Quantum algorithm developer Phasecraft raises $34 million in Series B funding

UCL spinout Phasecraft, a quantum algorithms company, has secured $34 million in Series B funding, to accelerate the real-world applications of quantum algorithms.

This major funding round, announced today, was co-led by Plural, existing investor Playground Global, and Novo Holdings’ Quantum Fund, alongside support from existing investors AlbionVC, Latitude and Parkwalk Advisors.

Phasecraft was created as a spinout with the support of UCLB, UCL’s commercialisation company in 2019. Its founders are leading quantum scientists Toby Cubitt and John Morton, part of UCL’s Quantum Science and Technology Institute, and Ashley Montanaro from the University of Bristol; with their expertise and leadership, Phasecraft has become the world’s leading quantum algorithms company.

Quantum computing hardware and software are converging towards commercial application and use – but ultra-efficient algorithms, like those developed by Phasecraft, are needed to unlock its full potential.

The company seeks to redesign such algorithms, while ensuring they will work with the imperfect quantum computers in existence and are hardware agnostic. When used as a partner to standard computing, the Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum devices (NISQ) of today can begin to tackle previously inaccessible problems, rather than waiting for perfect hardware.

This brings applications to industry sooner than anticipated and makes quantum computing more practically applicable for real world applications.

Phasecraft’s quantum approach is already making positive strides in:

• material science, by making simulating materials millions of times more efficient
• biological research by applying quantum computing to key biochemical processes relevant to drug development for genetic conditions
• and energy resilience by optimizing energy networks.

Phasecraft’s technology is already being worked with by the likes of speciality materials developer Johnson Matthey, solar cell developer Oxford PV, the UK’s National Energy System Operator (NESO), and leading telecommunications provider BT, while top-tier quantum hardware firms such as Google, IBM, Quantinuum, and QuEra are collaborators.

This funding series takes investment in Phasecraft to more than $50 million, inclusive of grant funding, and will enable the company to increase its R&D function to build real world solutions for end users.