The accelerator will award grant and equity funding to derisk quantum technologies over the next four years.
Commercialisation firm IP Group and state funding agency UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) teamed up yesterday to form a £12m ($15.7m) accelerator aimed at nurturing early-stage quantum technologies.
The accelerator, dubbed Investment Partnership in Quantum Technologies, will offer $7.9m in grants to derisk quantum projects to be matched by at least the same amount in equity funding.
Applicants must exploit what are known as second-generation quantum processes, where quantum physical states are clearly modulated to create effects such as superposition within machinery including quantum computers.
Technologies believed critical to the creation of commercially-viable quantum processes and products will also be considered.
The accelerator will run for four years, awarding as much as $1.3m of grant funding to each project. All projects must be completed within two years of the grant award.
UKRI will offer assistance sourcing and evaluating projects for the accelerator, which will be supervised by two investment directors at IP Group: Manjari Chandran-Ramesh and Lee Thornton.
Manjari Chandran-Ramesh, who focuses on IP Group’s quantum tech portfolio, said: “Quantum technologies are theoretically the most powerful way to perform computations and this cutting-edge field has been an area of interest to IP Group for many years.
“In the last decade, key technical progress has meant that the field is ready for commercial ventures to bring the technologies out of the lab and towards the mainstream.”
The accelerator will be funded through UKRI’s Commercialising Quantum Technologies Challenge, a $193m initiative set up through its Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
