Oxford Ionics Secures £2 Million in Funding From UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund

Insider Brief

• Oxford Ionics secured £2 million in funding from the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF).
• The company’s technology allows trapped ions to be combined with electronics integrated into silicon chips.
• Dipesh Patel, the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of ARM, was also appointed as a non-executive director.
• Image: Oxford Ionics

Oxford Ionics, a pioneering trapped ion technology company, has successfully secured £2 million in funding from the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), according to EENews Europe. Company officials will use the funds to further advance the development of their cutting-edge quantum computing technology.

Oxford Ionics’ Electronic Qubit Control (EQC) system controls qubits, the basic information unit of quantum-based computation. This technology allows trapped ions to be combined with electronics integrated into silicon chips, EE News Europe reports.

The NSSIF is a joint initiative between the UK Government and the British Business Bank to leverage “patient capital” for investing in dual-use technologies that have national and national defense interests. With quantum’s potential to disrupt communications and data security, many nations are investing in home-grown quantum startups and research institutions.

Oxford Ionics, which already has a strategic partnership with Infineon Technologies, also announced the appointment Dipesh Patel, the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of ARM, as a non-executive director, according to the site. This move aligns with the company’s ambitions to bolster its leadership team with industry veterans. Patel, with a distinguished background as the CTO and Executive Vice President of ARM, brings deep experience in overseeing technical teams, which will prove instrumental as Oxford Ionics continues to scale its quantum technology.

This news comes on the heels of a substantial funding round earlier this year, where Oxford Ionics successfully raised £30 million from prominent investors, including Oxford Science Enterprises, Braavos Investment Advisers, Lansdowne Partners, Prosus Ventures, 2xN, Torch Partners, and Hermann Hauser, the founder of ARM. This capital injection underscored the growing interest and confidence in Oxford Ionics’ quantum endeavors.

“From my many years at Arm,  I understand the challenges and opportunities for scaling highly technical, groundbreaking companies, taking them from the innovation stage to widespread adoption. I’m looking forward to supporting Chris and Tom as they develop Oxford Ionics and to be a part of this exhilarating mission,” Patel told EENews Europe.

Additionally, Oxford Ionics has embarked on an ambitious expansion project, breaking ground on a state-of-the-art 30,000-square-foot office and laboratory facility. This facility will serve as the nucleus for their Quantum Computing as a Service (QCaaS) offering. Clients will gain cloud-based access to Oxford Ionics’ quantum computing systems, augmenting their capabilities for research and computation both remotely and on-premises in Oxford.