Image credit: yeiferr from Pixabay
Cambridge has placed second behind Manchester for tech start-up activity outside of London, a new study has revealed.
For the research, software development firm KLOC analysed Crunchbase data for tech businesses created outside the capital since January 2020. Cities were scored based on the following factors:
Each factor was scored out of 10.
Cambridge came in second, scoring a total of 25.72 points (vs. Manchester’s total of 27.38).
The city scored three points for the number of start-ups in the area and 3.61 points for having the second highest funding for start-ups (£25.7m - an impressive feat considering that Cambridge has only witnessed three new start-ups since January 2020). Cambridge’s average annual salary of £43,325 for software engineers scored it 9.6 – the second highest behind Belfast. Finally, the University of Cambridge ranked second for Computer Science, securing a score of 9.44.
Manchester, which took the top spot for tech start-up activity outside of London, has 10 tech start-ups, the most in the country alongside Edinburgh. It received a score of eight for its average annual salary for software engineers (£38,066), while its university, the University of Manchester, ranked third for computer science.
Edinburgh placed third, scoring 24.28 in total. The city scored 10 points for its 10 tech start-ups created since January 2020, which have attracted a total of £404,125 in funding. The average annual salary for a software engineer in Edinburgh stands at £38,962.
A spokesperson from KLOC commented: “The study highlights that there are plenty of vibrant tech start-up scenes outside London. This is very encouraging for entrepreneurs as it demonstrates that there are plenty of options beyond the capital which can offer lower operational costs and still provide a talented workforce.”
Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC), the largest employment site in Cambridge, has published its emerging Vision for future evolution and development, including plans to double its workforce over the next 20 years.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover continues to notch up world firsts, now becoming the first device in history to extract oxygen from the Martian Planet.
The sale of Arm Holdings, one of Cambridge’s largest technology companies, to US-based Nvidia is being blocked by the UK Government for national security reasons.
Discovering a potential new animal species is exciting. But to confirm their thoughts, scientists typically need to perform a dissection, essentially killing the specimen. However, MRI and CT scan technologies could provide another option.
Cambridge ranked in the top 5 cities outside London when it came to VC investment in 2020, new research from Tech Nation shows. While London was ranked number one for tech investment, Cambridge joined Oxford, Bristol and Edinburgh in the top 5, attracting $193 million of VC tech investment in 2020.
The number of technology jobs in the UK has witnessed a significant decline (57%) over the past year, with fewer than 55,000 open roles advertised, according to the latest UK Tech Talent Tracker from Accenture. However, despite this rather disappointing trend, demand for skills in cutting-edge technologies is on the up.
A Cambridge University tech spinout has raised £3.7m as part of a series C funding. Wound healing medtech firm Inotec AMD says it will use the funds to help it expand in the United States and other commercial markets.
NASA has released some dramatic high-res video of its Perseverance Rover landing on Mars. The first-of-its-kind video shows the unmanned exploration vehicle touching down on the Red Planet’s surface and also includes the first audio recorded on Mars.
Hydroponic farming – which basically skips the soil and sees plants grown in nutrient-rich water -- is challenging traditional methods. To ensure the ongoing operational success of such farms, Cambridge engineers have developed a Digital Twin that provides bespoke feedback to farmers.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the immense importance of keeping surfaces and other areas we come into contact with clean and sanitised. To help with this plight, a Suffolk company – backed by the Accelerate Cambridge programme – has developed an innovative antiviral coating technology that kills viruses, including Covid-19, on any surface. And it has now won government funding to help further its work.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has set a record for the number of satellites launched into orbit on a single rocket. The ambitious rideshare mission — called Transporter-1 — saw one of SpaceX’s veteran Falcon 9 boosters lift off with 143 small satellites aboard, before successfully landing at sea.
A former University of Cambridge alumna could become the first woman to walk on the moon. Kayla Barron, a Gates Cambridge Scholar and NASA astronaut, has been selected to become part of NASA’s Artemis Team. This makes Kayla eligible for the next astronaut missions, which could see her become the first woman to step foot on Earth’s only natural satellite.