CTW24 is a pivotal event, as it serves as a showcase for the city's vibrant technology sector, bringing together industry leaders, innovators, startups, and academics from across the ecosystem. This September, Cambridge Tech Week will return to Cambridge, from the 9th to the 13th. The event is set to attract tech leaders, innovators, and investors from around the world to showcase Cambridge and the UK’s global lead in tech innovations and advancement.

CTW24 will focus on the key themes of ‘Innovate, Invest and Grow’, taking a deep dive into the latest in AI, semiconductors, quantum technologies and much more. With insightful presentations, engaging discussions, and interactive sessions, CTW24 will welcome entrepreneurs, founders, corporate leaders, investors, government, academia, and influencers in the ecosystem to share their knowledge and insights.

Innovator and Investor Day

The second day of the event will be its focused ‘Innovator and Investor Day.’ This day will be one for the startups in the Cambridge tech ecosystem, where the focus will be on them.

During the day there will be the Innovation Alley Showcase, which will feature startups and scaleups showcasing their innovations in the famous Corn Exchange venue. This will be a showcase of the best startups that Cambridge has to offer, which will display the greatness that the Cambridge ecosystem holds within it, proving why the city’s ecosystem is one of the best in the country.
“We’ll be running pitch events on stage, but in separate rooms [we’ll run] specialist investor pitch events to a select audience,” mentioned Chris Bruce, Chair of the CTW24 Steering Committee.

He continued discussing the purpose of CTW24: “to put a spotlight on great investment opportunities, and encourage investors to collaborate as technologists to join us to share outcomes.”

Cambridge as a tech hub

At the London launch of Cambridge Tech Week, experts in the field were invited to discuss Cambridge and why they believe that Cambridge is a tech hub that is worth focusing on.  

“Cambridge for me is just emblematic of what a tech hub looks like. It’s not massive in size and scale, but when you look at all the topics around chips, quantum, and AI, I just think it’s incredibly exciting,” commented Russ Shaw CBE, Founder of Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates. “I think where Cambridge excels is that it’s not just one tech sector. It encourages them to make sure they’re not just in one tech vertical, but multiple tech verticals.”

Cian Hughes, Partner at Sure Valley Ventures, said: “For me it’s always about people, and I think with Cambridge, it’s got so many great minds. And I think that’s what makes the Cambridge ecosystem very, very special.”

With experience of being a founder in the area, Stan Boland, CEO of FiveAI spoke about his experience. “Cambridge is a really open place to do business. So, the university spinout approach is incredibly liberal, and is very different from other universities.

“Each of the deals I’ve done have been different. The first deal I did, we were coached by Amadeus Capital Partners on how to pitch ourselves to US investors. We learned how to express the ambition of what we’re going to do and really create a much bigger vision.”

The Cambridge ecosystem has much to show for it, and CTW24 is due to be an exciting event that will put Cambridge on the map for the tech innovations that are consistently happening in the area.