Bristol’s Phasecraft makes Quantum leap with £13m fundraise
Phasecraft, a spin-out of University College London and the University of Bristol, has raised £13m in funding to develop quantum algorithms for practical real-world applications.
The funding round was led by Silicon Valley deeptech VC Playground Global. AlbionVC also joined the round along with participation from existing investors Episode1, Parkwalk Advisors, LCIF, and UCL Technology Fund.
Phasecraft was founded in 2019 by Professors Ashley Montanaro (CEO), Toby Cubitt (CTO and chief science officer) and John Morton.
Phasecraft will use this funding to further develop its quantum algorithms to the point of practical quantum advantage – when quantum computers outperform classical computers for useful real-world applications like developing new materials.
The company has hired some of the world’s leading quantum scientists, and recently hired computational chemistry and materials science expert Glenn Jones, former head of computational modelling at Johnson Matthey, to lead its materials work. Entrepreneur and investor Ian Hogarth, recently appointed chair of the UK’s AI Foundational Model Taskforce, is chairman of the board.
The new funding brings the total raised by Phasecraft to £17.25m in venture funding, as well as a further £3.75m in grant funding from the likes of Innovate UK and the European Research Council, which will be used to continue building the team of world-leading quantum scientists, researchers and engineers and to further establish Phasecraft as the world leader in quantum algorithms.
Montanaro said: “For all the advances that have been made in quantum hardware, and for all quantum computing’s promise, such progress could end up being for nothing if we can’t build the applications needed to make the technology truly useful. With our record-breaking algorithms and groundbreaking techniques, we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in this space. With support from such a renowned deep-tech visionary as Playground, we think practical quantum advantage is achievable in years, not decades.”
Peter Barrett, general partner, Playground Global: “Phasecraft’s team of world-class quantum scientists and engineers bring an unmatched expertise and a fresh perspective to one of the biggest challenges facing our quantum future – bridging the gap between quantum hardware capacity and real-world applications. At Playground, we’ve always believed that unlocking quantum’s potential requires a very special, dedicated and experienced team and we believe Phasecraft is uniquely positioned to help deliver our quantum future.”
