UK-based Quantum Motion raises £8 million to develop scalable quantum computing architecture

Quantum Motion Technologies (QMT), a UK-based quantum computing spin-out of UCL and Oxford University, has raised an £8 million Series A round led by Dutch firm INKEF Capital. Octopus Ventures and the National Security Strategic Investment Fund joined existing investors Oxford Sciences Innovation, Parkwalk Advisors and IP Group, as well. Founded in 2017, the deep tech startup is working on patented technology (silicon spin-based qubit architectures) that makes it possible to build a functional, ‘fault-tolerant’ quantum computer in a reasonable size that could be manufactured at scale. “There are many ways to create a quantum computer, but to achieve true fault tolerance and thus explore the deepest and most powerful algorithms, electron spins in silicon may prove to be the best – or even the only – practical solution,” said Prof. Simon Benjamin, one of the company’s founders. Robert Jan Galema of INKEF Capital agrees that the potential of a technology is best understood after it’s made accessible and practical. “The microprocessor only really took off when scalable production hit, and complexity, price and size could be reduced,” he said, continuing on to explain that the goal here is to build “a scalable quantum computer that is not the size of a football stadium.”

INKEF and other investors believe QMT can build one using its silicon-based qubit architecture, especially because the technology is compatible with CMOS, a standard manufacturing process.