Funder · Swindon
Innovate UK runs the business-facing side of UK quantum funding, turning DSIT and UKRI money into grants and contracts for companies. It delivered the Commercialising Quantum Technologies Challenge (2018 to 2025, £174 million of public money), the 2025 Quantum Missions pilot and a £14 million round of quantum sensing and navigation contracts. Its biggest live call is phase 1 of ProQure: up to 10 contracts worth up to £14 million each to build and validate prototype quantum computers, with projects due to start in October 2026.
Innovate UK is a public funder based in Swindon. It leads 7 UK projects, including ProQure, Accelerating adoption of quantum enabled sensing and PNT and Scaling Supply Chains for Quantum Enabled Sensing and PNT, and is a partner in 1 more. It funds 26 projects listed here, including ProQure and NQCC Quantum Computing Testbed Programme. People profiled here include Peter Knight (Chair) and Tom Adeyoola (Executive Chair).
Sources: Commercialising quantum technologies challenge (UKRI) · Quantum Missions pilot competition winners announced (UKRI, March 2025) · Government support to get quantum to work faster (GOV.UK, November 2025) · Contracts for Innovation: ProQure - Scaling UK Quantum Computing (Innovate UK Business Connect)
ProQure
A government procurement programme to fund prototype quantum computers now and buy large-scale machines for national infrastructure in the 2030s.
Role: Lead, Funder
Themes: Computing
An Innovate UK grant competition to remove barriers to the use of quantum sensing and navigation technology.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £14.3m
Themes: Sensing, Timing and navigation
An Innovate UK grant competition, funded by DSIT, to build supply chains around quantum sensing and navigation system makers.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £32.8m
Themes: Sensing, Timing and navigation
Quantum Sensing Mission Primer
Innovate UK contracts for 14 projects building quantum sensors and position, navigation and timing products, run as phase 1 of the sensing missions.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £14m
Themes: Sensing, Timing and navigation, Imaging
Quantum Missions pilot
An Innovate UK competition that funded industry projects in quantum computing and quantum networks towards the UK quantum missions.
Role: Lead, Funder
Themes: Computing, Networks
Quantum Catalyst Fund
A £15 million SBRI competition, funded by DSIT and Innovate UK, to help the public sector adopt quantum solutions.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £15m
Themes: Computing, Sensing, Imaging, Timing and navigation
CQT Challenge
An Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme, delivered by Innovate UK, that funded companies to turn quantum research into products.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £174m
Themes: Computing, Sensing, Imaging, Communications, Timing and navigation
NQTP
The UK's national programme for quantum technologies, set up in 2014 as a partnership between government, academia and industry.
Role: Partner, Funder
Themes: Computing, Sensing, Imaging, Timing and navigation, Communications, Networks, Skills and training
ProQure
A government procurement programme to fund prototype quantum computers now and buy large-scale machines for national infrastructure in the 2030s.
Role: Lead, Funder
Themes: Computing
A £30m programme that paid seven companies to build prototype quantum computers, known as testbeds, at the NQCC in Harwell.
Role: Funder
Funding: £30m
Themes: Computing
NQTP
The UK's national programme for quantum technologies, set up in 2014 as a partnership between government, academia and industry.
Role: Partner, Funder
Themes: Computing, Sensing, Imaging, Timing and navigation, Communications, Networks, Skills and training
An Innovate UK grant competition to remove barriers to the use of quantum sensing and navigation technology.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £14.3m
Themes: Sensing, Timing and navigation
An Innovate UK grant competition, funded by DSIT, to build supply chains around quantum sensing and navigation system makers.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £32.8m
Themes: Sensing, Timing and navigation
Quantum Sensing Mission Primer
Innovate UK contracts for 14 projects building quantum sensors and position, navigation and timing products, run as phase 1 of the sensing missions.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £14m
Themes: Sensing, Timing and navigation, Imaging
OAQ Testbed
A TreQ-led consortium that built a modular quantum computing testbed in Oxfordshire that mixes processors, control systems and software from different suppliers.
Role: Funder
Themes: Computing
Quantum Missions pilot
An Innovate UK competition that funded industry projects in quantum computing and quantum networks towards the UK quantum missions.
Role: Lead, Funder
Themes: Computing, Networks
MARCONI
A RedWave Labs-led consortium building two UK-made receiver modules for entanglement-based quantum key distribution.
Role: Funder
Funding: £1.5m
Themes: Communications, Networks
A BT-led consortium developing ways to assure the security and reliability of quantum key distribution systems.
Role: Funder
Themes: Communications, Networks
Quantum Catalyst Fund
A £15 million SBRI competition, funded by DSIT and Innovate UK, to help the public sector adopt quantum solutions.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £15m
Themes: Computing, Sensing, Imaging, Timing and navigation
AutoQT
A Riverlane-led consortium developing automated methods to control and tune large numbers of qubits.
Role: Funder
Themes: Computing, Software and algorithms
A Universal Quantum-led consortium building a trapped-ion quantum computer that can correct its own errors, with Rolls-Royce as end user.
Role: Funder
Funding: £7.5m
Themes: Computing
QuPharma
A SEEQC-led consortium linking a quantum computer with a classical supercomputer to model drug properties.
Role: Funder
Themes: Computing, Biomedical and health
An ORCA-led consortium that designed and demonstrated how a quantum computer could sit inside a data centre alongside classical systems.
Role: Funder
Themes: Computing, Communications, Networks
A sureCore-led consortium designing chip technology that works at the very low temperatures inside quantum computers.
Role: Funder
Funding: £6.5m
Themes: Computing, Materials and components
A BT-led consortium testing free-space quantum key distribution for short and mid-range links, including 5G and connected vehicles.
Role: Funder
Themes: Communications, Networks
DISCOVERY
An M Squared-led consortium that worked on the photonics needed to scale neutral-atom, trapped-ion and optical quantum computers.
Role: Funder
Themes: Computing
An Arqit-led consortium working on UK manufacture of quantum key distribution payloads for satellites.
Role: Funder
Themes: Communications, Networks
NISQ.OS
A Riverlane-led consortium that built Deltaflow.OS, an operating system meant to run the same software on different kinds of quantum hardware.
Role: Funder
Funding: £7.6m
Themes: Computing, Software and algorithms
QT Assemble
A three-year Fraunhofer CAP-led consortium to make quantum technology components smaller, more robust and easier to build.
Role: Funder
Themes: Materials and components, Sensing
A Rigetti UK-led consortium that installed and ran a superconducting quantum computer in the UK and offered it over the cloud.
Role: Funder
Themes: Computing, Software and algorithms
QFoundry
A consortium led by the Compound Semiconductor Centre in Cardiff to set up an open-access foundry for quantum semiconductor components.
Role: Funder
Themes: Materials and components, Communications, Sensing
AQuaSeC
A Toshiba-led consortium that built prototype quantum-safe communication systems. It combined quantum key distribution with quantum-resistant algorithms.
Role: Funder
Themes: Communications, Networks
CQT Challenge
An Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme, delivered by Innovate UK, that funded companies to turn quantum research into products.
Role: Lead, Funder
Funding: £174m
Themes: Computing, Sensing, Imaging, Communications, Timing and navigation
Gravity Pioneer
An RSK-led consortium that built and tested a cold-atom gravity sensor for surveying what lies underground.
Role: Funder
Funding: £6m
Themes: Sensing
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