Abstract

In the Greater Cambridge area, there is a dearth of risk capital (particularly venture funding) required by the innovative, growth potential firms on which the cluster has relied for 30-40 years. To a limited extent, demand has been met by imaginative new schemes provided by the public sector, at both a national and a regional level. However, it is unrealistic to expect the public sector alone to meet the gap. The ‘funding escalator’ is a continuum – from family investors and grants at the outset right through to trade sales and IPOs – and prolonged congestion or gaps at any stage will ultimately affect the health of the entire system. Particularly given the fragile state of public finances, for the foreseeable future businesses need to access and use funds with enhanced professionalism rather than expect the supply of finance to revert to pre-2008 conditions.

Refreshments from 17.00. Prersentation at 17.30 – 18.30.