Oxford Quantum Circuits lands “coming-of-age” £260M funding round

The boss of an Oxford University quantum computing spinout today declared its £260m funding round as a “coming-of-age” moment, indicating that British companies can play a leading role in the field.

Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) said its £260m Series C was Europe’s largest-ever private quantum computing funding round.

The round was led by Bullhound Capital, with investment also coming from the British Business Bank, Fynveur, Cofides, Alpha Edison, Fulcrum Asset Management, Pentland Ventures and Magdalen College Oxford among others.

Existing investors, including Oxford Science Enterprises, SBI, and Chevron Technology Ventures, also participated in the round.

OQC, which was spun out of Oxford University in 2017, develops quantum computing hardware and software, with a focus on developing quantum computers that can be used for research, and commercial applications. Its target customers are businesses and governments, it says.

The Reading-based startup is developing "superconducting" quantum computers which use quantum bits (qubits) rather than conventional computer bits.

It deploys its tech via data centres, offering its tech to companies and researchers as a cloud service, meaning they can access the tech remotely without owning the hardware.

It says that financial services, defence and security companies are driving demand for its tech, as they look for "secure" quantum tech to tackle problems beyond classical computing.

The funds will be used to boost OQC's presence in key markets and speed up its path to "commercially useful" quantum computing.

Gerald Mullally, CEO of OQC, said: “This is a coming-of-age moment for British quantum computing. It shows that British companies can play a leading role in a technology that will shape all our futures. Globally, it represents a clear shift in the market - from long-term promise to near-term delivery in quantum computing. For OQC, this gives us the capital to scale internationally, advance our technology roadmap, and meet increasing demand from customers seeking secure, scalable access to quantum computing infrastructure.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: “OQC’s £260 million funding round is a major vote of confidence in the UK’s quantum sector and shows that the UK continues to be the place where the industries of the future are being created.”