Bristol-based quantum computing startup Phasecraft has announced a £13 million (US$16.5 million) Series-A funding round led by Silicon Valley venture capital fund Playground Global.
Albion Capital Group, Episode1, Parkwalk Advisors, LCIF and UCL Technology Fund also took part in the funding round.
Founded in 2019 as a spinout from UCL and the University of Bristol, Phasecraft aims to “solve problems beyond the capacity of today’s best classical computers”.
Phasecraft is building an understanding of the capabilities of current and near-term quantum computers, and how they can be channelled into useful applications.
Co-founder and chief executive Ashley Montanaro stated: “For all the advances in quantum hardware, 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 think practical quantum advantage is achievable in years, not decades.”
The startup, which previously benefited from the UK government’s £70 million investment in 2020, has now raised a total of £17.25 million in venture funding and an additional £3.75 million in grants from Innovate UK and the European Research Council.
Phasecraft is working on proof-of-concept products for the UK government and is researching software for future quantum processors. The company aims to accelerate the study and discovery of components for electric batteries and solar panels.
“These are super important materials that the best classical computers cannot model,” said Montanaro.
The company has published 17 scientific papers, with notable achievements including a 400,000x reduction in the complexity of simulating quantum materials systems and running the largest-ever simulation of a materials system on actual hardware by 10x.
Peter Barrett, general partner of Playground Global, said: “Phasecraft's team of world-class quantum scientists and engineers bring unmatched expertise to one of the biggest challenges facing our quantum future – bridging the gap between quantum hardware capacity and real-world applications.”
Ian Hogarth, Phasecraft’s chair and head of the UK government’s AI task force, predicts that the first practical applications of quantum computers will emerge within three to five years.