UK ‘risks losing quantum champions’ without government backing
Britain risks losing its remaining homegrown quantum computing companies to overseas rivals within two years unless ministers step up investment and prioritise British tech, the boss of Universal Quantum has warned.
Sebastian Weidt, chief executive and co-founder of the Sussex-based quantum startup, told City AM that the government’s decisions over the coming months would determine whether his company continued expanding in Britain or shifted more of its operations abroad.
His warning comes just weeks after Universal Quantum raised $100m in the UK’s largest quantum Series A funding round, with the company securing most of its backing from overseas investors.
The company has also unveiled a new quantum processing chip designed to connect enough qubits to build commercially useful quantum computers, aiming to solve one of the industry’s biggest obstacles.
“We would have liked to have taken more UK capital”, Weidt said. “We found it significantly easier to do that internationally, which is bizarre”.
Despite Britain’s £2bn commitment to quantum technologies, Weidt questioned whether public funding was reaching the right companies, arguing that ministers should prioritise domestic developers over better-funded international competitors.
“I think there is a question around whether that capital that’s being deployed is being deployed in the right way”, he said.
“How much of that capital is actually going to international players? And we’re seeing more of that, which makes no sense in my mind”.
A warning over Britain’s quantum sovereignty
The comments come as the government places greater emphasis on tech sovereignty, including plans to strengthen British control over AI infrastructure.
But Weidt warned that Britain risks repeating its mistakes in AI by developing world-leading technology without retaining the companies that commercialise it.
“I think we’ve missed the boat on [AI]. But for quantum, [it’s] one of the last opportunities we have to get a trillion-dollar company in Europe, in the UK”, he said.
“The opportunity, hand on heart, is there. The tech is here to do that. If the support and the environment was there, this could be done here”.
Weidt called for the government to take equity stakes in British quantum companies and award more public contracts to domestic developers.
He argued that government investment could give Britain a greater say over where companies develop their technology and retain intellectual property.
“If you’re not part of that conversation, it’s actually at some point not down to me anymore”, he said, referring to decisions ultimately made by company boards and shareholders.
The warning comes as the US takes a more interventionist approach, backing domestic quantum manufacturers through government investment and efforts to secure critical supply chains.
Weidt also called for a dedicated quantum minister, questioning why the technology lacked the political attention afforded to AI.
“We have an AI minister. Why don’t we have a quantum minister?” he told City AM.
Global expansion
Universal Quantum, founded in 2018 as a University of Sussex spinout, is developing modular quantum computers designed to connect multiple processor chips into larger systems.
Its newly launched iQPU chip has an active computing area exceeding 400 square millimetres and is manufactured on a commercial 200mm semiconductor line.
The company says its proprietary technology allows processors to exchange quantum information without having to redesign the entire system as it grows.
The launch follows its $100m fundraising round, which will support further development of the chips alongside international expansion.
The company already holds contracts worth €67m with the German Aerospace Center to develop two quantum computers.
Weidt said government contracts were particularly important because the location of customers and funding often determined where research and development took place.
“Does it come from Germany? Does it come from Singapore? Does it come from the US? Does it come from the UK?” he said.
“Often where that capital comes from is where some of that development happens”.
He also said that whether the company’s future growth would remain in the UK “depends how the UK government [responds] in the next few months”.
“We would love to. We’re deeply rooted here, but at the end of the day, the environment needs to be such that we can be successful and competitive on the global stage from the UK”.
Weidt estimated that Britain had between 12 and 24 months to secure its position before overseas investment and competition risked drawing more companies and intellectual property abroad.
While commercially useful quantum computers remain several years away, he warned that waiting until the technology matures would be too late.
“It’s all happening right now”, he said. “The UK will either lose more of its IP, more of its companies, or not be competitive with international players”.
The company expects genuinely useful quantum computing applications to emerge within three to five years in selected areas, including drug discovery, materials science and financial services.