Cambridge Capital Group reports two exits in 2021-23

Cambridge Capital Group reports two exits in 2021-23 from their Cambridge portfolio. Biotech business, Arecor, which develops enhanced reformulations of therapies for diabetes, listed on AIM; and appointments scheduling software business, 10to8, was recently sold in a Private Equity deal. Bother delivered strong returns to early angel investors including members of Cambridge Capital Group. A further Medtech portfolio business is in final due diligence with a potential acquirer.

Tenth Portfolio Exit in 5 years

CCG members are currently celebrating 10 exits from our portfolio during the period 2016-2021 giving good returns to angels and private investors.

Four trade sales were concluded in 2016, and a further six have taken place from 2019-2021, the most recent being Arachnys in May 2021.

The value of the deep technology and market prospects for early-stage ventures in the Cambridge cluster is becoming ever clearer, as demonstrated by the range of international corporates seeking to buy such companies.

New Sectors Attract CCG Investment

Members of Cambridge Capital Group have supported several new sectors during a very active 2017-18: including Electric vehicle fleet management, LegalTech, FashionTech, Robotics, Cyber-security, Logistics & Industrial supplies, SpaceTech, Business Travel, Marketing Content Saas, Virtual/Augmented Reality and AgriTech.
Recent deal activity totalled more than £5m of private investment in a range of exciting seed and early-growth businesses based in the Cambridge/East of England hi-tech cluster.

Cambridge Capital Group Members Celebrate their 100th Deal

We congratulate Cambridge Capital Group Members who have now made their 100th Investment.

The group has invested more than £25m into 100+ start-ups, mainly in the Cambridge cluster, still Europe’s most important B2B centre. Some companies have received £10k from a single member, others have received £1m-2m from a group syndicate. While some of our portfolio companies have failed due to the high risk nature of investing in start-ups, twelve of our portfolio companies have “exited” profitably over the years, via AIM listings or trade sales, with returns ranging from 2-15X - including four in 2016. The most notable was the $250m sale of the Swiftkey business to Microsoft.
Members of Cambridge Capital Group are private investors and family investment funds drawn from the Cambridge region, London and the Thames Valley as well as international territories such as the Channel Islands and Singapore. They boast a diverse range of sector backgrounds enabling collaboration between group members who co-invest in opportunities that interest them individually.

We therefore salute our brave 80+ members who boldly go where no angel group has gone before, supporting the next generation of hi-technology entrepreneurs in the so called Golden Triangle of Cambridge/London/Oxford - to create sustainable wealth and employment for Great Britain.

Sale of portfolio companies

Recent trade sales from the Cambridge Capital Group portfolio include Cambridge CMOS Sensors (CCMOSS) sold to Austrian Microsystems (ams), the manufacturer of high performance sensors.

CCMOSS is a spinout from Cambridge University which has been developing micro hotplate structures for gas sensing and infrared applications. CCG members invested in three funding rounds, led by Cambridge Enterprise, the tech transfer agency for the university, and earned an attractive multiple of capital invested from the all cash transaction.

Members invested in Oval Medical Technologies in 2010 after their first ever pitch to a group of angel investors and the company has also recently been sold to SMC (in 2016).

Cambridge Capital Group portfolio company sold to Microsoft

AI business Touchtype Limited, developer of Swiftkey, the world beating predictive keyboard app, has been acquired by Microsoft in a cash deal worth $250 million. Angel investors from Cambridge Capital Group enjoyed a high financial return of almost ten times their capital investment Members of Cambridge Capital Group had first invested in the business in 2011 after inviting it to pitch at quarterly investment event when it was a fledgling start-up, and continued to support the company in subsequent capital funding rounds alongside major institutional investors including Octopus and Index.