Listed intellectual property commercialisation specialist Frontier IP has entered into a strategic partnership with Abstract Mid-Tech Limited to create a new innovation hub in Cambridge.

The partnership will see the group take a 20-year lease on a facility dedicated to startup and early-stage science and technology companies at Abstract’s newly developed South Cambridge Science Centre (SCSC).

London-based Frontier IP intends to sublet space to its portfolio companies and other innovative companies aligned with its focus on deep technology and life sciences. 

It will also move its commercialisation team, currently based in Duxford, Cambridge, into the facility.

Abstract has paid Frontier IP an upfront cash payment of £1m and will provide the space rent free for the first 12 months of Frontier IP’s occupancy.

The SCSC is located close to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which includes Addenbrookes Hospital, GSK, AstraZeneca, the Babraham Research Campus, Granta Park and Unity Campus. It is close to road and rail links and the city centre. 

The centre will also provide a base to support Frontier IP’s other portfolio companies from elsewhere in the UK, Italy and Portugal.

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Under the terms of the agreement, the company is taking one floor of 18,000 square feet in the SCSC, which is expected to open by the end of 2025.

“I am excited by the possibilities offered when our innovation hub opens,” said Neil Crabb, CEO of Frontier IP. “I believe it will provide the basis to transform Frontier IP’s growth potential.” 

“We anticipate that a number of our portfolio companies will move in and that it will prove highly attractive to other potential start-ups and early-stage companies because of its place at the centre of Cambridge’s investor and science and technology networks. 

“Our business model is based on identifying promising IP and providing hands-on commercialisation services to build successful businesses. 

“Having a much closer physical presence between our commercialisation teams, portfolio companies and potential portfolio companies will enable us to accelerate their development and scale-up, and, eventually, successful exits.”

Mark Glatman, CEO of Abstract, added: “We are delighted to welcome Frontier IP as our first occupier at the SCSC so soon after completing the first phase of development.  This commitment is one of the most significant lettings in the wider Cambridge science market during 2025. 

“It provides a very complementary offering within the space we have developed, creating synergies for a range of potential future occupiers from startups to more established life science and technology companies. 

“They stand to benefit from close proximity to Frontier IP, investors, their portfolio companies and some of the specialist technology they will have in their facilities.”

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