UK-based Phasecraft closes £13 million funding round
U.K. quantum computing software company Phasecraft has closed a £13 million ($16.5 million USD) Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley deeptech venture capital firm Playground Global. AlbionVC also joined the round along with participation from existing investors Episode1, Parkwalk Advisors, London Co-Investment Fund, and University College London Technology Fund.
“We’ll use the funding to continue building our team of world-leading quantum scientists, researchers and engineers, and to ultimately develop our breakthrough quantum algorithms to the point of practical advantage – when quantum computers outperform classical computers for useful, real-world applications,” the company said in a statement.
The new funding brings the London start-up’s total funding raised to £17.25 million ($21.9 million USD) in venture financing, along with £3.75 million ($4.7 million USD) in grant funding from the likes of Innovate UK and the European Research Council. Phasecraft closed its seed round of £3.7 million way back in 2020, and since then has worked with an array of quantum computing hardware companies, including Rigetti, IBM, and others..
Regarding the investment, Ashley Montanaro, co-founder and CEO of Phasecraft, 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, added, “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.”
Dan O’Shea has covered telecommunications and related topics including semiconductors, sensors, retail systems, digital payments and quantum computing/technology for over 25 years.
