Our Quantum Technology Report
“Over 34% of the UK’s high-growth quantum companies are spinouts” according to a recent Royal Academy of Engineering report.
I’m sure I’m not alone in finding that statistic unsurprising. It makes a lot of sense that the new generation of quantum computers, sensors, algorithms and communication protocols would emerge from research-intensive environments. In other words, quantum technology isn’t really a backyard science. It needs laboratories, fabrication facilities and collaborative expertise, all of which can be found in the UK’s top-tier research institutions.
Imagine a sliding scale starting out at high-growth AI companies, of which only 9% are spinouts, to high-growth Engineering Biology companies, of which 50% are university spinouts. The quantum technology company landscape has been slowly sliding up that scale and will likely continue to do so.
In terms of similarities, both quantum technology and engineering biology operate closer to the interface of deep scientific principles and real world translation. Both fields require the infrastructure and hardware for precision-manipulation at very small scales.
In fact, at risk of overhyping (see more below!), it wouldn’t be so far fetched to draw a comparison between the maturity of quantum technology companies at the moment, and the state of engineering biology in the mid-2000s. In the sense that the field has moved beyond its initial conceptual phase and has begun to experimentally demonstrate the foundational tools and methodologies that will allow it to mature.
At Cambridge Future Tech, we onboard some technologies and ventures with significant operational risk, and ensure that by the time these ventures reach their first institutional fundraising round, they are thoroughly derisked. Whilst being cognisant of hype surrounding sectors such as quantum technology, we think there are data-backed methodologies we can use to derisk investments in those sectors. One of those methods is backing the innovation spinning out of our top-tier research-backed institutions.
Covering over 400 pre-incorporation opportunities focusing on quantum and quantum-enabling technologies.
We have our finger on the pulse of both the private company landscape and the pre-incorporation landscape for quantum and adjacent technologies.
This report provides a detailed view of the UK’s rich pre-incorporation landscape of quantum technologies, broken down by technological subsector.
