IQ Capital

AccelerComm is a Southampton-based semiconductor IP company spun out of the University of Southampton's Electronics and Computer Science department in 2016 by Professor Rob Maunder and Dr Taihai Chen. The company commercialises forward error correction and channel coding algorithms for 5G, 6G, and satellite non-terrestrial networks, with products including high-performance LDPC and POLAR error correction IP. AccelerComm's technology powers over 200 production satellites currently in orbit, with customers including Vodafone, Intel, AMD, and National Instruments. The company raised a total of $52.8M, including a £21.5M Series B in 2023 led by ParkWalk, SwisscomVentures, and Hostplus, and a subsequent $15M round in 2025.

ToffeeX

3D Printing·Series A

ToffeeX is a London-based physics-driven generative design software company founded in 2019 by three Imperial College London researchers: Audrey Gaymann, Marco Pietropaoli (CEO), and Francesco Montomoli. The platform uses advanced physics simulations to automatically optimise complex thermal fluid components such as cold plates, heat exchangers, and heat sinks in hours rather than weeks, supporting additive manufacturing, machining, stamping, and chemical etching. ToffeeX has established traction with clients including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, EOS, Ricoh, GE, Toyota, Baker Hughes, Westinghouse, and the Fraunhofer Institute. The company raised £1M in seed funding from IQ Capital in 2020, followed by a £5M Series A in 2022 led by Presidio Ventures.

QuadSAT

Defence Tech·Series A

QuadSAT is a Denmark-based defence technology company founded in 2017 by Joakim Espeland (CEO) and Andrian Buchi (CTO), who met as mechanical engineering students at VIA University College. Espeland, a Norwegian RF engineer with five years of experience in maritime satellite communications, identified inefficiencies in satellite antenna testing that required expensive ship deployments. The company develops drone-based RF measurement and antenna testing systems, with traction including operational campaigns with OneWeb and the European Space Agency. QuadSAT maintains a UK registered office in London to serve NATO-aligned defence customers across Europe. The company raised €9M in Series A funding led by IQ Capital in 2023, followed by a €5M extension in 2025 led by Join Capital and North Ventures.

Porotech

Semiconductors·Series A

Porotech is a University of Cambridge spinout founded in 2018 following over a decade of research in gallium nitride materials, formally spun out in January 2020. Led by CEO Dr Tongtong Zhu with 15+ years of III-nitride semiconductor expertise, CSO Professor Rachel Oliver (Director of the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride), and CTO Dr Yingjun Liu, the company created a novel porous GaN semiconductor material enabling next-generation micro-LED displays. The technology offers brighter, sharper displays for smartphones, smartwatches, AR/VR headsets, and outdoor environments. Porotech has raised $25.4M to date, including a £3M seed extension led by Speedinvest and a $20M Series A in 2022 led by Ameba Capital.

Paragraf

Advanced Materials·Series C

Paragraf is a University of Cambridge spinout founded in 2017 by Simon Thomas (CEO), Professor Sir Colin Humphreys, and Ivor Guiney. The company commercialises graphene and other two-dimensional materials at scale using standard semiconductor fabrication equipment, with a proprietary direct deposition technique that produces device-quality graphene on 8-inch wafers without metal catalysts or transfer processes. Paragraf launched its first product in 2019, a graphene-based Hall-effect sensor offering 30x greater sensitivity than conventional silicon at one-tenth the power. The sensor portfolio has expanded to include molecular sensors for healthcare, agritech, food production, and chemical manufacturing. The company has raised over £140M across four rounds, including a $55M Series C in 2025 led by Mubadala.

OSS

Space Tech·Growth

Oxford Space Systems was founded in 2013 by a team of serial entrepreneurs and engineers including Matthew John, Juan Reveles, Mike Lawton, Matthew Dreaper, and Vincent Fraux, with Sean Sutcliffe joining as CEO in 2019. Based in Harwell, the company develops deployable antenna systems for satellite missions using its flagship Wrapped Rib technology, which combines traditional space engineering with expertise from Formula One and textiles to enable parabolic reflectors to stow compactly for lightweight spacecraft. OSS has partnered with Surrey Satellite Technology on synthetic aperture radar payloads for the UK Space Agency and Space Norway, and was selected as a key supplier for the UK Ministry of Defence Oberon earth observation mission led by Airbus Defence and Space. The company has grown to over 100 employees and raised $31M from investors including Longwall Ventures, IQ Capital, Foresight Group, and NSSIF.

Nyobolt

Energy·Series C

Nyobolt was established in 2019 to commercialise breakthrough battery research from the University of Cambridge's Department of Chemistry. Co-founded by Professor Dame Clare Grey, a Royal Society Fellow with decades of battery research expertise, and CEO Dr Sai Shivareddy, who holds a Cambridge PhD and previously collaborated with Dyson on energy storage. The company's core innovation uses niobium tungsten oxide as an anode material, enabling rapid ion mobility that multiplies charging speeds compared to conventional graphite anodes. In June 2024, Nyobolt made history as the first company to demonstrate five-minute EV charging, going from 10% to 80% in four minutes and 37 seconds. The company closed 2024 with $9M in revenue and over $150M in signed customer contracts spanning AI data centres, autonomous robotics, and electric vehicles. Nyobolt has raised $100M to date across multiple rounds.

Mytos

Hiring

Biotech·Series A

Mytos automates the production of stem cell-derived regenerative medicines using proprietary robotics. Founded in 2016 by Ali Afshar and Ignacio Willats, who met during Afshar's PhD at Imperial College where he became frustrated by manual laboratory processes and began building robots to automate repetitive tasks. The platform takes stem cells (iPSCs) and fully automates their differentiation into specific cell types such as neurons and cardiac cells, replacing manual touchpoints with precisely controlled, programmable steps. In 2023, Mytos closed a $19M Series A led by Buckley Ventures, joined by IQ Capital and Wing VC. The company has launched its iDEM platform as an automated contract development and manufacturing organisation, with its first facility at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult's Stevenage Manufacturing Innovation Centre targeting clinical readiness by September 2026.

