Cambridge AI Spinout Ikva Limited Secures £350k to Advance Knowledge Discovery Platform

Ikva Limited, an artificial intelligence company based in Girton, has raised £350k in a new funding round. The transaction brings the post money valuation of the University of Cambridge spinout to £3.1m.

Founded in June 2017 by academics from the University of Cambridge and the Alan Turing Institute, Ikva develops an AI enabled knowledge discovery platform. The founding team includes computer scientists Dr Liang Wang, Professor Richard Mortier, and Professor Jon Crowcroft. Their software utilises advanced vector mapping technology to locate and retrieve relevant information from unstructured data, often referred to as dark data.

The platform is designed to solve a specific productivity problem. Knowledge workers frequently spend a significant portion of their day searching for internal information. Ikva addresses this inefficiency by pulling together rich documents, images, video, and chat records from disparate data silos into a single accessible interface. The system operates across multiple languages and file formats, providing accurate knowledge to users in real time as part of their regular workflow.

Operating on a business to business subscription model, the company targets knowledge intensive organisations. Its primary clients include legal practices and multinational engineering firms, with global engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald among its early adopters. The company currently operates with a headcount of approximately 20 employees.

Filings registered on March 23, 2026, confirm the £350k allotment, which originally took place on May 24, 2025. The £3.1m post money valuation suggests a modest pricing environment for the firm compared to its earlier capital raises. Ikva previously secured £175k in pre seed funding in 2018, followed by a £1.5m seed round in 2021 backed by Cambridge Enterprise, Crowdcube, and Parkwalk Advisors. The current £350k injection appears to serve as a bridge or extension round to support ongoing product development and operational needs.

The investment aligns with a broader surge of capital into the UK legal technology and AI sectors. According to recent figures from LawtechUK, investment in UK legal tech reached a record £188.8m in 2025, representing a 35 percent increase from the previous year. The number of UK founded legal tech companies also grew by 17 percent to reach 315 active businesses.

Investors have shown a strong preference for specialised AI applications over generic platforms. In the second half of 2025, knowledge management solutions accounted for 15 percent of all funded activity in the sector, while document and contract tools took 30 percent. Industry data indicates a clear market demand for tools that deliver immediate, measurable operational impact for legal and professional services firms. The companies successfully attracting capital are those combining AI capabilities with the strict professional oversight required by corporate clients, a trend that directly supports the core offering of the Ikva platform.