British compute sector surged ahead in 2024, report shows

The UK’s deeptech ecosystem is positioning itself as Europe's infrastructural base for AI, with the compute sector emerging as a central pillar of national tech strategy. A new report by AlbionVC and data platform Beauhurst reveals that equity investment in the sector - encompassing quantum computing, neuromorphic chips, and photonic processors - has skyrocketed from just £3M in 2015 to £284M in 2024.

The data points to a significant shift in the UK’s ability to support capital-intensive innovation, as nearly 40 percent of compute deals in 2024 surpassed £10M, a benchmark that no company in the sector reached just nine years earlier. 

The increase in funding signals growing investor confidence in the UK's capacity to scale sovereign tech, a priority as Europe seeks to reduce reliance on foreign compute infrastructure. Deals now average £5.3 million more than those in the broader deep tech sector, reflecting the higher R&D and infrastructure demands associated with compute-intensive startups.

“The Deep Tech and Future of Compute Report shows how the UK is emerging as a global leader in these industries,” said David Grimm, Partner at AlbionVC. “Particularly in fields like quantum computing – now among the fastest-scaling in deeptech.”

The UK’s “Golden Triangle” of Oxford, Cambridge, and London is at the heart of this momentum. The University of Oxford alone has spun out eight Future of Compute companies since 2015, while both Cambridge and London institutions (UCL and Imperial College combined) have produced six each. In just the last two years, these spinouts have raised a total of £563M, an indication of how fast academic research is being commercialised into venture-scale businesses.

Among standout companies, Oxford Quantum Circuits raised £79.5M in two rounds across 2023 and 2024, while UCL spinout Oriole Networks secured £27.5M within 18 months of incorporation. Other top funding recipients include Riverlane (£73.6M) and Quantum Motion (£42.5M), all focused on quantum computing - arguably the most mature and investment-attractive domain within Future of Compute.

This trend is part of a broader shift in the UK’s startup funding landscape. Where small deals under £100k accounted for a significant share of transactions a decade ago, they represented just 3 percent in 2024. The report attributes this to a market preference for fewer, higher-value investments that can carry companies through major inflection points like hardware development, chip fabrication, or quantum systems integration.

Notably, the report warns of a growing imbalance between private and public funding. While equity capital is flowing at unprecedented rates, grant funding for Future of Compute fell from £34.3M in 2023 to just £28.9M in 2024. Grimm notes that this could endanger the early-stage research that fuels the sector’s growth: “The recent reduction in grant funding risks slowing down innovation at its earliest stages, where these breakthroughs often emerge.”

The findings come at a time when the UK government is positioning itself as a global science and technology superpower. Future of Compute—by enabling advances in AI, secure communications, and data processing—is seen as a foundational layer of that ambition.

With investors like Parkwalk Advisors, Oxford Science Enterprises, and AlbionVC leading the charge, the UK now appears closer than ever to building a self-sustaining deep tech ecosystem. The challenge ahead lies in sustaining this growth across funding stages, and ensuring that world-class research continues to translate into globally competitive businesses.