Nu Quantum raises £45.1m to link quantum processors via photonic networking
This article covers Nu Quantum, a quantum startup, which has raised £45.1m in an oversubscribed Series A led by National Grid Partners. The funding will support product development of its Entanglement Fabric, expansion of its engineering team and international growth, and is intended to advance quantum networking approaches that could help scale processors into larger, fault-tolerant systems.
Nu Quantum, a quantum startup based in Cambridge, has raised £45.1m ($60m) in an oversubscribed Series A led by National Grid Partners, with participation from Gresham House Ventures, Morpheus Ventures and existing backers. The round — billed as the largest financing for a pure-play quantum networking company and the biggest UK quantum Series A to date — will fund product development of its Entanglement Fabric, team expansion and international growth. It matters because the company is commercialising a networking approach that could be central to scaling quantum processors into larger, fault‑tolerant systems.
Why it matters
Nu Quantum’s raise highlights a shift in how the industry thinks about scaling quantum machines. Instead of only increasing qubit counts on single processors, the company is betting on interconnecting processors into a distributed fabric. That approach could be important for reaching systems that are orders of magnitude larger than today’s devices — a gap many see as necessary before quantum computing delivers broad commercial impact.
The funding round also signals growing interest from quantum investors in technologies that address scaling, fidelity and integration challenges across hardware ecosystems, including energy and enterprise use cases such as grid optimisation and molecular modelling.
Inside the product
Nu Quantum develops a photonic networking layer it calls the Entanglement Fabric. The core technical challenge it targets is creating high‑fidelity, high‑rate entanglement links between qubits in different processors. Achieving those links is necessary for modular architectures, distributed error correction and the kinds of distributed quantum datacentres the company envisages.
Planned milestones in the company’s roadmap include delivering a Qubit‑Photon Interface (2024) and a Quantum Networking Unit (2025), and applying techniques from Distributed Quantum Error Correction to inform system architecture. The technology is presented as modality‑agnostic, designed to interoperate with different qubit types used by Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) partners.
The company also points to recent operational moves intended to support integration work: a Los Angeles office opened in 2024 and a US‑based Strategic Advisory Board including Dr. Robert Sutor (formerly IBM), Roland Acra (formerly Cisco) and Richard Moulds (formerly Amazon Braket).
Who are the investors?
The round raised £45.1m ($60m) and was led by National Grid Partners. New participants named in the release include Gresham House Ventures and Morpheus Ventures. Nu Quantum said existing investors — Amadeus Capital Partners, IQ Capital, Ahren Capital, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, East Innovate, NSSIF and Sumitomo (Presidio Ventures) — also took part.
In the announcement, Steve Smith, Chief Strategy and Regulation Officer of National Grid and President of National Grid Partners, said:
We are closer to quantum computing having an impact on businesses and lives than many people think. Nu Quantum is at the forefront of bringing this powerful technology closer to market and using it to solve real-world challenges today.
In the announcement, Maya Ward, Investment Director at Gresham House Ventures, said:
As quantum computing continues to rapidly evolve, we see huge potential for enabling technologies that can address the challenges of scaling and fidelity. Nu Quantum offers a compelling path to solving these critical industry pain points and unlocking practical, large-scale quantum advantage.
In the announcement, Damien Petty, Partner at Morpheus Ventures, said:
Nu Quantum is tackling one of the biggest barriers in quantum computing, scalability. Its technology and vision position it at the driving edge of this transformation today and hybrid interconnectivity in the future. We’re excited to back a company turning quantum’s potential into real commercial impact.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of quantum venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of quantum angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
The company frames the funding as validation of a networking‑first route to scaling quantum systems and as capital to accelerate product delivery and hiring.
In the announcement, Dr. Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Founder and CEO of Nu Quantum, said:
When we launched seven years ago, very few were thinking about networked or distributed quantum computing as a strategy for scaling, but we saw it as one of the most urgent and challenging outstanding problems in the industry, and set out to solve it. We’ve made great strides in shaping the market and the technology since then. As we’ve grown, I’m proud we have created a culture defined by fearless innovation, and fuelled by collaboration and diversity under a shared mission to accelerate quantum computing for good. This investment validates our vision and the maturity of our solution as the path to scaling. I’d like to warmly thank the Nu Quantum team for their achievements, and our investors for their support.
In the announcement, Dr. Hemant Mardia, Chair of Nu Quantum, said:
Photonic networking has been fundamental to the scaling of data centres. Under Carmen’s visionary leadership, Nu Quantum is developing the same paradigm for quantum computing. This exceptional Series A funding will accelerate delivery of our roadmap and international expansion of our talented team.
The company says the proceeds will be used to continue product development, expand its multidisciplinary engineering team and scale its presence in Europe and the US. It also intends to continue convening partners through the Quantum Datacenter Alliance to advance network‑processor integration with QPU partners.
The bigger picture
Nu Quantum’s raise arrives as quantum hardware ecosystems in the UK and Europe receive growing attention from both corporate venture arms and specialist VCs. National Grid Partners’ lead reflects utility and infrastructure interest in quantum‑enabled optimisation, while US and specialist investors suggest a continuing cross‑Atlantic flow of capital into deep tech.
While networking is a less crowded segment than qubit fabrication or control electronics, it is increasingly framed as a necessary layer for building larger, fault‑tolerant machines. The size and profile of this Series A will likely add momentum to UK quantum hardware and systems efforts and feed into policy and funding conversations about how to move from lab prototypes to commercial quantum infrastructure.
They've invested in Nu Quantum
Get to know these quantum investors
| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 National Grid partners | 4 investments investments | more info | |||
 Gresham House Ventures | 7 investments investments | 21 contacts contacts | |||
 Morpheus Ventures | 2 investments investments | more info | |||
 Amadeus Capital Partners | 14 investments investments | 11 contacts contacts | |||
 IQ Capital | 22 investments investments | 9 contacts contacts | |||
 Ahren Innovation Capital (Ahren Capital) | 8 investments investments | 2 contacts contacts | |||
 Cambridge Enterprise (Cambridge Enterprise Ventures) | 11 investments investments | more info | |||
 East innovate | 2 investments investments | more info | |||
 Sumitomo (Presidio Ventures) | 1 investment investment | more info |
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