Britain’s quantum software start-ups might be giants

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":7.24,"text":"It is rare for a director of a start-up in a nascent industry to worry about being too successful. But Ian Hogarth of Phasecraft, a UK quantum algorithms company, sees the day when quantum computing valuations will spiral like those of artificial intelligence companies: “There will be a moment of realisation and we will have to hold our nerve.”"}],[{"start":32.97,"text":"That day may be coming, although quantum computing still remains more of a vision than a reality. Google’s claim to have demonstrated a case of “quantum advantage” — the technology outperforming classical computing — is part of a growing sense that it will shift from experiments to practical use within a few years."}],[{"start":54.55,"text":"If so, it will pose a challenge to the UK’s quantum computing industry, which has spun out of research at leading universities. Will its promising start-ups be acquired by US technology companies such as Google and IBM, which both have quantum operations, or can they become giants themselves?"}],[{"start":75.5,"text":"Hogarth co-founded the music service Songkick and is a partner of the venture capital group Plural, which co-led Phasecraft’s $34mn Series B funding round in September. This moment in quantum reminds him of 2014 in AI, when the start-up DeepMind was acquired by Google for £400mn, rather than staying independent."}],[{"start":101,"text":"“It is hard to predict when the world will go crazy,” he says of his belief that quantum will follow the AI path, with billions invested to secure an impregnable position and UK companies becoming acquisition targets. There are already signs of this happening, with Oxford Ionics being acquired for $1.1bn by the US company IonQ in June."}],[{"start":127.28,"text":"Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, to solve problems exponentially faster than classical computers but they are still prone to mounting errors. This prevents them from reaching their full potential to model new materials for fields such as medicine and solar power, or master highly complex calculations."}],[{"start":151.52,"text":"Rather than trying to build quantum computers themselves, UK start-ups such as Phasecraft, spun out of the University of Bristol and University College London in 2019, and Riverlane, which emerged from Cambridge university in 2016, have focused on the algorithms and software needed for the machines to work."}],[{"start":173.07000000000002,"text":"This has two potential advantages in an uncertain field. One is that they can work with companies building different kinds of quantum computers, rather than having to bet on a single technology. Phasecraft is collaborating with companies including Google and IBM. “There are many hardware efforts and one or more horses will pull ahead over time,” Hogarth says."}],[{"start":198.41000000000003,"text":"The second benefit is that software development requires less capital than hardware, one reason for the UK’s historic strength in cryptography and software. What Hogarth describes as “a lot of clever people sitting and thinking very hard” is comparatively inexpensive and has produced ventures such as the chip design company Arm Holdings."}],[{"start":222.60000000000002,"text":"Riverlane has developed error correction technology for quantum computers. Phasecraft is focused on applications for the machines as they advance. It is working on materials science, and with the UK National Energy Systems Operator on modelling complex renewable energy grids. The latter could involve quantum and classical computers working together. "}],[{"start":248.28000000000003,"text":"Most quantum start-ups have only recently come out of universities: Phasecraft’s chief executive Ashley Montanaro is also professor of quantum computation at the University of Bristol. Becoming a company has helped it to gather a wider range of skills and Montanaro sees “no reason why a quantum software company cannot stay independent for the long term”."}],[{"start":272.81000000000006,"text":"Quantum start-ups have some advantages over big technology companies, despite the latter’s much greater resources. “Sometimes independent thinkers just move faster. They can wake up in the morning and pivot,” says Roger McKinlay, quantum technologies director for Innovate UK, a government-funded agency."}],[{"start":294.81000000000006,"text":"But scale is likely to tell over time. McKinlay says that more acquisitions are inevitable at some point and the most important thing is that the UK industry is given time to mature and Britain retains its research base: “It really matters whether your children leave home in their teens or twenties.” "}],[{"start":315.76000000000005,"text":"The UK has achieved its own form of quantum advantage. Its promising start-ups and their investors must hold their nerve to keep it. "}],[{"start":332.63000000000005,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1762251580_1559.mp3"}