A Cambridge University programme has produced a fleet of the UK鈥檚 鈥榥ext generation鈥� entrepreneurs and world-class innovators.听
Alumni from the听Impulse Programme have raised more than 拢50 million investment听over the last four years听for听world-changing听high-impact start-ups.听
Impulse accelerates new technologies within the fields of Biotechnology, MedTech, AI, Quantum Technologies and Water Technology with the assistance of听high-calibre听mentors and entrepreneurs from the local ecosystem,听including听Dr Hermann Hauser, Dr David听Cleevely, Jamie Urquhart, Prof Sir Mark听Welland, Dr Julie Barnes, Richard Green, Dr Deborah Harland, Prof Chris Lowe and Dr Phil O鈥橠onovan.听
Dr Steve Brierley听
The founder听and听CEO听of听Riverlane, which is making landmark developments to maximise the power and reach of quantum computing.听
Dr Brierley said he benefited greatly from having someone of the stature of Jamie听Urquart听鈥� co-founder of technology company Arm 鈥� as his Impulse Programme mentor听for听Riverlane.听
鈥淗aving Jamie听Urquart听as a mentor in the early stages of听Riverlane听had a huge impact. I knew a lot about the technology (quantum computing) and wanted to work out how to build a great business to exploit that,鈥� he said.听听
鈥�I spent many hours meeting with Jamie testing ideas, talking through business models, funding options and then figuring out how best to communicate the opportunity.听听
鈥�As a result,听Riverlane听got off to a great start, raising a seed round from two great VC funds. Jamie is very generous with his time and, since the Impulse programme, we鈥檝e kept in touch and he鈥檚 still one of the first people I鈥檒l test a new idea on.听
鈥淢y advice to anyone thinking about joining Impulse is simple: If you get the chance to work on your company idea with someone like Jamie who has a vast amount of experience rolling their sleeves up and making it happen, take it.鈥澨�
Dr Carmen Palacios听Berraquero听
National award-winning physicist and Co-inventor of Nu Quantum technology, which is making ground-breaking single-photon components to enable the next generation of听commercially-viable听photonic quantum technologies – creating a new era of communications, simulation, computing, sensing and metrology.听听
Dr Richard Taylor听
The听CTO of Vector Photonics,听which has made the first breakthrough in laser technology for 30 years and is set to revolutionise the autonomous vehicle industry.听
Dr Gita Khalili Moghaddam听
Pioneering听MedTech entrepreneur and听founder/director of听GlycoVue,听which combines glucose-responsive smart polymers with advanced holography and AI-enabled smartphone technology for diabetes self-management.听听
Dr Mario De Miguel Ramos听
CEO听and听co-founder of Sorex Sensors,听whose novel sensor technology to accurately monitor indoor air quality is tipped for global domination of a market expected to swell to $323听billion by 2024.听
Dr Shakiba Kaveh & Dr Cristiana Banila听
Co-founders of Mitra Bio Ltd, a skin longevity company from London, building a non-invasive skin multi-omics platform to unravel skin health and delay ageing.听听听
Dr Rob Simpson听and听Christian Saville听听
CTO and COO听respectively听of trailblazing听MedTech firm, Celsius Health, a spinout from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), which is focused on the development of high accuracy thermal imaging technology in medical diagnostic applications – transforming the health and quality of life of diabetic patients.听听听听
Prof Sir Mark听Welland听鈥� the former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government Ministry of Defence 鈥� is Director of Cambridge University鈥檚 Maxwell Centre, where the Impulse Programme is run.听听
He says: 鈥淭he Impulse Programme at the Maxwell Centre provides researchers and scientists with the ideal environment for those all-important chance encounters, sparking and inspiring fresh generations of science and technology entrepreneurs as has clearly been evidenced.听
鈥淚t is here that the cross-pollination of ideas, technologies and industry knowledge of like-minded individuals, from both entrepreneur and business worlds, enables the participants to reach their full potential and, importantly, transform their research into a viable business.鈥�听