May 24, 2023

Sony Innovation Fund has become the latest high-profile investor to back Quantum Motion, a UK-based quantum computing scale-up founded by Professor John Morton, University College London (UCL), and Professor Simon Benjamin, Oxford University. Sony Innovation Fund is joining the second close of the company’s funding round, announced in February 2023, which raised over £42 million in equity funding from some of the world’s leading quantum and technology investors. Sony Innovation Fund joins existing investors, including Bosch Ventures (RBVC), Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Porsche SE), British Patient Capital, Oxford Science Enterprises, Inkef, Parkwalk Advisors, Octopus Ventures, IP Group and NSSIF. To date, Quantum Motion has raised over £62 million in equity and grant funding. Sony Innovation Fund brings value through its technical expertise and industry insights on CMOS semiconductor design and manufacturing, as well as its global reach that extends Quantum Motion’s international investor base and, in particular, into the Japanese market, which will be a major driver of quantum computing. The Fund’s experience will be an asset in enabling Quantum Motion to further its vision of developing scalable quantum computers using silicon chips. Harnessing the existing knowledge, scalability, uniformity and manufacturing cost capabilities of the CMOS industry, over the last two years Quantum Motion has achieved a series of peer-reviewed and record-breaking milestones that underline how silicon has the potential to be the fastest, most cost-effective and scalable way of producing the millions of qubits that are needed to create fully-functional, fault-tolerant quantum computers. It has designed and validated integrated circuits capable of generating, routing, and processing signals at deep cryogenic temperatures, operating down to a few tenths of a degree above absolute zero. Recent demonstrations, such as the mass characterisation of thousands of multiplexed quantum dots fabricated in a tier one foundry, have further underlined the company’s advantage. Antonio Avitabile, Managing Director-EU, Sony Ventures Corporation said, “We are actively exploring investments in technologies that will be transformational with wide ranging applications. Quantum computing has the potential to have that impact, and we want to work with the companies that are best positioned to bring it to commercial scale. As our first investment in the quantum technologies space, Quantum Motion is already demonstrating tremendous advancement and leadership, and we are excited to help fuel their next stage of growth.” James Palles-Dimmock, CEO of Quantum Motion, said, “We’re delighted to have Sony Innovation Fund on board as an investor, and to have access to its global network of resources, technical expertise, and industry insights. Alongside our existing investors, their support is going to help us scale the development of silicon-based quantum computers.” Image: Quantum Motion leadership team (Left to Right), James Palles Dimmock (CEO), Professor John Morton (CTO).