Cambridge startup Decorte Future Industries (DFI), which extracts health data from sound, has raised crucial cash and been handed a massive vote of confidence with a Microsoft innovation chief joining its board. Trupen Modi, the Pennsylvania-based director of Digital Health Innovation Strategy at Microsoft, takes his seat as a Non Executive Director with the companies exploring collaboration possibilities. DFI has already raised $1.6 million to enable microphones to pick up complex health metrics but founder and CEO Dr Roeland Decorte tells Business Weekly that almost as much again is being ..read more

Cambridge-anchored Big Biotech AstraZeneca is fast-tracking its ambition in the cancer cell therapy arena with the $320 million acquisition of international business Neogene Therapeutics. The deal – on a cash and debt-free basis – sees AZ paying $200m on closure and up to $120m in further condition-related milestones. AstraZeneca says the acquisition provides access to next-generation T-cell receptor therapies with promising potential for targeting solid tumours. TCR-Ts are emerging as a promising therapeutic modality in cancer treatment. Most current cell therapy approaches in oncology focu ..read more

Cambridge technology startup OBRIZUM has clinched $11.5m in Series A funding taking its haul to date to $17m. The latest round was led by Guinness Ventures with contributions from existing investors Beaubridge, Juno Capital Partners and Qatar Science & Tech Holdings and new backer Celeres Ventures.  OBRIZUM uses advanced Artificial Intelligence to quickly create, tailor and measure high-quality digital learning on a global scale. It empowers organisations to make data-driven decisions that allow them to grow, succeed and nurture their people through engaging digital transformation ..read more

Fabless semiconductor company Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD), has raised $19 million in Series B funding to start mass production of its range of GaN transistors for power applications. The investment was led by Parkwalk Advisors and BGF with participation from IQ Capital, CIC, Foresight Williams Technology and Martlet Capital and allows CGD to target a $50 billion global mega-market.  CGD has gone from strength to strength internationally since being spun out of the renowned power device group at Cambridge University’s Engineering Department in 2016. It was the first triple winner in one ..read more

Cambridge cyber security warrior Darktrace has struck gold with its new PREVENT technology which is increasingly being adopted worldwide to head off attackers before they hit and damage corporate and government systems. In the three months since its August launch, customers across all major industries have bought PREVENT. Many of the prime clients are based in the United States. A former CIA chief has heralded the technology as “a game-changer.” They include ProPhase Diagnostics, a NASDAQ-listed BioTech company based in the US; Sellen Construction, a leading US construction company; Rudin Ma ..read more

Cambridge superchip architect Arm has posted record royalty revenue in Q2  and CEO Rene Haas says an aggressive investment strategy is paying rich dividends. Automotive is literally driving some of the most impressive growth with ADAS adoption continuing to trigger more advanced computing in cars but Arm says that all market segments grew year-on-year. Encouragingly that includes the Internet of Things – always a core strength for Arm technology but sometimes hindered by the uncertain approach to IoT of parent company SoftBank. Arm – a sponsor of the Business Weekly Awards – reports tot ..read more

Cambridge Big Biotech AstraZeneca is reaping the rewards of a massive global uptick in R & D spend. And it has reinforced its group-wide commitment to advance its net zero strategy. Its money-making prowess was handsome enough as it clocked up more than $10 billion product sales in Q3, taking the haul over $33bn in the year to date. But CEO Pascal Soriot reveals a less obvious dividend: “AstraZeneca continues to see the benefit of our sustained investment in R & D with 19 major regulatory approvals since our last earnings call,” he says. That’s a record number for the business. Total ..read more

This summer we saw further extreme instances of climate change, writes Tania Saigol, Associate – Commercial & Technology team at Birketts LLP. Droughts across Europe, uncontrollable wildfires in the United States, torrential rain and floods across Asia, and global record-breaking heatwaves, all indicate the need for urgency in achieving net zero.  Net zero means achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere and the carbon removed from it. The Climate Change Act of 2008 bound the UK to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.  Artificial intelligence (AI) i ..read more

Neuroscience company NRG Therapeutics has raised £16 million Series A cash and shifted its base from Cambridge to Stevenage in the process. The round – led by US investor Omega Funds in Boston – is designed to advance disease-modifying oral medicines for debilitating chronic neurodegenerative disorders through IND-enabling studies. The disease areas targeted feature Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease. Omega is joined by additional new backer Brandon Capital – Australasia’s leading life science venture capital firm – and founding investor the Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech. With this financin ..read more

Marshall Aerospace has submitted its outline planning Application to Central Bedfordshire Council – paving the way for its relocation to Cranfield University Campus.  Up to 1200 people will be based at the new site and Marshall intends to take as many people as possible from Cambridge. The move remains some way distant so the official consultation process with staff will take place in due course but the company is already talking on a regular basis to colleagues to understand the sort of support they will need to make Cranfield a viable place of work for them. Marshall will continue to ..read more