Fresh frontiers as new scale-up and growth hub is developed in Cambridge

The partnership will see the group take a 20-year lease on a facility dedicated to startup and early-stage science and technology companies at Abstract’s newly developed South Cambridge Science Centre in Sawston.

Frontier IP intends to sublet space to its portfolio companies and other innovative companies aligned with its focus on deep technology and life sciences. It will also move its commercialisation team, currently based in Duxford, into the facility.

In return for becoming an anchor tenant, Abstract has paid Frontier IP £1 million cash upfront cash and will provide the space rent free for the first 12 months of Frontier IP’s occupancy.

Developing a facility at the SCSC will enable Frontier IP to cement and strengthen its presence at the heart of a world-leading Cambridge science and technology ecosystem and, by extension, within the UK’s innovation golden triangle of Cambridge, Oxford and London.

The SCSC is strategically located close to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which includes Addenbrooke's Hospital, GSK, AstraZeneca, the Babraham Research Campus, Granta Park and Unity Campus.

It is close to road and rail links and the city centre. This means it is easy to reach for the firm's networks of industry partners, investors and capital providers in Cambridge and those from further afield in the UK and internationally. The centre will also provide a base to support Frontier IP’s other portfolio companies from elsewhere in the UK, Italy and Portugal.

The group believes the innovation hub has the potential to launch a step change in the Group’s scale up and growth since a central, physical location will have the potential to:-

Make it easier to identify and access new deal flow. As well as raising Frontier IP’s profile in the Cambridge ecosystem, the space will offer prospective companies high-quality space and networking opportunities and regular interaction with Frontier IP

Accelerate development and growth of new and existing portfolio companies and improve operational efficiency. The group provides hands-on commercialisation services to start-up and early-stage companies.

Provide direct contact between Frontier IP’s commercialisation team and portfolio companies day-to-day should help to reduce costs and drive projects forward at pace

Improve access to funding for the Group and the portfolio. The Centre will enable Frontier IP to showcase companies from across the portfolio to leverage relationships with existing investors and attract new investors

Accelerate exits and realisations. A central location for Frontier IP and its portfolio companies to support marketing and promotion to corporate partners, funders and acquirers. The Group intends to use the facility as a base for regular events.

Under the terms of the agreement, Frontier IP is taking one floor of 18,000 square feet in the SCSC. The Group will be responsible for the costs associated with the innovation hub, including investment in expanding or improving facilities, but will profit from any rental income above a conservatively modelled breakeven point.

Cambridge is one of the world’s leading centres for innovation and is a magnet for scientists, engineers and technologists. There is strong demand for space in the city and its environs. Frontier IP believes its offering to prospective tenants will be competitive. It is anticipated that the Frontier IP innovation hub will open by the end of 2025.

Frontier IP Chief Executive Officer Neil Crabb said: “I am excited by the possibilities offered when our innovation hub opens. I believe it will provide the basis to transform Frontier IP’s growth potential. We anticipate that a number of our portfolio companies will move in and that it will prove highly attractive to other potential start-ups and early-stage companies because of its place at the centre of Cambridge’s investor and science and technology networks.

“Our business model is based on identifying promising IP and providing hands-on commercialisation services to build successful businesses. Having a much closer physical presence between our commercialisation teams, portfolio companies and potential portfolio companies will enable us to accelerate their development and scale-up, and, eventually, successful exits.”

Abstract Chief Executive Officer, Mark Glatman, said: “We are delighted to welcome Frontier IP as our first occupier at the SCSC so soon after completing the first phase of development. This commitment is one of the most significant lettings in the wider Cambridge science market during 2025.

“It provides a very complementary offering within the space we have developed, creating synergies for a range of potential future occupiers from startups to more established life science and technology companies. They stand to benefit from close proximity to Frontier IP, investors, their portfolio companies and some of the specialist technology they will have in their facilities.”