Cambridge Female Founders Network

Huge congratulations to Dr Léa Wenger and the team at Cyclana Bio (ex. Cycle Therapeutics) on their £5M seed round led by NFX and Eka Ventures. What a moment. Cyclana Bio is tackling one of medicine’s biggest blind spots: endometriosis. Their approach combines multi-scale data collection and 3D tissue modelling to reach a tissue-level understanding of how the disease develops. This is a breakthrough that could transform both women’s health and drug discovery itself. Endometriosis affects around 1 in 10 women worldwide, causing chronic pain and infertility - yet still takes on average 7–8 years to diagnose and remains critically underfunded. By harnessing menstrual fluid as a living dataset, Dr Léa Wenger and her team are creating first-in-class physiological assays that finally reflect the biology of the condition - building the scientific foundation needed for a cure. We’re celebrating your win at CFFN tonight - the future of women’s health is being built right here! 🔗 Read more about Cyclana Bio: https://lnkd.in/eR_8qpAg  #WomensHealth #Endometriosis #Biotech #CambridgeInnovation #DrugDiscovery #CFFN #FemaleFounders

We had so much fun joining forces with Pillar VC's Encode: AI for Science and Innovate Cambridge last week for a morning that captured the best of the Cambridge ecosystem: a room of founders and scientists working across AI & science, asking the right questions on the future of that intersection. We opened our ‘open mic’ discussion with the question: 'Is the university still the best place to start a frontier science company?' Here’s what the room touched on: → We need stronger feedback loops between industry & departments, and more agile early stage agile pathways like internships to help reverse-engineer scientific problems.   → It’s also about culture: publishing vs. prototyping - and how we can retain the best experimental qualities of the university environment to explore, test, and begin to de-risk new science. → Not just more funding, but smarter funding models  → Translation needs to occur not just ‘out’ of the academy; but across disciplines → AI is reshaping the experimental space itself Huge thanks to everyone who joined and contributed to such a stimulating discussion Agata Nyga, Charlotte Ridley, Dr Elizabeth Amelia, Feng Huang, Jimena Segura, Jin Huang, Katie Beckwith, Lisa Dratva, Mariya Hendriksen, Miruna Cretu, Mobeen Kosar, Philine Lou Bommer, Pili Mayora, Pooja Damodaran, Rachel Lawrence, Rasa Elmentaite, Sasha Eremina, Shijing Sun, Shruti Mishra! And special thanks to our partners Leone Baron, Leah Elizabeth Morris, Pashiini Supramaniam and our own Maya Gavin for making this event such an energising start to the day. ⚡

The Oxbridge AI Challenge 2025 kicked off at Keble College, Oxford - bringing together 180 founders, investors, and students from across Oxford and Cambridge. 🚀 We were really pleased to be able to support our friends at Oxbridge AI Challenge & Oxbridge AI X on their launch, spotlighting how AI founders are building at the intersection of science, strategy and scale. The evening kicked off in conversation, Georgina Smithwick (Techstars London) who shared important founder-first reminders: ➡️ Talk to your customers relentlessly. ➡️ The next wave of startups will come from domain experts using AI to solve real problems. ➡️ Fundraising is a two-way street - find partners who add value beyond the cheque. ✨A special thanks to our very own Blossom Tariro Kafumbata for representing CFFN on the night - and to the Oxbridge AI Challenge & Oxbridge AI X team and partners including King's E-Lab, Microsoft, Microsoft for Startups, Digital Realty, Keble College, Oxford, Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society, Cambridge University Entrepreneurs, Oxford Edge, Cambridge Entrepreneur Society, and Oxford Seed Fund for making it happen. Exciting momentum building collaboratively between our ends of the Golden Triangle - and we’re proud to be part of it. #CFFN #OxbridgeAI #CambridgeInnovation #AIEntrepreneurship #FemaleFounders

⚙️ Congratulations to CFFN member Dr. Liz Zijing Li FCIOB - Founder & CEO of Mimicrete - on winning The GEAR by Kajima's Built Environment Accelerated Commercialisation Prize. Mimicrete is developing biomimetic self-healing concrete that repairs itself autonomously, strengthens from day one, and more than doubles structure lifespan - helping the "world’s most destructive material" become significantly more sustainable. Founded out of the University of Cambridge Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group, Mimicrete is now collaborating with Kajima to bring this next-gen materials technology to real-world projects in the built environment. Excited to see what’s next as Mimicrete scales this breakthrough in sustainable construction! 🔗 Learn more about Mimicrete: https://www.mimicrete.com/ #Mimicrete #BuiltEnvironment #MaterialsScience #Sustainability #Infrastructure #SelfHealingConcrete #FemaleFounders #CFFN #CambridgeCluster #Innovation #DeepTech

The “Superpowers” that Drive Start-Up Success ⚡ On Thursday November 6th, we’re joining forces with the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) for a panel exploring the skills, mindsets, and transitions that enable founders to move from industry to start-up - and succeed. Hosted by Cambridge Enterprise at ideaSpace, the session will be moderated by Jill Walker (Founder, Beacon Scientific Consulting) and feature: 💡 Lluna Gallego Segrelles (Co-Founder, Vector Bioscience Cambridge & Cambridge Female Founders Network) 💡Jenny Barnett (CEO & Co-Founder, Monument Therapeutics 💡 Hazel Jones, C-Suite Partner (Biotech & Venture Operations) Together, they’ll share how experience in healthcare and pharma can translate into venture-building, the realities of scaling science-based start-ups, and how to partner effectively across sectors to accelerate innovation. 📍 Cambridge Enterprise, Hauser Forum 🗓️ Thursday, 6 November 2025 | 5:00 - 8:30 PM 🔗 Register: https://lnkd.in/diGdz8Wh Open to all healthcare and pharma professionals curious about building, partnering, or leading in the start-up space. #CFFN #CambridgeFemaleFounders #HBACambridge #HBAImpact #CambridgeInnovation #WomenInSTEM #HealthcareInnovation #Biotech #Startups

