Harwell Campus launches QuBIC programme to support quantum startups

A new business incubation programme has launched at Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, designed to help quantum technology startups succeed in global markets.

The Quantum Business Incubation Centre (QuBIC) is supported by the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) and operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Three early-stage companies spearheading new technologies have already joined the programme.

The first is Applied Quantum Computing, which is developing ways to make healthcare smarter.

It aims to save the NHS money by using a mix of classical and quantum computing to develop solutions to complex problems, such as optimising patient allocation on theatre operating lists.

Secondly, Finchetto is developing a pioneering optical network switch to enable faster, more sustainable computation.

This world-first technology could boost performance across various sectors, such as data centres, HPC, AI and telecommunications networks.

And finally, OpenQuantum is looking to democratise access to quantum computing for the global community of scientists, software engineers and developers.

It provides a complete open-source blueprint for a low-cost hardware and software platform used to control and manipulate ultracold atoms.

The QuBIC programme will offer up to £50,000 of targeted R&D funding and £10,000 of R&D vouchers to spend with public sector partners.

It also provides business support in the form of one-to-one coaching, investment readiness, market validation and intellectual property advice.

Dr Simon Plant, deputy director for innovation at the NQCC, said: “We’re pleased to be a partner in the QuBIC program reaffirming our commitment to support the growth of the UK’s quantum computing industry.

“We aim to help early-stage technology companies achieve their full commercial potential by derisking the route from proof-of-concept to market for innovative new products and ideas.”

QuBIC will join Harwell Campus’s other successful scaleup schemes and accelerator spaces – among them the European Space Agency Business Incubation Scheme (ESA BIS), which has supported more than 130 space-related organisations in raising a collective £133 million.