The second cohort for the Founders at the University of Cambridge’s START accelerator has been revealed.
The flagship initiative supports entrepreneurs applying university research and technology to some of the world’s most difficult problems.
They include Sqwish, which is building a real-time prompt compression API to reduce the size of inputs to foundational models, cutting cost and latency, while preserving response quality.
Pinepeak, solving the challenges of wildfire risk assessment with an ultra-granular simulator that has up to 90% prediction accuracy in urban and wildland areas, is also included.
Trismik provides fast reliable testing solutions for LLMs through a proprietary computer-adaptive testing method, delivering results up to 99% faster.
Cambridge Adaptive Testing is tackling school-age mental health challenges with an innovative age-specific platform for efficient mental health assessment.
Podromic is using AI to analyse data and predict how dementia patients will progress over time to support treatment.
Electra Bio is powering the future of data-driven drug discovery through the production of lab-ready research tools to enable large datasets.
Gastrobody Therapeutics is developing new treatments to tackle Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis which affects more than half a million people in the UK alone.
Stealth is a new quantum computing company operating in the semiconductor space, currently in stealth mode.
Gerard Grech CBE, managing director at Founders at the University of Cambridge – a former CEO at Tech Nation – said: “I’m delighted to see the launch of our START 2.0 cohort and highlight the brilliant University of Cambridge startups building deep technologies that have the potential to change the world.
“If there is one thing Cambridge isn’t in short supply of, it’s ambitious entrepreneurs, but there hasn’t been a bridge between that ambition and flawless execution.
“Recognising that entrepreneurial journeys are unique, we’ve now developed and launched two other programmes to complement START, including SYNC, a co-founder matching and hatching programme and SPARK, an incubator in partnership with Kings College Entrepreneurship Lab.
“In the meantime, we’re committed to working alongside these exceptional Start 2.0 founders and their teams to transform their groundbreaking innovations into globally significant companies.”
Martina King, CEO of Featurespace – which recently exited for a reported $1bn – said: “Taking a company from the early stages of Cambridge spinout into an impactful business feels like sitting on a rollercoaster of exhilarating breakthroughs and humbling setbacks.
“Scaling Featurespace has been incredibly rewarding – staying true to a vision with limited resources isn’t easy to achieve. This is why I’m excited to support the Founders at the University of Cambridge programme and this new cohort, with a goal of creating businesses that truly make a difference.
“As these founders face challenges we are planning a shortcut to success by sharing our own triumphs and defeats.”
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