Cambridge University’s free early stage incubation facility for start-ups is expected to be viable though the university does not even insist on a contribution from successful enterprises, says Simon Stockley, senior lecturer in entrepreneurship at the Judge Business School.
He says the university does not take equity in the ventures though commercial incubators acquire 7 to 7.5 per cent equity in the ventures. It is expected that when they exit they make a contribution though there is no formal contract, he adds. “It remains to be seen whether the economic model will work”, he says, but expresses optimism that the economic model will work. However, it may be hard to replicate the model in other parts of the world. The nature of the network around Cambridge, where reputation is valuable is a big factor, he says.
The first of its 80 start-ups, Vocal IQ, sold its voice recognition software to Apple for $100 million, he says.
