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OQC today announced it has closed an oversubscribed £260 million ($350m) Series C funding round, Europe’s largest ever private funding round for a quantum computing company. The investment establishes OQC as one of the world’s best-capitalised private quantum computing companies, enabling the expansion of its deployed systems in key markets. It reflects growing confidence in the commercialisation of quantum technologies, and the UK’s ability to scale globally competitive deep tech companies.

Bullhound Capital led the round, which included investment from the British Business Bank, Fynveur (advised by Invus), COFIDES, RCM Private Markets Fund managed by Rokos Capital Management (US) LP, Alpha Edison, Fulcrum Asset Management, Pentland Ventures, Magdalen College Oxford, Adaptive Capital Partners, Firgun Ventures, 18 West and Oxford Capital. Existing investors including Oxford Science Enterprises, SBI, Chevron Technology Ventures, The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners Co. and OTIF Ventures also participated, reflecting continued support for OQC’s technology roadmap and international expansion. J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive placement agent on the transaction.

Founded in the UK, OQC develops and operates superconducting quantum computers designed for deployment in data-centre environments serving enterprise and government customers. The company has established a global quantum computing platform across Europe, North America and Asia, with systems deployed in the UK, US, Japan and Spain.

Enterprise and government customers across financial services, defence and security are driving demand for OQC’s systems as they seek secure, scalable quantum infrastructure to tackle problems beyond the practical reach of classical computing. The funding will be used to expand OQC’s operational presence in priority markets and accelerate its roadmap toward commercially useful, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Gerald Mullally, CEO of OQC, said: “This is a coming-of-age moment for British quantum computing. It shows that British companies can play a leading role in a technology that will shape all our futures. Globally, it represents a clear shift in the market – from long-term promise to near-term delivery in quantum computing. For OQC, this gives us the capital to scale internationally, advance our technology roadmap, and meet increasing demand from customers seeking secure, scalable access to quantum computing infrastructure.”

Dr Peter Leek, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of OQC, said: “OQC was founded to use innovative quantum circuit designs to build engineered systems that scale as simply as possible. I’m proud to be part of the incredible team we have today doing exactly that, to pioneer the future of quantum computing. This investment supports the next stage of our work: advancing system performance and reliability while continuing to integrate quantum computers into the trusted infrastructure customers depend on.”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: “OQC’s £260 million funding round is a major vote of confidence in the UK’s quantum sector and shows that the UK continues to be the place where the industries of the future are being created. We have the right economic plan and within it, I set out three ‘big choices’ for the UK economy – one of which is developing AI and innovation. We will always back companies to give them a head start in the global race which is why we have recently committed up to £2bn to ensure UK quantum companies can successfully reach commercial scale.”

Jack Boyer, Chair of OQC, said: “This round marks an important step in OQC’s growth as a UK-founded quantum company scaling globally. OQC is building the infrastructure needed to bring quantum computing into trusted enterprise and government environments, and the quality of this investor group reflects confidence in the company’s strategy, technology and ability to scale.”

Per Roman, Founding Partner of Bullhound Capital, who is joining the board of OQC said: “OQC is building one of the most compelling quantum computing platforms globally, with the technology, infrastructure and customer focus required to scale. As quantum computing moves into global infrastructure, OQC is positioned to shape that transition. We are pleased to lead this round and support the company’s next phase of growth.”

Nigel Higgins, Chair of Barclays and OQC Board Member, said: “OQC has the technology, team and customer focus needed to build a leading global quantum platform. This funding gives the company the resources to scale internationally at a time when quantum computing is becoming increasingly important to enterprise and critical infrastructure.”

Ed Bussey, CEO of Oxford Science Enterprises, said: “OSE has been immensely proud to support OQC at every step of the way – from the early days in the research lab, through the hard yards of translating its foundational science into a growing commercial venture, to it now emerging as a global quantum computing leader. This £260m raise positions OQC as one of the best capitalised quantum companies in the world, a testament to the strength of the OQC team, to the quality of its technology, and to its emergence as a global quantum powerhouse, that will redefine entire sectors of the economy.”

Jay Horine, Head of the Security and Resiliency Initiative for J.P. Morgan Global Banking, said: “Quantum computing is moving from research to reality, and the implications for economic growth and global security are significant. As part of JPMorganChase’s Security and Resiliency Initiative, we’re focused on identifying the platforms and companies positioned to lead as quantum scales — and OQC has developed the hardware and infrastructure to play a meaningful role in this growing ecosystem.”

George Mills, Senior Investment Director, Direct Equity, at the British Business Bank, said, “Quantum Computing has the potential to solve some of the hardest computing challenges which remain unsolved by AI, but is held back by its ability to scale up. OQC’s systems fill that gap with their world leading speed and scalability. We are delighted to be backing the team at OQC again as they scale up their commercial offering with the development of OQC TITAN.”

Leandros Kalisperas, Chief Investment Officer at the British Business Bank, said, “For deeptech in the UK, the challenge is not invention, it’s scale. In order to build global companies rooted in the UK, our financial firepower must match our scientific excellence. The Bank sees this as nothing short of a national economic imperative, so we are acting at pace to deliver significantly higher levels of funding for UK scale ups.”

Science Minister Lord Vallance said: “Companies like OQC are part of a flourishing British Quantum sector, with expertise that is bringing the promise and potential of new Quantum computing innovations to life. This backing is a major win and puts British companies at the heart of the global Quantum race. Following the up to £2 billion of support we announced in March, it’s further proof of the UK’s undeniable credentials as a true world leader in the technology.”

OQC’s growth aligns with the UK government’s ambitions to establish leadership in quantum technologies as part of its broader science and innovation strategy. The company’s ability to attract substantial international investment highlights the UK’s position as a credible base for building and scaling frontier technology businesses.

The announcement, highlighted during the Prime Minister’s London Tech Week speech, placed OQC at the centre of discussions around the UK’s role in next-generation computing and advanced technologies. Together, these dynamics position OQC at the centre of a global race to commercialise quantum computing – a market expected to reshape industries from finance to national security.

About OQC
OQC is a UK-headquartered company building quantum computers and a secure, scalable Quantum-AI data-centre platform for enterprise and government customers. The platform integrates quantum computing with trusted infrastructure and AI supercomputing to accelerate customer breakthroughs across science and industry. Learn more at www.oqc.tech.