CIC and Babraham Bioscience Technologies are among the co-founders of Start Codon, a life sciences accelerator set to invest in up to 50 seed-stage startups over the next five years.

Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the patient capital fund established by University of Cambridge, yesterday joined a group of investors including Genentech, the biotech subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Roche, to co-found healthcare and life sciences accelerator Start Cordon. The co-founders also include Babraham Bioscience Technologies, which manages the bioscience-focused Babraham Research Campus, as well as Jonathan Milner, a member of CIC’s advisory panel and founder of research antibody provider Abcam, and  Ian Tomlinson, chairman of commercialisation fund Apollo Therapeutics. Start Codon will nurture pre-series A companies that extend life sciences and healthcare innovations from the UK and further afield. It will provide £250,000 ($325,000) in seed capital and offer access to resources from the Cambridge ecosystem to help startups prepare for series A funding. Portfolio companies will also benefit from a a full-time dedicated team of mentors and will be given office and laboratory space at the Milner Therapeutics Institute. The program will invest in up to 50 companies over the next five years. Ian Tomlinson has been appointed chairman of the Start Codon board, which will also include Jo Parfrey, a non-executive director at Babraham Bioscience Technologies. The executive team will be led by Jason Mellad, former chief executive of Cambridge’s epigenetic diagnostics spinout Cambridge Epigenetix. Michael Anstey, investment director at CIC, said: “Cambridge is the best place in Europe to build a life science business. Start Codon will bring together all the key elements here, to enable emerging companies to rapidly embark on their growth journey. “We are proud to have been part of the Start Codon initiative from inception and we are excited to support the world-class businesses that will emerge from its program in the future. “The Cambridge ecosystem has already created over a dozen billion-pound businesses and we see Start Codon as an important facilitator in creating more such successes.”

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