🚀 Announcement: We’re launching a new Substack series to showcase the world-shaping ventures emerging from our network. For our first Spotlight, we sat down with Tara Love, Co-Founder and CTO of NANOPLUME. NANOPLUME is re-inventing insulation with bio-based aerogels: ultra-light, high-performance materials with the power to cut emissions, reduce energy poverty, and transform how we insulate buildings and ship critical goods. NANOPLUME is already piloting in the cold chain, where lightweight aerogels can extend vaccine and biopharma shipments from 70 to 150 hours – cutting losses that cost the sector an estimated $34bn annually. Long term, they’re targeting construction: an industry where insulation is both a major carbon source and a lever for efficiency. “We believe energy efficiency is the silver bullet for climate goals. Everyone focuses on new energy generation, but conserving what we already use will make the biggest difference.” – Tara Love, NANOPLUME 📖 Read the full profile here: https://lnkd.in/ejmvSY7k #CFFN #CambridgeInnovation #FemaleFounders #ClimateTech #EnergyEfficiency #SustainableMaterials #ColdChain #ConstructionInnovation

Next Thursday, we’re bringing together Cambridge's most interesting women founders and scientists in AI – in collaboration with Pillar VC's Encode: AI for Science Fellowship and Innovate Cambridge. 📆 Thursday 9 October | 8:30 - 9:30am 📍 The Glasshouse, Cambridge If you’re an founder in AI, a researcher working across AI for Science, or simply curious about the intersection of venture and research in this space - this breakfast is for you. We’ll be accelerating new ideas and connections in the room: with asks and offers shared in advance, a group discussion designed to create real value, and a look at how Encode Fellows are embedding AI into frontier science. 🔗 RSVP here: https://luma.com/2cpb511a See you there ⚡

We recently co-hosted an Oxbridge & Imperial founders in AI dinner which brought together 35 women building at the forefront of their industries. It was great getting a chance to collaborate with our friends at xWAVES, Oxbridge-AIx, and the Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society (special shoutout to Theresia M.R. Heinrich, Meric Sevgi Eren FRSA, and Udai D.) uniting our combined ecosystems with a shared purpose: to strengthen the connective tissue across Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial, to create space for founders to find peers who understand the challenges behind the headlines. What made it really special? The mix. Founders from idea stage all the way up to Series A, scaling solutions that support the future of education, health, finance and beyond. Everyone was so kind and genuinely listened to one another. These cross-pollination evenings don’t feel like “work” – they feel hopeful, joyful even - like the world is shifting for the better around us. Huge thank you to our hosts Merantix Capital and London AI Hub - and to Matilda G., you are a star ⭐ At CFFN, we host these dinners to give founders space to connect with peers who get it - and to build founder-led infrastructure that connects talent, capital, and ideas in new ways. 👉 If you want to be part of this movement - updating the way we assess good business to focus on excellence first - join the network: https://lnkd.in/erJRbye2 #CFFN #FemaleFounders #CambridgeInnovation #Oxbridge #DeepTech #AI

Huge congratulations to Jenny Barnett and the team at Monument Therapeutics on advancing MT1988 into patient studies: a major step for the field of precision psychiatry. Schizophrenia affects ~24M people worldwide, yet there are no approved treatments for the cognitive deficits (memory, attention, executive function) that determine long-term independence and quality of life. Monument’s approach uses digital biomarkers to match patients by brain biology, applying precision medicine to psychiatry in the same way it has transformed cancer treatment. Their proof-of-principle trial with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health aims to accelerate the development of more effective treatments for schizophrenia and related conditions. A shift with implications well beyond this single programme. We are proud to have Monument Therapeutics in the Cambridge Female Founder Network. Watching this space with real excitement as Monument moves neuroscience-driven drug development into new territory 🔗 Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gnKrhGDP 🌐 https://lnkd.in/dBQaGhEu #MonumentTherapeutics #Neuroscience #Schizophrenia #CognitiveImpairment #DrugDevelopment #ClinicalTrials #FemaleFounders #CFFN #CambridgeCluster

🚀 Congratulations to Dr Agata Nyga and the SynLaia Innovations team on being awarded an Innovate UK #Biomedical Catalyst grant through the #AI in Health competition SynLaia is developing a patient-centric discovery and validation platform that incorporates tissue-scale disease insights, mechanobiology, and in silico tissue models to optimise and validate therapeutic opportunities. Their work brings an entirely new dimension into drug discovery: tissue mechanics. Current single-cell technologies often miss the physical context of disease, but SynLaia’s “MechanoMaps” make the mechanical states of cells measurable and actionable. This shift could accelerate the discovery of biomarkers and drug targets in hard-to-treat cancers like pancreatic and lung, where new options are urgently needed. By combining spatial biology with AI-driven mechanoprofiling, and partnering with Adrien Hallou at University of Oxford, SynLaia is building a platform with the potential to reshape precision medicine - moving beyond the molecular to unlock more effective therapies. Proud to have Agata in the Cambridge Female Founders Network and excited to see where SynLaia goes next. 🔗 Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eDX25nSP #SynLaia #Mechanomics #DrugDiscovery #InnovateUK #BiomedicalCatalyst #AIinHealth #SpatialBiology #PrecisionMedicine #Biotech #TissueMechanics #PioneerAccelerator #FemaleFounders #CFFN #CambridgeCluster