Insider Brief
- Quantum Exponential Group signed an MOU with the government-aligned Harwell Quantum Cluster to strengthen home help for UK quantum applied sciences.
- The partnership aligns QE’s £100 million Quantum Technologies Fund with nationwide amenities such because the NQCC and NPL to handle the UK’s scale-up funding hole.
- The collaboration goals to help greater than 100 quantum corporations over the following decade by enhancing investor entry to Britain’s quantum infrastructure and ecosystem.
PRESS RELEASE — Quantum Exponential Group plc (QE) – the UK’s first investor group solely targeted on quantum applied sciences – has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Harwell Quantum Cluster, led by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which is a part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI). The partnership brings QE into nearer collaboration with one of many UK’s most necessary government-backed quantum hubs, situated on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.
The settlement addresses a crucial problem dealing with British deep-tech startups: the scale-up funding hole that dangers homegrown applied sciences being acquired by overseas buyers or relocating abroad, as highlighted by a latest RUSI report. The MOU coincides with QE’s new £100 million Quantum Technologies Fund, created to handle the scale-up funding hole that threatens the UK’s means to compete within the world quantum race.
Protecting UK quantum sovereignty by means of strategic funding
The Harwell Quantum Cluster is a flagship nationwide setting for quantum innovation. It brings collectively STFC; the Harwell Joint Venture (Brookfield Asset Management and the UK Atomic Energy Authority); the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT); and the Department for Business and Trade. The cluster hyperlinks instantly to the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) on the Harwell Campus and works carefully with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), one other main DSIT-backed nationwide hub.
By partnering with this government-aligned infrastructure, QE turns into one of many first non-public buyers to work instantly alongside the UK’s nationwide quantum amenities, serving to be sure that British quantum breakthroughs translate into British-based corporations.
Steve Metcalfe, CEO of Quantum Exponential, mentioned:
“Working directly with the Harwell Quantum Cluster and the London Quantum Cluster, together with national facilities including the NQCC, NPL, and the Institute of Physics, creates a clear pathway to keep quantum innovation, jobs, and wealth creation in the UK. Britain leads the world in quantum research, yet without accessible domestic investment we risk seeing our most promising companies bought up overseas. This partnership reinforces the UK’s technological sovereignty and ensures investors can engage with one of the most dynamic sectors in global deep tech.”
£100 million fund to anchor the UK quantum provide chain
The fund will deploy round two-thirds of its capital into UK corporations rising from the nationwide quantum ecosystem, supporting startups and accelerating commercialisation whereas strengthening Britain’s home quantum provide chain. This dedication enhances UKRI’s long-term authorities funding and attracts important non-public capital to translate analysis into scalable corporations.
The fund will make investments throughout quantum computing, sensing, communications, and enabling applied sciences, from seed to scale. QE brings a confirmed 3.5-year monitor report, eight revenue-generating portfolio corporations, and efficiency targets within the prime quartile of deep-tech funds (25–33% IRR). The energy of the UK’s sector has already helped safe an anchor Letter of Intent from a serious Silicon Valley investor.
Unprecedented entry to Britain’s quantum infrastructure
Under the MOU, QE will work with Harwell management to establish early-stage corporations inside government-backed environments and help their development throughout the broader ecosystem, together with hyperlinks to the NQCC, NPL, and STFC’s nationwide laboratories. Investors achieve unmatched entry to Britain’s most superior quantum amenities.
Over the following decade, the Harwell Quantum Cluster goals to develop greater than 100 quantum-focused corporations, create over 1,000 high-value jobs, and appeal to greater than £1 billion in private and non-private funding. This partnership instantly helps these ambitions.
QE welcomes curiosity from household places of work, institutional buyers, sovereign funds, and strategic business companions in search of publicity to the rising world quantum expertise sector.