Aviva Investors has made a £15m investment with venture capital firm, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), which specialises in early-stage life sciences and deep tech companies in Cambridge.

The investment has been made by the Aviva Investors Venture & Growth Capital Long Term Asset Fund (LTAF), which launched in January.

This fund has an initial commitment of approximately £150m from Aviva and aims to give DC pension funds and wealth markets better access to innovative growth companies.

Since its inception in 2013, CIC has raised £600m and invested in more than 40 companies, helping to accelerate their growth.

Aviva Investors’ commitment to the CIC Opportunity Fund also aligns with the Government’s plans to deliver the “Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor”, which aims to aid the region’s ambition to be a world-leading life science, tech and innovation cluster.

Managing director, venture and strategic capital at Aviva Investors, Ben Luckett, said: “As an investor with a long-standing presence in Cambridge, we understand its reputation as a world-leading technology cluster, the huge value of the unique ideas being created here, and their potential to create growth, success and impact.

“We believe CIC’s new fund and its unrivalled access to these early-stage companies, will enable us to support their growth whilst aiming to deliver long-term investment outcomes.”

Managing partner at CIC, Andrew Williamson, added: “CIC has traditionally invested in early-stage opportunities around Cambridge and has seen many of these companies mature into highly commercial businesses developing proven technologies.

“With this new fund we will support our portfolio companies, and scaleups from the UK ecosystem, as they reach a defining moment in their growth – and at exactly the point where the UK often loses its most exciting businesses. We want to be a part of that change, and we’re delighted to be working with Aviva Investors to achieve this ambition.”

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