Episode 182 features five of this year's #21toWatch winners - and if you're in the startup ecosystem, this one's unmissable.

For those unfamiliar, for the last eight years #21toWatch has been high on the regions innovation showcase, and the numbers speak for themselves. Over eight cohorts, 168 companies have landed on the list and collectively raised a staggering £721 million. This year marks a particularly poignant milestone: its Faye's final year running the programme after creating it back in 2018. But we think you’ll agree, she's gone out with a bang.

In this episode we talk to five of the winning companies:

• Cyclana Bio is tackling drug discovery from first principles, focusing on the extracellular matrix (the "biological dark matter" comprising 90% of your tissue). Lea Wenger explains how their multidisciplinary approach spanning Cambridge and Manchester is already attracting serious attention, with £5 million raised so far.
• Obasense is developing ultra-sensitive gas sensors for indoor air quality monitoring -particularly timely given the UK's new mould regulations. Founder, Osarenkhoe Ogbeide, is also building African mythology comics on the side!
• Myonerv is creating wearable neurostimulators for stroke rehabilitation. Sam Kourali's personal story - inspired by his cousin's stroke - drives a compelling business model targeting the US market's $60 billion opportunity.
• NANOPLUME just announced £2.2 million in funding for their bio-based aerogel thermal insulation. Three times more insulating than conventional materials, 60% lighter, and fully circular. Co-founder Tara Love says they're eyeing product launch within 18 months.
• Polytecks is mapping bioelectricity through flexible electrode arrays - starting with veterinary cardiology (dog heart disease affects over 80% of dogs) before moving to human diagnostics. Ruben Ruiz-Mateos Serrano tells us more.

This episode captures something essential about where UK deep tech innovation is heading. These aren't incremental improvements - they're fundamental reimagining’s of how we solve problems in healthcare, climate tech, and industrial systems.

Subscribe now and join the conversation. Because the next unicorn might just be one of these five.

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In this week’s episode, Nweike Onwuyali founder of Ziphii, suggests that technology companies are "fundamentally flawed" in their approach. They build tools for customers and their employees but often exclude the actual end-users who need to interact with the solution. Nweike proposes that most players either have advertising-centric DNA or remain stuck in the "tool mindset."

Nweike wants to do something different with Ziphii which launches this month. The product "Webb" offers a unified digital home for individuals, solopreneurs, and creators. It integrates four pillars:

1. Presence - your digital identity and portfolio

2. Experiences - booking, blogging, contact management

3. Commerce - built-in monetisation

4. Community - owned audience management

In addition to introducing “Webb”, the real heart of this episode is Nweike's journey and his vision for Ziphii. His story is compelling: from building websites in Nigeria in 2000 to scaling a 60-person enterprise software company, Nweike brings genuine perspective on how technology evolves.

Headline sponsor Holden Polestar

#CamTechPod

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This episode reveals why quantum computing's next big breakthrough might not be about building better qubits, it's about connecting them together.

NuQuantum's journey is a masterclass in pivoting based on market reality.

"Quantum computing is reassuringly hard," Ed explains. "Whatever technique you pursue, there are different limits of scale. But pretty much every modality hits a point where you can't physically assemble enough qubits in a monolithic machine to solve valuable problems."

The solution? Apply classic computing. Just as data centres rely on networking to make distributed computing work, quantum computers need interconnection to scale beyond their physical limits.

"No one company, probably no one country is going to dominate this. This is going to be a collective endeavour, woven together to make highly valuable, highly resilient solutions."

With Series A funding secured, NuQuantum is on an aggressive expansion trajectory.

Ready to dive deeper? Listen to the full episode on the Cambridge Tech Podcast to hear Ed's insights on scaling quantum systems, building diverse teams, and why decent coffee matters more than you'd think.

Headline sponsor Holden Polestar

#CamTechPod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.