The partnership brings QE into closer collaboration with one of the UK’s most important government-backed quantum hubs, located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.
The agreement addresses a critical challenge facing British deep-tech startups: the scale-up funding gap that risks homegrown technologies being acquired by foreign investors or relocating overseas, as highlighted by a recent Royal United Services Institute report. The MOU agreement coincides with QE’s new £100m Quantum Technologies Fund.
The Harwell Quantum Cluster is a flagship bringing together STFC; the Harwell Joint Venture (Brookfield Asset Management and the UK Atomic Energy Authority); the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT); and the Department for Business and Trade.
The cluster links directly to the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) on the Harwell Campus and works closely with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), another major DSIT-backed national hub.
By partnering with this government-aligned infrastructure, QE becomes one of the first private investors to work directly alongside the UK’s national quantum facilities.
The fund will deploy around two-thirds of its capital into UK companies emerging from the national quantum ecosystem, supporting startups and accelerating commercialisation, while strengthening Britain’s domestic quantum supply chain.
This commitment complements UKRI’s long-term government investment and attracts essential private capital to translate research into scalable companies.
The fund will invest across quantum computing, sensing, communications and enabling technologies, from seed to scale. QE brings a proven three- to five-year track record, eight revenue-generating portfolio companies and performance targets in the top quartile of deep-tech funds (25–33% IRR).
An anchor Letter of Intent has come from a major Silicon Valley investor.
Under the MOU, QE will work with Harwell leadership to identify early-stage companies within government-backed environments and support their growth across the wider ecosystem, including links to the NQCC, NPL and STFC’s national laboratories. Investors gain unmatched access to Britain’s most advanced quantum facilities.
Over the next decade the Harwell Quantum Cluster aims to grow more than 100 quantum-focused companies, create more than 1,000 high-value jobs and attract more than £1bn in public and private investment. This partnership directly supports those ambitions.
QE welcomes interest from family offices, institutional investors, sovereign funds and strategic industry partners seeking exposure to the emerging global quantum opportunity.
See also: Alice & Bob install quantum chip fabrication equipment
