Bristol and London-based quantum computing company Phasecraft is expanding to the US by opening its first international office in Washington DC.
Founded in 2019 as a spinout from the University College London and the University of Bristol, Phasecraft develops algorithms for practical quantum computer use cases.
The company, which closed a £13m Series A round last August, is now hoping to gain access to the quantum expertise and commercial opportunities in and around the US capital.
Phasecraft said it chose the US for its first international expansion due to both the wealth of talent and the considerable government support for the sector, such as the National Quantum Initiative passed in 2018.
“Having a US presence will allow us to tap into the country’s deep tech talent and deepen our relationships with the world’s top quantum hardware companies as part of our mission to reach practical quantum advantage,” said Ashley Montanaro, co-founder and CEO of Phasecraft.
The Phasecraft US team will be led by newly appointed Prof Steve Flammia, director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Quantum Architecture. Flammia was previously the principal research scientist at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Center for Quantum Computing.
“I’m delighted to be joining the team at Phasecraft. Few companies have had such an impact in such a short period of time in the quantum algorithms space and it’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to support these efforts in the US,” Flammia said.
“I can’t wait to get started and use my decades of research and development around getting the most out of noisy quantum computers to accelerate the timelines to reaching practical quantum advantage.”
Speaking to Sifted, Flammia said he decided to leave Amazon for the British startup as he felt working at such a massive corporation, he couldn’t “contribute meaningfully”.