Japanese venture capital fund SBI Investment has confirmed it will lead a $100m (£79.3m) capital raise into Oxford Quantum Circuits.
Today also marks the public launch of the company’s 32-qubit quantum computing platform Toshiko. Its platform is aimed at businesses and can be installed in commercial data centres.
“To solve the world’s most pressing challenges – from climate change to accelerated drug discovery – we need to put quantum computers in the hands of humanity and at the fingertips of our most brilliant minds,” said Ilana Wisby, CEO of Oxford Quantum Circuits.
Oxford Quantum Circuits told UKTN it looks to close in “early 2024”. The Series B saw previous backers Oxford Science Enterprises, University of Tokyo Edge Capital, Lansdowne Partners and OTIF take part.
Support from the Japanese investor follows the quantum startup’s ambitions to expand into Japan after it secured £869,000 in extra funds in February.
Based in Reading, Oxford Quantum Circuits scooped £38m for its Series A in July last year.
Minister for Investment Lord Johnson said: “The UK has a rapidly growing quantum sector which is no.1 in Europe for the number of startups and in attracting private investment – around $850m in the past 10 years.”
Last week the government announced a group of “quantum missions” in the Autumn Statement as part of its goal to make the UK a leading player in the sector.
While quantum computers promise far greater computing power than classical computers, they face many challenges such as reducing the error rate and improving stability.