Hosted at The Glasshouse in Cambridge in partnership with Innovate Cambridge and CAMentrepreneurs, the ‘ScaleUp Thursdays’ events will be aimed primarily at founders and senior leaders of scaling businesses - Series A and Series B stage, as well as businesses approaching Series C - alongside contributors from across the wider innovation ecosystem. These will include investors and professional advisers and specialist organisations such as intellectual property specialists, accountants and providers of commercial property and laboratory facilities.
Launching on Thursday 26 November, the monthly events will combine presentations, founder stories and discussions with successful entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders, followed by networking over food and drinks. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of building and scaling businesses, exchange practical advice, explore challenges relevant to their own growth ambitions and develop valuable relationships across the Cambridge business community.
The inaugural event will feature a fireside chat with British technology entrepreneur and co-founder of CMR Surgical, Martin Frost CBE, who will be sharing his first-hand experiences of the challenges of building, financing and scaling an ambitious technology business.
Martin co-founded CMR Surgical in 2014 and served as its chief executive, leading the development and global commercialisation of Versius, the company’s award-winning surgical robotic system. Under his leadership, CMR raised more than £250 million, a record for a private European medical devices business. The company achieved Unicorn status in 2019, while in 2021 it received a valuation of $3 billion.
Tim Passingham, founder and executive chairman of Cambridge MC, said: “‘ScaleUp Thursdays’ builds on the ambition set out by Innovate Cambridge at its recent Summit: to help the region’s innovators start, scale and, importantly, stay in Cambridge. While all three are important to the continued success of the Cambridge ecosystem scaling a company successfully requires more than a great idea and investment. It also takes the right experience, expertise, relationships and support, at the right time.
“‘ScaleUp Thursdays’ places particular emphasis on the scale-up agenda. We want to connect high-growth companies with the investors, expertise and professional networks they need to scale - bringing together the businesses, expertise and resources needed to turn innovation into successful, growing companies and ensure they continue to thrive in the UK.”
‘ScaleUp Thursdays’ takes place monthly at The Glasshouse, Cambridge. To register for the launch event on 26 November, visit: https://luma.com/r3pk6kia
