Cambridge Consultants – the deep tech powerhouse that’s at one with the Cambridge tech ecosystem

And as it looks ahead to the second annual Cambridge Tech Week in September, the company is happy to reflect on its influential role within Europe’s largest tech cluster.

Speaking from CC’s headquarters on the Cambridge Science Park, Chief Commercial Officer Tim Fowler offers a wholly positive view of a symbiotic relationship: “We see Cambridge innovation and Cambridge Consultants as being closely intertwined. What we do as a business reflects the way of thinking that exists in Cambridge, largely because of the intellectual curiosity that was originally stimulated by the university.

“By the same token, the Cambridge tech ecosystem can trace many of its characteristics back to Cambridge Consultants as one of key players in the Cambridge Phenomenon of the 1980s.

“We are both a reflection of that phenomenon and it is a reflection of us. So, Cambridge Tech Week is the perfect way of showcasing who and what we are – and what we can achieve together on that global stage.”

In Tim Fowler’s eyes, those achievements will be driven by bold, new-to-the-world deep tech innovation. What he means by this is the development of technologies, services and products that have never been seen before – and which will bring defendable commercial advantage for those who get to market first.

“This is what characterises our client work at CC – whether that’s here, the United States, Singapore or Japan – and again it is linked to Cambridge thinking,” he says. “Deep tech innovation is about confronting the status quo and challenging the norms, especially when they are holding back industries.

“But to apply technology to such problems demands a depth and breadth of expertise – radical science and engineering – that you can only find in places like Cambridge and Cambridge Consultants. Where else do you find a place where, for example, biologists and semiconductor engineers sit cheek by jowl, other than an ecosystem and business like ours?”

Also evident in the mirroring of company and ecosystem is the ability to take ingenious ideas from inception to reality, from academia and research to commercial value.

Tim puts it this way: “You obviously need more than just a technical idea to build a business, you need to understand where the value is. You need to know how to get access to markets, you need to have people who have some experience of what you’re likely to go through because otherwise you can spend a lot of time solving a problem that’s already been solved.

“So, this is where CC can help – where entities like the Cambridge Angels network and the VC community can help – to play that expertise back, which is like what you see in Silicon Valley, too.”

CC has noted an increasing energy from within Cambridge to promote itself and engage on the world technology stage – evidenced by initiatives such as Cambridge Tech Week and Innovate Cambridge. Implicit in this mission is ensuring that breakthrough technology is converted into meaningful business and societal impact.

“Here, the role of a deep tech strategy is not just about creating value but capturing it,” says Tim Fowler. “And the key thing about capturing it is that it should be hard to copy. If you’ve worked hard enough and cleverly enough to create something that is great, then make it hard to copy.

“There’s nothing better than a patent or a trade secret to protect your business. And if it’s truly valuable, you’re able to exploit that value, extract that value, over the long-term.”

As a Gold Founder Sponsor, CC is planning extensive participation during Cambridge Tech Week. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators will be welcomed to its Science Park buildings for lab tours showcasing exciting advances in areas such as quantum technology, biotechnology and AI & data analytics.

CC’s Head of Sustainability Catherine Joce will host a discussion on how to accelerate growth for climate tech start-ups. And Tim himself will be speaking on ways to seize opportunity from deep tech. You can expect that part of his message will be a rallying cry for the future, with a reminder that anything is possible when Cambridge puts its mind to it.

“It’s very easy if you sit in Cambridge to imagine that because everyone does this amazing stuff in our ecosystem then this is what the rest of the world is like. Of course it isn’t – and we must constantly remind ourselves of that special deep tech thinking that is at our heart. We mustn’t take it for granted.

“There are incredible things that have come out of Cambridge, whether it’s the first single-chip Bluetooth device, the first low-cost human genome sequencing machinery, or the Alexa in your kitchen – these technologies have come out of Cambridge.”