has an academic background in applied linguistics with a specialisation in language learning in a multi-lingual society, a particularly relevant field having grown up in a country with no fewer than 11 official languages. Emmi has had a 20+ year career in operational and risk management roles, assisting businesses to execute on strategic goals by setting meaningful KPIs, implementing risk mitigation projects and enhancing levels of automation. She has worked almost exclusively in technology businesses and has often worked in small to medium businesses that are undergoing transformation and experiencing the challenges that are inherent in the growth stage from small/medium to large business. Before Emmi joined Cambridge Angels, she was COO of a small tech start-up in Cambridge.
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Join us in this live session on any of the following platforms (No initial registration is required)
Date: Monday 29 June 2020
Time: 17:45 - 19:30 (GMT+1)
Location: Live across the listed platforms (see hyperlinks below)
Twitter - @wolfson_wes
Facebook - Wolfson Entrepreneurs Society Facebook page
Youtube - Wolfson Entrepreneurs Society YouTube channel
