Supporting business start-ups
Cambridge is home to 1,500 high-tech firms, spanning healthcare and life sciences, IT and communications, and with a combined annual revenue of over £12 billion.
As the business school located in the centre of Cambridge, its technology cluster and the University, Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS) is uniquely placed to understand and learn from the experiences of both start-up and companies with growth potential and to contribute to their success.
Guiding early stage start-ups
"CJBS has for ten years inspired Cambridge students to think about start-up and venture creation", says Professor Christoph Loch, Dean of Cambridge Judge Business School. "Today we are achieving much more, having shifted our strategic focus from the entrepreneurial aspiration to the actual doing and the scaling up. We guide very early stage start-ups and support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to change their modus operandi in order to really grow – both of these stages are where we have identified that there are gaps".
Professor Loch adds: "By supporting start-ups in the Business School, we are stimulating growth in the Cambridge Cluster, and eventually these positive effects will radiate further afield."
By supporting start-ups in the Business School, we are stimulating growth in the Cambridge Cluster, and eventually these positive effects will radiate further afield.
A critical component of the Business School's support for new business ventures is the Entrepreneurship Centre. It offers training and the involvement of mentors from the business world, who guide and help start-ups refine their investment decisions.
A start-up improving infant health
Every year, there are nearly three million deaths of babies within the first month after birth, many of which are easily preventable by administration of drugs or nutrients. JustMilk is a low-cost nipple shield adapted to safely deliver drugs or nutrients to babies when worn by mothers during breastfeeding. It was designed by Cambridge students who then brought the innovation to CJBS' Accelerate Cambridge. This is a structured programme that combines entrepreneurship training, regular coaching and mentoring, as well as access to shared workspace.
Co-founder Rebekah Schueurle explains: "We’ve just finished the 'Pre-Accelerate' programme and have really benefited from being part of it, particularly because of the quality of mentorship. It has really supported our business development and strategy as well as supplied us with a broad and diverse network of skilled content experts and entrepreneurs. We have learned so much through the programme, particularly regarding business models, intellectual property generation and partnership formation."
How you can help
- £2.5m will permanently endow a professorship in entrepreneurship to lead the delivery of deep-rooted impact by the Entrepreneurship Centre
- £600,000 will support Accelerate Cambridge for one year so that it can continue to transform the trajectory of start-ups at the earliest stages
- £90,000 will provide the annual seed investment funding the start-ups require
Next steps
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