October 11, 2004
The Cambridge Cluster, the community of technology firms based around the UK university town, continues to lead the rest of Europe in its recovery from the downturn in venture investment, according to research produced by Library House and financial advisers Grant Thornton.
The report found that the cluster received more than 25 per cent of the UK's venture capital investment and more than eight per cent of the European total in the first half of the year. It also said that average investment levels by round were between 57 per cent and 100 per cent higher in Cambridge than in the rest of the UK and Europe.
Dough Richard, chairman of Library House, said: 'We are excited to confirm that funding levels are indeed back to those similar to 1999.' The last four years have seen investment levels in Cambridge holding broadly flat, in sharp contrast to the 80 per cent fall in funding across Europe as a whole.
The research, which is based on 890 innovation and technology-based firms in the area, found that financing for the first three quarters of this year is already close to matching the level for the whole of 2003. It is on track to receive close to £200m, compared with £150m.
Wendy Hart, national head of technology for Grant Thornton, said: 'The Cambridge Cluster is clearly going from strength to strength.'
11/10/2004. Source: AltAssets.
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