Introducing a new Review column by quantum expert Karina Robinson FCSI(Hon), exploring the worlds of technology, investment and innovation through a personal lens

You know quantum has reached the mainstream when ultra-fashionable Cannes, better known for its iconic film festival, joins the party. The inaugural World Quantum Cannes Festival has just been announced for late November.

This follows a home run for the sector in the past month. Three numbers sum it up:

• The US government spent US$2bn on buying stakes in quantum companies, a vote of confidence in the industry.

• Quantinuum, the merger of UK spin-out Cambridge Quantum and US entity Honeywell Quantum, just listed on Nasdaq at an unexpectedly high valuation of US$15.7bn.

• Boston Consulting Group's report on the global quantum industry, highlighting technical breakthroughs and enterprise engagement, forecasts long-term value creation of up to US$850bn.

What about the UK?

Despite the revolving door for prime ministers under the previous Conservative governments and, most likely, under Labour this year, UK governments have done a stellar job in creating a thriving quantum ecosphere. The UK stands in second place after the US for the number of private quantum companies and ranks third globally for the impact and quality of its academic research. This is all the more admirable considering the parlous state of the nation’s finances.

The successful recipe lies in productive collaboration between academia, the private sector and government. Over the past dozen years, spin-outs from world-class universities have found seed funding, quantum hubs have been created all over the country, conferences have sprouted, and the various governments have created and modified a national strategy.

The secret ingredient is Professor Sir Peter Knight, a quantum guru who has chaired the Strategic Advisory Board of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme since its inception in 2014. From his base at Imperial College a dozen years ago, he spearheaded cooperation between the different sectors, combining a friendly demeanour with a powerful ability to build consensus.

The government, which announced a £2bn package for quantum innovation in March, estimates it could boost productivity by 7% in the next two decades and create over 100,000 jobs in the process. Currently, there are over 350 UK-based companies involved in the different quantum disciplines, from networking to computing to sensors.

What many of them need is scaling up capital, the main challenge in the UK and Europe for all companies involved in technology.

Scale-up capital

This brings me to Scale-Up Capital 2026, a recent event put on by the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs at the behest of Alderman Alastair King DL FCSI(Hon), former Lord Mayor of the City of London and currently Master of the livery company.

In the inspirational setting of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), 14 promising companies pitched to investors for scale-up finance. Did it work?

Yes, according to the founder and CEO of one of the companies involved, who told me, “The event was great. We got three new investors interested and one that already knew us reached out to catch up and potentially join the round.”

Initiatives like this are vitally important for the UK, which, as noted in a recent Review article, has “one of the world’s strongest seed-stage start-up hubs, but when it comes to scaling those companies, the system breaks down”.

The size of the problem is immense. The Entrepreneurs Network mentioned in its latest newsletter that although over £17bn was invested in innovative British companies, fewer than 600 raised Series A or B funding (around £3.8bn). In addition, only about 7% of seed-funded start-ups progressed to securing institutional scale-up capital. Heading abroad for funds should not be the only solution.

However, there are measures aplenty to try and solve the problem, from the government changing the tax rules on private investment in non-quoted companies, to the LSE transforming its listing rules, to the Mansion House Accord, which aims to channel institutional moneys to venture capital. What they all need is a sense of urgency.

The UK is a source of innovation

To the Barbican Centre, that monstrous example of brutalist architecture from the 1970s, for a reception hosted by its chair, Sir William Russell, Lord Mayor of the City of London 2019–2021, and board member Sir Nick Lyons, chair of Standard Life.

It is planning a major overhaul under new CEO Abigail Pogson. Whether its distinctive look, what one could call ‘brick, darkness & confusion’, can be transformed is not clear. What is clear is that the arts centre is already buzzing, packed with guests spanning all ages, there to see contemporary film, listen to classical music, wander through art exhibitions and munch in its many cafes and restaurants.

A summer musical with Ariana Grande, a star of song and screen, will pack in the Millennial generation. The current Cole Porter musical, High Society, is already attracting an older crowd (your correspondent included), won over by classic songs about trying to forget a past lover or wanting to be a millionaire, and the changing mores of socialite Tracy Lord.

Let us end with her best line: “The time to make up your mind is never.” It addresses the personal transformation of her ex-husband, who becomes her second husband. In the same way, for those who have written off the UK as a source of innovative, large-scale companies, think again.