The University of Cambridge-aligned healthcare and life sciences accelerator has added Novartis as a strategic partner.

Start Codon, a healthcare and life sciences accelerator backed by Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the venture capital investor focused on the Cambridge, UK ecosystem, has raised £15m ($20m) for its first venture capital fund. The raise was announced yesterday and represents a final close. In addition to CIC, limited partners include pharmaceutical firm Novartis, which will also collaborate with Start Codon strategically. Start Codon recently enrolled its second cohort on the way to its target of sustaining 50 startups in its target sectors, each equipped with at least $332,000 in seed funding in addition to mentoring and access to lab resources. Start Codon showcased its first four portfolio companies in June 2020: functional genomics platform developer Enhanc3D Genomics, cancer antibody conjugate producer Spirea, cell-based drug screening company Semarion and rare disease drug producer Drishti Discoveries.  The first three companies are University of Cambridge spinouts. Start Codon was founded in April 2019 with funding and support from CIC and Genentech, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Roche, as well as Babraham Bioscience Technologies, manager of the bioscience-focused Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge. Jonathan Milner, a member of CIC’s advisory board and founder of research antibody provider Abcam, is also among the co-founders together with Ian Tomlinson, chairman of commercialisation fund Apollo Therapeutics. Jason Mellad, CEO and another co-founder of Start Codon, said: “With both Genentech and Novartis on board to support our cohort companies in their development, and potentially provide opportunities for commercial partnerships in the future, we are extremely well-positioned to nurture and commercialise the next-generation of world-class healthcare companies, which we hope will positively impact many patient’s lives.”

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