Deep tech and life science investor Cambridge Innovation Capital has appointed business mogul Sir Nigel Wilson as its chair.
Wilson ran FTSE 100 financial services group Legal & General for over a decade as chief executive and currently serves as the chairman of the property giant Canary Wharf Group.
The 68-year-old will replace outgoing Cambridge Innovation Capital chair Edward Benthall, who will step down later this month. Benthall retires after 12 years in the role.
“With strong sector expertise and a central position in Cambridge, one of the world’s most powerful science and technology ecosystems, CIC has built an excellent reputation and a proven track record of investing in leading technology companies,” Wilson said.
I look forward to working with the team and its wider network of investors, co-investors, strategic partners and entrepreneurs, to support the next generation of globally impactful businesses emerging from Cambridge and beyond.”
Wilson said the opportunities for the investor will be even greater as a result of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc project, a plan to develop an advanced economic cluster between the high-performing cities.
“Sir Nigel has demonstrated his vision and leadership over many years at the top of some of Britain’s most successful companies,” said Andrew Williamson, managing partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital.
“With a globally recognised background in the financial sector, as well as working with successive governments in advisory and leadership roles, he will guide CIC during an exciting time for British technology and life sciences companies.”
The Pragmatic Semiconductor and Riverlane investor has also appointed Panos Kakoullis, former finance chief of Rolls Royce Holdings as a non-executive director.
With £600m of assets under management, Cambridge Innovation Capital is one of the most active backers of UK spinout tech firms. Itself spun out from the University of Cambridge, the group is the preferred investor of the institution, which is the UK’s most prolific generator of spinout firms.
Read more: CIC commits £100m to back local university spinouts
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