St John's Innovation Centre (SJIC) is a business incubator in Cambridge, England. It houses a concentration of science and technology related businesses.

History

The idea for the innovation centre was first proposed by Dr Chris Johnson, who was Senior Bursar of St John's College, Cambridge, responsible for estates, investments and financial policy. The combination of his scientific background and an interest in the development of college land in Cambridge led to a visit in 1984 to universities and science parks in the US, including an innovation centre in Salt Lake City, Utah. Upon his return he convened a small group including architect Ian Purdy and Walter Herriot, a banker working with early-stage companies, to plan the St John's Innovation Centre. The publication in 1985 of The Cambridge Phenomenon: The Growth of High Technology Industry in a University Town by Segal Quince Wicksteed, demonstrated to the college that investment in this sector was likely to be successful. St John's Innovation Park was subsequently established on a 21 acre plot of land owned by St John's College since 1534, and the Innovation Centre itself was completed in 1987. It was the first innovation centre in Europe to focus on supporting knowledge-based businesses. It is the oldest such business incubator in the United Kingdom. A second phase, Dirac House was completed in July 1989, and the self-contained Jeffreys Building was completed in February 1990. Dirac House is named after Paul Dirac, Nobel Prize winner and member of St John's College, while the Jeffreys Building is named after Sir Harold Jeffreys, a fellow of St John's College. The current total net usable space is approximately 53000 sqft, divided between the buildings.

Location

St John's Innovation Centre is located approximately 3 km to the north of Cambridge city centre, close to junction 33 of the A14, and around 700 metres from Cambridge Science Park. St John's Innovation Centre is located squarely within the area known as Silicon Fen.

Cambridge Technopole

St John's Innovation Centre was the initiator of the Cambridge Technopole Group – an informal network of business support organisations operating in the Greater Cambridge region.

Tenants

Although most of the centre's tenants are start-up and early-stage companies operating in a wide range of leading-edge technologies, there are some long-standing residents who have maintained offices despite expanding to other locations, both within the UK and internationally. Around 60 companies are located on the site, employing over 300 people. Over a five-year period the survival rate for companies is over 88%, compared to about 50% for other similar businesses in the Cambridge area, and 45% for businesses generally in the UK.

Alumni

The following companies started life in St John's Innovation Centre: