This week we sit down with Samantha Woods, Director of Technology, Media and Telecoms for UK Corporate Banking at Barclays, to explore how Eagle Labs and innovation banking are lighting the way for startups, scale-ups, and the entire local ecosystem.

“Banking for all its pretense and purpose is moving money, receiving money, sending money… What I really want to do is enable my clients to do that in the least stressed way possible.”

Key takeaways from the episode:

• Finding your niche matters – Sam emphasizes making your passion visible and building the right advocates, whether you’re a founder or growing your career.

• Eagle Labs as a community engine – Since 2015, Barclays’ Labs have grown to 43 UK locations, offering workspaces, mentorship, and sector-focused hubs. Cambridge is now a national climate tech hub.

• Support at every stage – From online Founders’ Academy courses to accelerators for female and black founders, and sector-specific programmes, Labs help startups go from idea to IPO.

• Demo Directory & investor visibility – A platform where startups pitch directly to investors, turning ideas into funding opportunities.

• Facing the funding gap – Sam highlights the UK’s scale-up challenge: strong innovation but limited domestic growth capital, especially compared to the US.

• Sustainable innovation in action – Cambridge Eagle Lab itself is a retrofitted, solar-powered space demonstrating the kind of climate tech solutions it supports.

For anyone building, scaling, or funding a tech business in Cambridge, this episode offers both practical insight and a sense of community momentum.

Produced by Cambridge TV

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s episode features a rapid-fire yet insightful interview with Kathryn Chapman and Michael Anstey from Innovate Cambridge.

“It’s been a really good year for Cambridge. There’s a huge amount of momentum, inclusive innovation, and people really getting behind the agenda.”

Here are the key takeaways

A more united Cambridge tech cluster

• Innovate Cambridge has helped align the ecosystem around a clear, collective vision
• One voice into government is paying off, with £400m secured for ecosystem infrastructure
• Strong buy-in across academia, founders, VCs and industry
• AI is accelerating fast, while early-stage life sciences face tougher conditions, but the depth of local support continues to be a differentiator

Scaling ambition through partnership and inclusion

• Cambridge’s strength is not just density, but collaboration beyond the city
• Growing partnerships with Manchester and Oxford to unlock talent and investment
• A strong focus on inclusive innovation, from schools through to scaleups
• A push to raise ambition: less talk of unicorns, more focus on building decacorns

What’s top of the agenda for the year ahead

• Activating the Cambridge–Manchester partnership in a meaningful way
• Making innovation careers accessible to local talent through work with schools and councils
• Attracting more global R&D leaders to the region
• Backing founders to build, scale and exit globally

Quick facts from the conversation

• Cambridge now ranks 37th globally for tech cities (Savills)
• £60m raised for quantum networking, a new sector record
• Inclusive innovation and growth capital remain front and centre
• A call to tell the Cambridge story better on the world stage, spotlighting companies like TRIM and Cusp AI
• “We need more company creation, more exits, more global syndicates.”

Produced by Cambridge TV

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In another of our exclusive recording from Cambridge Tech Week we hear from leading experts as they explore the frameworks, policies, and innovations shaping the ethical expansion of AI.

As leaders race to integrate AI, ensuring safety, ethics, and trust is more critical than ever. How can we scale AI responsibly while mitigating risks, avoiding bias, and maintaining transparency?

The expert panel includes Emilie van der Lande (Creative Intelligence), Daniel Quirke (Wayve), Dr Jakob Mokander (Tony Blair Institute) and Ray Eitel-Porter (Lumyz Advisory).

Key takeaways

- Cambridge is setting new benchmarks for innovation and investment in AI, biotech, and space tech.

- Scaling responsibly means embedding AI governance, risk assessment, and inclusion at every level.

- The debate on regulation favours targeted, industry-led frameworks

- Mobility and AI are merging - promise and complexity will require cooperation between startups, regulators, and the public.

- The tech community should focus on people, not just software: “Stop thinking about tech as tech; think about the human risks.”

Produced by Cambridge TV

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.