Quantum Motion co-founders John Morton (left) and Simon Benjamin (right) with CEO James Palles-Dimmock (middle) at their London HQ.
A Message from our CEO and our Co-Founders
A Quantum Revolution
Quantum computing will allow humanity to tackle problems that were once thought to be impossible to solve. Quantum computers will allow us to do this by harnessing the deepest properties of quantum physics.
From the small-scale demonstrations of today, we are beginning to see plausible roadmaps sketched out to turn this immensely powerful technology into reality. But how big and expensive would such transformative quantum computers be? And how will that limit how they can be used, and by whom?
For any technology to be truly revolutionary, with its fullest impact and benefit, it must be not only powerful but also affordable. We founded Quantum Motion to build an ideal quantum computer: one that’s fast and fault tolerant. Quantum computers should be able to address the most exciting and general applications of quantum computing, but also available at a cost that enables universities and small companies to each have their own quantum computers while major national facilities have hundreds. Once quantum computing is ubiquitous humanity can fully explore the benefits of these extraordinary machines.
The ultimate upgrade : Silicon chips, made quantum.
Over the last six decades, humans have learned to craft silicon devices with incredible precision. Foundries now routinely create chips with hundreds of billions of functioning components.These processors with city-like complexity now lie at the heart of everything from phones to the most powerful AI agents. Quantum Motion started with one simple but audacious proposition: that suitably-designed silicon chips can process quantum information instead of conventional data. In effect it’s the ultimate upgrade: going from bits to qubits. All within one chip with the same minuscule features and massive component density. Silicon chips have already driven one technology revolution for humanity. Now, by basing quantum computers on the same hardware, Quantum Motion aims to bring about a second revolution.
The billions of transistors on conventional silicon chips each possess a ‘gate’, which is a metallic electrode insulated from the silicon by an ultra-thin oxide layer. Each gate opens and closes a channel through which electrons flow. This choice of two states: open or closed, zero or one, forms the binary digit, or bit, which is the heart of digital computing. In Quantum Motion’s quantum processor units (QPUs), the electrodes instead fully wall-off small regions called quantum dots, with a single electron situated in each one. Every electron has a quantum property called spin, which can be thought of as a tiny magnet that may point either north or south, or a superposition of the two. It’s one of nature’s most natural kinds of qubit, and it’s naturally compatible with silicon technology.
The coolest chips ever made
Importantly, silicon QPUs must be cooled to very low temperatures so that ambient thermal noise does not overwhelm the qubits. Quantum Motion operates its silicon quantum processors below 1 Kelvin, within one degree of absolute zero. Although this temperature is cold, it is actually well above the minimum temperatures that today’s cryostats can reach. This means it sits within a comfortable zone where the QPU can operate continuously and any waste heat can be removed as fast as it is being created.
An inflection point
In 2025, Quantum Motion proved its founding thesis from 2017: that a chip sourced from a conventional foundry and manufactured on a standard 300mm wafer could store and process qubits at the transistor scale. With funding from a £42 m Series B, we developed and deployed a system to our first customer, the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) at Harwell. The entire machine with its cooling systems and cryogenic control electronics is only the size of three standard server racks, while the QPU at the heart of it is millimetres in size. This demonstration system established all the key components: single and two qubit gates, quantum superposition and entanglement, and reliable measurement to learn the output.
Quantum Motion’s first-deployed system based at NQCC in Harwell, UK.
The deployment marked a transition point for the company: from exploring and validating the basic science to scaling up from demonstration to ‘utility-scale’ quantum processors. Our Series C investment will allow that process to advance rapidly with an exponential increase in the number of qubits. This will be possible because the design process at Quantum Motion already uses the industry-standard software that is routinely employed to design the world’s conventional processors with their billions of components.
As our chips scale and become more complex with more qubits, the footprint of the quantum computer will only grow slightly: achieving a utility-scale device with a broad applicability. We will be able to apply quantum computing across such industries as drug discovery, material science, finance and logistics without so much as doubling the floor space of today's development system. A full-scale, full-speed quantum processor in a compact form factor is the end goal: Put the power of fast, utility-scale quantum computing in “a box not a building”.
The tiny QPU chip at the heart of Quantum Motion’s silicon spin system
A global team for a global challenge
Since our last funding round in 2023, we've expanded our presence around the world, opening new labs and offices in Spain and Australia, alongside our UK headquarters. We've strengthened our ecosystem through academic and industry partnerships, including our collaborations with GlobalFoundries and imec.
Our team has grown from around 30 people in 2022 to approximately 120+ today. This growth reflects the scale of the challenge ahead and the calibre of talent drawn to it.
Quantum Motion brings together the brightest quantum engineers, IC engineers and quantum computing theoreticians to create a unique, world-leading team, working together closely to maximise our combined expertise. This collaborative and interdisciplinary culture is an ideal fit for anyone who thrives in a cutting-edge research and development environment focused on tackling big challenges.
The next great revolution in computing will be built on silicon just as the last one was. If you want to be part of it, we're hiring.