Cambridge Tech Podcast

This week’s special guest, Andi Hektor, takes us on a deep dive into his journey from academia to entrepreneurship, how GScan is tackling critical infrastructure challenges, and why he chose Cambridge as the company’s UK base.GScan is pioneering Muon tomography, an advanced scanning technology originally used for border security but now revolutionising non-destructive testing (NDT) in construction. The technology helps detect corrosion and structural weaknesses in bridges and buildings, preventing costly and environmentally harmful demolitions. “Bridges are often demolished as a precaution because engineers can’t see inside them. We provide that visibility, potentially doubling their lifespan.”Initially setting up in London, Andi quickly realised Cambridge’s startup ecosystem was the ideal home for GScan: “London’s tech scene is great, but for deep tech, it’s easy to get lost. In Cambridge, you can build a network fast. The Bradfield Centre has been amazing.”

This week we meet the co-founders of Cambridge Female Founders Network, created in response to the lack of genuine support for women entrepreneurs.Key initiatives include:Founder Dinners & Fireside Chats – Creating spaces for female founders to connect.Funding Programmes – Helping women navigate the notoriously tough fundraising landscape.Investor & Conference Connections – Placing female founders on panels, in accelerators, and directly in front of investors.“Women have to pitch 4x more than men to secure funding. We’re changing that by connecting the right investors with the right founders.” — Clarisse Beurrier

This week’s episode features an insightful discussion with Roz Bird (Anglia Innovation Partnership) and Dr. Nicola Hancock (University of East Anglia) on the cutting-edge research, entrepreneurship, and ecosystem at Norwich Research Park.“We have more microbiologists here than anywhere else in the UK—possibly the world. That’s a testament to the depth of expertise we’re building.” – Roz BirdKey takeaways:A Hub for Science & Startups – The park hosts top-tier institutions, including the John Innes Centre, Quadram Institute, and the Earlham Institute, alongside the University of East Anglia and a thriving community of startups.From Lab to Market – Norwich Research Park fosters commercialisation through the ICURE programme, which helps scientists explore market applications for their research, and a £200,000 pre-seed fund supporting early-stage spinouts.Bridging the Talent Gap – The university and research institutes play a critical role in supplying skilled graduates and researchers to the growing tech and biotech companies in the region.A Future Accelerator – Plans are underway to launch a venture builder programme in 2025, offering targeted support to high-growth startups in biotech, #agritech, and #medtech.We were also joined by two standout startups who shared their journeys: Sophie Vaud, Head of Microbial Engineering at Colorifix and Rory Hornby, Cofounder of Alora.This episode is a must-listen for tech founders, investors, and anyone interested in #deeptech and #biotech innovation.Produced by Cambridge TV

This week, we caught up with Farbod Shakouri of Phantom Technology, a returning guest who’s undergone a significant pivot in his startup’s journey. Originally focused on building an operating system for smart glasses, Farbod and his team made a bold decision: to build the entire hardware and software stack themselves. Their mission? To help people combat smartphone addiction and improve cognitive health.If you’re a founder, investor, or tech enthusiast, this episode is packed with insights on:·       The evolving AI debate & public perception·       How Cambridge startups are tackling energy-efficient computing·       The hard truths of startup pivots & funding strategies·       Why attention-tracking wearables might be the next big thingProduced by Cambridge TV

This week, we sat down with Nick New, CEO of Optalysys, to explore the groundbreaking technology transforming data security, AI, and cloud services. From optical processing to fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), this episode dives into the cutting-edge innovations driving the next era of secure computing.Nick shares:·       His journey from his PhD in optical pattern recognition to founding Optalysys.·       How Optalysys leverages optical processing and FHE to process encrypted data without ever decrypting it—ushering in a new standard for secure AI and cloud computing.·       Optalysys’s big win at the Cambridge Tech Week Scale Up Awards and their plans for product launches, blockchain applications, and setting up a U.S office.·       Their mission to establish global hardware standards for FHE as part of the FETCH consortium.·       And, Optalysys's vision to become the “Nvidia of FHE.”Produced by Cambridge TV

In this episode we hear from the winners of The Trinity Bradfield Prize:·       Demetria who aims to reduce the time it takes for an endometriosis diagnosis from nine years to nine minutes using AI-assisted ultrasound.·       PowerMatrix who provide the most efficient and compact next-generation high-performance power supplies.·       Healthspan Biotics who develop and distribute safe, affordable and effective probiotic bacteria that enhances brain resilience to Alzheimer’s disease.This year’s awards also saw the introduction of the Angel Prize which recognises the most commercial progress over the previous 12 months from winning the competition. The prize was split between BioTryp Therapeutics and Cambridge Nucleomics.The winners also discuss their experiences during the competition, highlight the importance of networking and skill development for founders, and share their funding needs and expertise requirements.Produced by Cambridge TV

This week we are back with Alan Patterson from BeyondMath. As our most listened to episode to date, we re-run the original interview with Alan and Darren Garvey, topped with a quick update with the co-founders.We find out about progress in the acceleration of engineering design and simulation, saving companies orders of magnitude in engineering costs and time to market; from the design of everything from vehicles and aircraft, to lithium-ion batteries and data centre infrastructure.We hear about working with Formula 1, partnering with NVDIA as they successfully install one of the first DGX H200 servers worldwide, and a new consortium funding programme in aerospace, another key sector. We talk about team growth and their 2024 seed round led by UP Partners, with Insight Partners and InMotion Ventures, and prior investors.Produced by Cambridge TV

We learn all about Crystallography in this week’s episode with Suzanna Ward, Head of Data and Community at The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) – a non-profit organisation whose mission is to advance chemistry and crystallography for the public benefit.CCDC was created by Dr Olga Kennard OBE FRS and J D Bernal who believed the collective use of data would be beneficial and wanted to collect data and making it accessible, transform the data into knowledge banks, and generate new insights.We learn about the structural database and how researchers use it, and how their work now fosters innovation globally.It’s also a great story of how tech advancement has changed the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) over the years, and their support of the next generation of scientists. And we think this is the first episode where knitting needles have been referenced.Produced by Cambridge TV