Quantum Computing

Universal Quantum Raises Record $100 Million Series A

co-produced by AI08. October 2026, 23:00

Close-up of a silicon wafer with iridescent chip dies — A silicon wafer (symbolic image). © Laura Ockel / Unsplash

Europe’s quantum computing start-ups are raising big money again, this time in Britain: Universal Quantum, a spinout from the University of Sussex, has just closed a $100 million (about €89 million) Series A round. According to the company, it is the largest Series A ever raised by a British quantum company, as tech.eu reports. That brings the start-up’s total funding to more than $125 million (about €111 million).

Roblox Founder Among the Investors

The round is led by the Silicon Valley investor DCVC and Firgun Ventures, a fund specializing in quantum technology. They are joined by Singapore’s state investor EDBI, the Japanese asset manager Integral GlobalTech, the Australian pension fund NGS Super and Roblox founder and chief executive Dave Baszucki, among others. Existing investors Nauta Capital and The Venture Collective are also participating again. Universal Quantum did not disclose a valuation.

“This round brings together investors who share the goal of delivering utility-scale quantum computing,” said Sebastian Weidt, the company’s co-founder and chief executive. Universal Quantum plans to use the money to grow in the United States, Japan and at its German site in Hamburg, and to bring its technology to market.

Trapped Ions Instead of Superconductors

Universal Quantum was founded in 2018 and is based in Haywards Heath in the English county of Sussex. The start-up relies on trapped ions: Charged atoms serve as qubits and are held in traps on a chip. Its in-house iQPU chip carries hundreds of these ion qubits and is made on a standard commercial 200-millimeter production line. The qubits are controlled with microwaves, whereas most trapped-ion systems use lasers for this. A proprietary interconnect called UQConnect is designed to link several chips into large systems, with the goal of millions of error-corrected qubits. Unlike superconducting quantum computers, which must be cooled to near absolute zero, the systems are meant to run at room temperature, according to the company.

Universal Quantum has already landed a major contract: In 2023, the start-up won a €67 million order from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which it says is the largest ever awarded to a British quantum start-up. It also has a partnership with Rolls-Royce on fluid dynamics simulations for aerospace and several projects backed by the British funding agency Innovate UK.

Strong Competition in Trapped Ions

Universal Quantum is not alone with this approach. The German start-up eleQtron also controls ions with microwaves and raised €57 million in the spring. In Innsbruck, Austria, AQT builds trapped-ion quantum computers, and in the United States, Quantinuum and IonQ are among the industry leaders, with IonQ having acquired the British trapped-ion specialist Oxford Ionics in 2025. Big money is also flowing into other technologies: The Dutch start-up QuantWare, for example, recently raised $178 million (about €158 million) for superconducting quantum chips. Whether trapped ions, superconductors or neutral atoms will win the race to the first large, error-corrected quantum computer remains open.