CIC invests $58.5m within a year

Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the patient capital fund affiliated to University of Cambridge, invested £44.9m ($58.5m) in 17 existing holdings and four portfolio additions during the 2018-2019 financial year, up from $45.8m in 2017-2018.
CIC’s portfolio fair value gain increased 44% year-on-year to hit $40m, from $27.7m in 2017-2018, to bring its overall portfolio value to $243m. The vehicle has now invested a total of $166m in 26 companies since it was founded in 2013.
The results come after CIC increased its total corpus to $360m with $196m in commitments anchored by the university and its Endowment Fund in March 2019.
The fund has continued to deploy patient capital in the health sector, taking part in deals including a $27.9m round for therapeutic peptide developer Bicycle Therapeutics, which later filed for an $86m initial public offering in April 2019, and a $100m series B round for surgical robot creator CMR Surgical a year ago.
Among other investments in the IT space, CIC co-led a $12.8m round for Cambridge-founded big data analytics platform GeoSpock in January 2019, after leading a $10m series B for enterprise analytics software developer Swim.ai in July 2018.
Edward Benthall, executive chairman of CIC, said: “The opportunity to build world-leading, science-based businesses in Cambridge has never been greater.
“With the strategic commitment of the university, £150m of new capital to invest, a widely diversified shareholder base, and a growing portfolio of businesses, CIC will play a leading role in the growth of the Cambridge ecosystem.”