Inside Cambridge Enterprise's Push into the London Deep Tech Ecosystem

A question circulating in the UK tech community asks for details on a new Cambridge Enterprise initiative called "Leaps," reportedly launched in London with founding partners Phoenix Court, Balderton Capital, and the BioInnovation Institute Foundation. The stated purpose is to embed Cambridge deep tech startups in London's ecosystem for better access to global markets, talent, and investment. After examining all available sources, the picture is more nuanced: the specific "Leaps" framework remains publicly unverified, but the individual puzzle pieces that would form such an initiative are very much real and in motion.

The Confirmed Foundation: A London Office Opens

In June 2025, Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialization arm of the University of Cambridge, opened its first-ever London office in King's Cross . The strategy behind this physical presence is explicit: to strengthen ties with investors and partners, expand its global reach, and accelerate the journey from Cambridge innovation to commercial reality . Its position next door to Google's new European headquarters is a signal of intent, placing the university's innovation gateway just 48 minutes by train from Cambridge and deep within London's commercial heart .

This move was not an isolated tactic. It follows a series of recent initiatives designed to supercharge the Cambridge-to-London pipeline for deep tech spinouts. These include the flagship "Founders at the University of Cambridge" programme, which brought 100 leading tech entrepreneurs and investors—including partners from Balderton Capital—to mentor and coach startup founders . It also includes a commitment of £100 million from Cambridge Innovation Capital to back university spinouts, partly through an Entrepreneur in Residence programme built on Cambridge Enterprise's work .

The Named Partners: How They Fit Without a Confirmed 'Leaps' Label

The three founding partners queried—Phoenix Court, Balderton Capital, and the BioInnovation Institute Foundation—do not appear together in any single sourced document as part of a Cambridge Enterprise "Leaps" initiative. However, their individual connections to Cambridge's ecosystem and the London deep tech scene are well documented.

• Balderton Capital and Phoenix Court were named just last year as partners in NVIDIA's landmark £2 billion UK AI investment. Alongside firms like Accel and Air Street Capital, they committed to providing capital to accelerate the UK's AI ecosystem . This places them at the center of the same London-based deep tech funding environment that the King's Cross office is designed to access. Balderton's connection to Cambridge is even older: Suranga Chandratillake, a partner at the firm, is a Cambridge alumnus and was among the first cohort of experts for the "Founders at the University of Cambridge" programme .
• The BioInnovation Institute (BII) Foundation, a Copenhagen-based life sciences foundation, does not appear in any of the provided sources. Its inclusion in the query hints at a cross-border deep tech partnership that may be in development but is not yet a matter of public record within this document set.

What the Leaps Brand Could Represent

The name "Leaps" is notably absent from Cambridge Enterprise's own publications about its London strategy. The sources do contain a number of other "LEAP" acronyms—the former London Economic Action Partnership , an Imperial College incubator in West London , and a European air defense project —but none have any connection to Cambridge Enterprise. Unless the initiative is known by a specific acronym (the query uses "Leaps" as a proper noun) and is simply too new to appear in the sourced material, it may be that the concept is described differently on the ground.

In practical terms, Cambridge Enterprise is executing precisely the strategy attributed to "Leaps." The King's Cross office is embedding the university's innovation arm in London, providing a direct line to global investors. The "Founders" programme is embedding top VC talent—including the named firms—into the Cambridge startup support structure . The missing link is a single, branded initiative that bundles all this activity under the "Leaps" name with the specific founding partnership described.

The Advisory Board and Executive Question

The query also asks for notable advisory board members and executives. The provided sources do not reveal any board or leadership list for a "Leaps" initiative. They do, however, identify key executives at the helm of Cambridge Enterprise's broader effort: Diarmuid O'Brien, Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise, who described the Founders programme as "a game changer" , and Gerard Grech, recruited to lead that flagship Founders initiative . On the partner side, individuals like Suranga Chandratillake at Balderton Capital and partners at Phoenix Court have visible roles in the adjacent collaborations, but none within a confirmed "Leaps" structure.

The Verdict: An Evolving Story

We cannot confirm the existence, founding structure, or personnel of a Cambridge Enterprise initiative officially called "Leaps" based on the evidence at hand. This could mean one of two things: either the initiative operates under a different name, or its details have yet to be published in sources that our retrieval system captured. The strategic machinery that would underpin such an initiative is not only real but accelerating. Our advice is to monitor Cambridge Enterprise's official communications and the public output of the named partners for a formal launch, which would resolve the gap between the clearly documented strategy and the still-unverified label.