British quantum computing startup Quantum Motion raises $50.5 million • InNewCL
British quantum computing startup Quantum Motion raises $50.5 million • InNewCL
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British quantum computing firm Quantum Motion has raised £42m ($50.5m) in a Bosch Ventures (RBVC)-led equity round involving Porsche, the UK Government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) and a multitude ) upset more investors.
Quantum computing, for the uninitiated, is built on principles borrowed from quantum mechanics, with a focus on quantum bits (qubits) rather than atoms, and promises to advance what’s possible with computers by performing complex calculations in a fraction of the time. Use cases can be accelerating new drug discoveries or powering the massive amount of data processing required for AI applications.
“Quantum computers will think very differently than computers do today,” James Palles-Dimmock, CEO of Quantum Motion, told InNewCL. “Problems that would take a supercomputer thousands of years to solve could be solved in minutes by a quantum computer. The earliest impacts will be seen in areas of materials science, including energy materials, chemistry such as drug discovery or optimization – possibly down to logistics and transportation.”
Founded in 2017 by UCL and Oxford University professors John Morton and Simon Benjamin, respectively, Quantum Motion aims to create “scalable quantum computers” through new quantum computing architectures compatible with established silicon processing.
As with normal computers, heat negatively affects the qubits in quantum computing, which means quantum computers must be kept very cold. Quantum Motion says it has developed integrated circuits capable of “generating, conducting and processing signals at low cryogenic temperatures” operating just a few tenths of a degree above absolute zero.
“Our silicon-based quantum chips are typically a few millimeters in diameter, and we anticipate that the cooling system required to run the chip will have a form factor similar to a standard 19-inch server rack,” said Palles-Dimmock. “Being able to demonstrate that our approach to quantum computing does not require data centers the size of football fields or massive CERN facilities was one of the reasons for our location in central London.”
Quantum Motion: Working on the dilution refrigerator Image credit: Quantum Motion
quantum leap
Quantum Motion’s latest boost comes amid a flurry of activity in the quantum computing space. In the past month alone, we’ve seen French startup Pasqal raise €100 million, while Israel’s Quantum Machines closed its $70 billion Series B round and Australia’s Quantum Brilliance secured $18 million. Elsewhere, Finnish company IQM, French company Alice&Bob and UK-based Quantum Circuits have all raised significant amounts of VC cash over the past year.
Quantum Motion and its ilk also face a host of competitors in the big-tech sphere, including IBM, which recently unveiled its 433-qubit quantum computer Osprey, while Google got a new quantum computer sibling after Alphabet last year Sandbox spun off AQ as a standalone company that raised $500 million in funding just last week. Elsewhere, other tech juggernauts like Microsoft and Intel are also investing heavily in quantum.
So, what can Quantum Motion and its upstarts bring into the mix that the deep-pocketed giants can’t?
“Compared to the big tech companies, we have the advantage of being agile, focused on a single goal and having a team that is comparable to the best in the world,” said Palles-Dimmock. “We have a highly skilled team in multiple disciplines, including instrumentation and control (IC) engineering, quantum theory, hardware and software, and strong relationships with world-leading universities to help us find these talents.”
James Palles-Dimmock, CEO of Quantum Motion, with co-founders Prof. John Morton (CTO) and Prof. Simon Benjamin (CSO) Credit: Quantum Motion
Quantum Motion had previously raised about $24 million in equity and major financings, and with its new cash injection, the company said it plans to accelerate its development of silicon quantum processors by building “deeper relationships” with manufacturers. In fact, the startup’s strategic investors, including Bosch and Porsche, give a hint of the impact Quantum Motion is expected to have on the industry – quantum computing could transform battery technology as we know it, allowing scientists and researchers to simulate batteries, to better understand what is at the molecular level, to optimize materials and thereby improve energy density.
But the true possibilities are virtually endless, and it’s hard to imagine just how transformative quantum computing will prove.
“Just like arithmetic in the early 1960s, it was hard to predict what amazing things arithmetic would lead to, and yet it revolutionized our society,” said Palles-Dimmock. “It wasn’t until computers got into people’s hands everywhere that we really got creative and pushed the boundaries of what computers could do. Quantum computing will be similar, we know it will be transformative in areas like drug discovery, battery technology and more, but we won’t know how transformative they will be until we get there.”
It is worth noting that while quantum computing is advancing at breakneck speed, it is still relatively in its infancy and the fruits of all the current research and development work that we are seeing across the board may be a few years away.
“There are many quantum computing companies today, and they are all in R&D mode,” said Palles-Dimmock. “Investors know it takes time. It could be the end of the decade before we have really effective quantum computers. This increase allows us to strengthen our relationship with manufacturing partners and demonstrate prototypes that can be scaled to millions of qubits.”
Quantum Motion’s recent cash injection included contributions from Octopus Ventures, Oxford Sciences Enterprises, British Patient Capital, Inkef, Parkwalk Advisors and IP Group.
