A leading UK quantum computing startup has warned the government not to shelve further technology funding, saying it will lead to startups shifting investment overseas.
Earlier this month, it was revealed the new Labour government was shelving £1.3bn of funding pledged by the previous Conservative government for tech and AI projects.
Some in the industry criticised the government’s decision, with techUK, the trade body, saying the UK risked “losing out” to other countries.
Ashley Montanaro, the co-founder of quantum computing startup Phasecraft, which has raised £17.5m in funding, said:
“I would say that for businesses like ours that stability of funding and confidence of it being available once it is being announced is pretty important.
“I think you are seeing more and more companies like ours, who are setting up international offices and going where the level of support, excitement and enthusiasm about quantum is commensurate with their ambitions.
“If the UK wants to continue to remain an absolute world leader in quantum, there is going to have to be some support for that by government.”
The former Conservative government was a big supporter of quantum computing, pledging £2.5bn of funding over 10 years in a quantum strategy.
Montanaro added:
“The UK government has been a massive supporter of quantum over many years. Clearly we think this is a great thing for the UK.”
The CEO of the University College London and the University of Bristol spinout, founded in 2019, said there was no “reason to think” that Labour would be “negatively disposed to quantum”.
Earlier this year, Phasecraft set up an office in the US, in Washington DC, headed up by recent recruit, professor Steve Flammia, a heavy hitter in the industry who is a former research scientist at Amazon.
Two staff have joined in the US, with two recruits soon to follow while Phasecraft UK staff have been out to visit the US office.
Montanaro said setting up a team in the US had been “pretty smooth”.
He said that on the day it announced the opening of its US office, Phasecraft had more than 50 job applicants to join the startup.
He said:
“For some businesses, maybe 50 wouldn’t have been a huge number. But within quantum computing, it is pretty huge, because it’s an incredibly specialised field.
"And there are really only a few hundred people in the world that can do what we would like them to do.”
He said the US is a “world centre” for quantum computing talent.
Montanaro said over the next few years, the startup will look to open new offices, which could be in Europe while Australia is another possibility.
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