Molyon

Energy·Seed

Molyon is a University of Cambridge spinout from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy developing next-generation lithium-sulphur batteries with double the energy density of conventional lithium-ion cells. The company emerged from 15 years of research by Professor Manish Chhowalla, focusing on metallic molybdenum disulfide as a breakthrough cathode technology. Founded in February 2024 by Dr Ismail Sami (CEO) and Dr Zhuangnan Li (CTO), who met while studying under Chhowalla, the startup has demonstrated batteries achieving energy densities of 500 Wh/kg compared to approximately 250 Wh/kg for typical Li-ion cells. In November 2024, Molyon secured €4.3M in seed funding co-led by IQ Capital and Plural, with participation from Cambridge Enterprise and ParkWalk, targeting initial applications in drones and robotics.

IONATE

Hiring

Energy·Series A

IONATE was founded in 2019 by Matthew Williams, Robert Ricci, and Luca Mezossy-Dona to modernise century-old power infrastructure through intelligent hardware and software. Williams brings 15 years of experience as an electrical and control engineer, having previously founded The Faraday Grid. The company's flagship product is the Hybrid Intelligent Transformer (HIT), a solid-state transformer providing precision power flow control up to 36 kV, paired with the Aurora Neuralis distributed control software for system-level optimisation. IONATE was named a front-runner in hybrid transformers by Cleantech Group's 2026 Global Cleantech 100 and featured in the IEA's 2026 State of Energy Innovation Report. The company closed a £3.3M seed round in 2022 led by IQ Capital, followed by a $17M Series A in February 2025 led by AlbionVC with participation from IQT and strategic investors.

FocalPoint

Hiring

Computer Hardware·Series C

FocalPoint was founded in 2015 by Dr Ramsey Faragher as a University of Cambridge spinout. Faragher holds a PhD in the effects of multipath interference on radio positioning systems and previously served as Principal Scientist at BAE Systems, where he developed the award-winning NAVSOP opportunistic positioning suite. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and Bye Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge. The company's core innovation is Supercorrelation, a patented chipset-level software that improves the sensitivity, accuracy, and reliability of GNSS receivers without additional hardware. FocalPoint offers S-GNSS Auto for automotive, S-GNSS Cell for smartphones, and S-GNSS Wear for fitness tracking. The company has a strategic partnership with STMicroelectronics and received investment from GM Ventures. FocalPoint has raised $69.2M across multiple rounds, including a Series C co-led by Molten Ventures and Gresham House.

Flink

Robotics·Seed

Flink is an ETH Zurich spinout developing FlinkAI, software that transforms industrial robots into plug-and-play systems for material handling. Founded in 2023 by Moritz Geilinger, Simon Huber, and Stelian Coros, the company's AI-driven perception and physics-based execution engine enables robots to pack, unload, and sort any material within minutes without altering existing facilities. Flink has raised $4.57M in seed funding backed by Cambridge-based IQ Capital alongside Ellipsis Venture, Founderful, Material Ventures, and Venture Kick, and is expanding across European markets including the UK.

Cambridge GaN Devices

Hiring

Semiconductors·Series C

Cambridge GaN Devices was spun out from Cambridge University's Department of Engineering in 2016 by Dr Giorgia Longobardi (CEO) and Professor Florin Udrea (CTO). The fabless semiconductor company designs and commercialises gallium nitride power transistors and integrated circuits through its proprietary ICeGaN technology, enabling energy efficiency levels exceeding 99% and reducing energy consumption by up to 50% in applications including data centre power supplies and automotive electric vehicles. The technology builds on decades of GaN research at Cambridge, with Udrea's work recognised through induction into the ISPSD Hall of Fame. The company raised $32M in a Series C in February 2025, bringing total funding to over $60M from investors including IQ Capital, ParkWalk, BGF, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Foresight Group, and British Patient Capital.

Aibuild

Hiring

3D Printing·Series A

Aibuild was founded in 2015 by Daghan Cam and Michail Desyllas, both architects formerly at Zaha Hadid who transitioned into computational geometry and additive manufacturing. The company develops AiSync, a cloud-based AI and machine learning platform that optimises industrial-scale additive manufacturing through toolpath optimisation, quality control, and process automation. Early customers including Boeing have achieved 65% reductions in failed production attempts and 90% improvements in overall build efficiency. The platform enables manufacturers to reduce costs, lead times, and material waste while automating the entire additive manufacturing workflow. Aibuild raised an $8.5M Series A in 2023 led by IQ Capital, with participation from Nikon, Superseed, ACT Venture Partners, Atlas Ventures, and Seedcamp, bringing total funding to $14.8M.

Pictura Bio

Biotech·Seed

Pictura Bio emerged from research at the University of Oxford Department of Physics, combining single-molecule fluorescent microscopy with machine learning. Co-founded in 2021 by Dr Nicolas Shiaelis and Associate Professor Nicole Robb, the company developed a world-first diagnostic test that identifies known respiratory viruses such as influenza and COVID-19 within five minutes from a single nasal or throat swab. The core technology, branded PIC-ID, combines molecular labelling, computer vision, and machine learning to create a universal diagnostic imaging platform. Pictura Bio secured a Defence and Security Accelerator contract generating £500K in early revenue upon delivery of a portable prototype in 2024. The company has raised £4.8M to date from IQ Capital, Ahren Innovation Capital, Science Creates, and Flu Labs.