UK insurer Aviva backs spinout investor Cambridge Innovation Capital’s new $126m fund

Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the venture capital firm linked to University of Cambridge in the UK, launched a £100m ($126m) fund to back startups in deep tech and life sciences.

Limited partners include Aviva Investors, the investment arm of the UK insurer and financial services firm – which contributed £15m ($19m) –  and British Patient Capital, a subsidiary of UK government run British Business Bank.

The fund has already made two investments, namely for chip designer Pragmatic Semiconductors – which it had previously backed through its second fund – and quantum error correction startup Riverlane, both of which are spinouts from the University of Cambridge.

For Aviva, the LP position is the latest it’s made in the Cambridge ecosystem, having previously backed Ahren Innovation Capital and Amadeus Capital Partners. It has also made direct investments like the one in Cambridge-based, non-invasive diagnostics technology developer Owlstone Medical through its Investors Venture & Growth Capital vehicle.

Aviva launched a $185m venture fund this month to target health care, fintech and climate tech startups. The investments build on the UK’s Mansion House Compact, which allows the country’s defined contribution pension providers to allocate 5% of assets to unlisted equities such as venture capital and growth equity by 2030.

Cambridge Innovation Capital launched its first fund in 2013, which it followed up with a £225m ($284m) second fund that closed in 2022.  

“CIC has a wealth of expertise in life sciences and deep tech, discovering and supporting pioneering companies like Pragmatic and Riverlane, which can help the UK get ready for the future whilst putting it at the forefront of global innovation,” said Aviva Investors’ managing director of venture and strategic capital, Ben Luckett, in a statement.

“As an investor with a long-standing presence in Cambridge, we understand its reputation as a world-leading technology cluster, the huge value of the unique ideas being created here, and their potential to create growth, success and impact.”