Large building on busy Cambridge road to become ‘innovation hub’

The University of Cambridge has said the hub will ‘connect entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and researchers’

A large building on a busy Cambridge road is set to be transformed into an ‘innovation hub’. Social media users recently questioned what is happening with the building at 1-3 Hills Road.

The building was previously used by Cambridge Assessment and is owned by the University of Cambridge. It is set to become into an ‘innovation hub’ as part of a £500 million funding package for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor.

The University of Cambridge said: “Designed to drive UK growth, the Hub will connect entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and researchers on a 2.7-acre site in Hills Road, in the centre of Cambridge, as the UK’s answer to Boston’s Lab Central and Paris’s Station F. The new facility will support science start ups to grow and compete on the world stage.”

It is unclear how or whether the building will be changed for this purpose. There is no clear timeline yet on the innovation hub.

In an address at the beginning of the year, University of Cambridge vice chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice said: “In the centre of Cambridge, we are building an Innovation Hub that will bring together startups, scaling companies, corporate investment teams, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and our world-class research community, all in a facility located at 1-3 Hills Road, just a short walk from the train station.”

Science Minister and Oxford-Cambridge Innovation Champion, Lord Vallance, said when the £500 million funding was announced in October: “Cambridge is one of the world’s most fertile grounds for innovation to take root, and blossom into opportunities for investment, job creation, and progress in fields ranging from life sciences to deep tech.

“As impressive as these figures are, there is still more potential here for us to unleash. This is precisely why we are backing the Cambridge Innovation Hub, as part of our programme of work across Government to boost the entire Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor, and fulfil its promise as an economic engine the whole nation benefits from.”