Cambridge Tech Week 2026 closed last week after five days of debate, dealmaking and networking – and it was the biggest to date.
This year’s programme placed a sharper focus on the practical challenge of turning world-class research and technology into scalable businesses and real-world applications.
Held from 14th-18th September under the theme ‘How Deep Tech Changes the World’, this year’s event drew 1,781 delegates from 52 countries – a 15% increase on last year’s event.
Delegates came from as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Chile, Singapore, Paraguay and Brazil.
Across the week, discussions ranged from artificial intelligence and quantum computing to HealthTech, MedTech, energy, infrastructure and security.
But beneath the breadth of the programme was a consistent question: what does it take to move deep technology beyond the laboratory and into the market?
Founders and technology companies used the week to meet potential investors, customers and partners alongside researchers and other businesses.
Innovation Alley at Cambridge Guildhall brought more than 80 emerging companies and scaleups together, providing a concentrated showcase of the technologies being developed across the Cambridge ecosystem and beyond.
The Cambridge Tech Week Pitch Competition provided another snapshot of that emerging pipeline. Myonerv won the 2026 competition, taking the £5,000 first prize for its wearable neurostimulation technology aimed at helping stroke patients regain movement.
The motivation behind the technology was founder and CEO Sam Kamali’s cousin Nader, who, aged 11, suffered a sudden stroke on a playground caused by a bleeding brain tumour from undiagnosed leukaemia.
The international dimension of the week was also significant. The British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce brought more than 20 companies to Cambridge, with eight Serbian businesses exhibiting in its pavilion across areas including AI, telecommunications, cybersecurity, AgriTech, Health Tech and biotechnology.
The programme also examined the infrastructure required to support the next generation of technology, including the energy demands of AI, the development of sovereign computing capability and the implications of dual-use technologies for national security.
The Big Tech Debate brought some of those questions together, examining the increasingly blurred boundary between civilian and defence technology, while dedicated deep-dive sessions explored the development and commercialisation of AI, quantum and advanced health technologies.
“Cambridge Tech Week was a powerful demonstration of Cambridge’s global leadership in DeepTech,” said Michaela Eschbach (pictured above), CEO of CWConnected, organisers of the event.
“Across five extraordinary days, we brought together the people, ideas and technologies with the potential to change the world, creating connections and conversations that will continue long beyond the event itself.”
This year’s event was made possible thanks to a string of sponsors including HMGCC, Amazon Web Services, NatWest & Coutts, Platform Recruitment, TTP plc, Advantage Austria UK, the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and Cambridge Consultants.