UK Tech Leaders Reassured on Quantum Strategy Post DSIT DBT Merger

A busy month at STAC Research. Here’s a roundup from the latest edition of our community newsletter, STAC Trace. - New Trading Infrastructure Report We’ve released a report examining how capital-markets leaders are approaching technology adoption and purchasing, infrastructure refresh cycles, supply-chain and sourcing priorities, and the future of trading technology. - 100 STAC-M3 Benchmarks A major milestone for the community: we’ve reached 100 STAC-M3 reports, tracking the evolution of hardware, software and infrastructure for time-series analytics. - New members The STAC Benchmark Council continues to grow. Welcome Shakti and L. - STAC Startup Corner Following its debut earlier this year, Startup Corner returns at the London and New York Summits, giving early-stage AI, infrastructure and quantum companies an opportunity to showcase their tech. - Sydney STAC Summit (September 10) Delighted to be partnering with ASX again. The agenda includes AWS on modern processor architecture on EC2, Tech Discovery sessions from Weka, AMD, FMADIO and Shengli Technologies, panels on agentic quant research and low-latency engineering, and a tech talk from David Snowden. Register: https://lnkd.in/dsjn-Z33 - Tokyo STAC Summit (September 15) We’re continuing our partnerships with exchanges across the region, and delighted to be working with JPX again. Sessions include Mizuho on AI and risk management, alongside discussions on reinforcement learning, the economics of AI and quantum computing. Register: https://lnkd.in/d2rZQmNR - London STAC Summit (October 6) Continued growth means we’re moving to a new venue in Basinghall and the first wave of sponsors has been announced. Register: https://lnkd.in/dUmMmdWi - New York STAC Summit (October 21) Following record attendance at our last event, the Summit returns to Times Square but this time in a larger space. Expect billboard takeovers 🔥Register: https://lnkd.in/dkb6WYbb - STAC AI Group Matthew Dixon presented “From Tokens to Trade” in July, introducing a framework for turning an LLM’s wording-dependent probabilities into calibrated posteriors, with the aim of making agentic financial workflows easier to audit and stress-test. - STAC Time Sync Group (August 18) Sam Matheny and the Merkhet team will discuss time distribution using Broadcast Positioning System delivered over ATSC 3.0. - STAC FPGA Group (August 25) Jon Fowler from Myrtle.ai will discuss its FPGA work and implementation of VOLLO, available as both a PCIe offload accelerator and an IP core for integration into existing designs. - STAC Cloud Group Interest in cloud infrastructure has surged, particularly ahead of major upcoming exchange-to-cloud moves. The group will focus on trading technology in the cloud, including market data, exchange architecture, and cloud networking. Warning: there will be heated exchanges (sorry not sorry for the pun!)

It’s official. We’ve raised $25.5 million, led by Quantonation, with FORWARD.one, Extantia and Firgun Ventures participating. This milestone is about much more than the funding itself. It's a vote of confidence in a different vision for quantum computing. When we started ZuriQ, we believed there had to be a better path to scaling trapped-ion quantum computers. Instead of adapting architectures designed decades ago, we asked a simple question: What if we built the hardware from first principles around scalability? That question led us to develop our Penning-trap architecture. It is a fundamentally different approach enabling fully reconfigurable 2D ion qubit arrays while eliminating many of the challenges that have limited scalability. A key milestone that I am proud to show is the first 3x3 array in this architecture that we have developed with our collaborators at ETH Zürich. The teams that started this field earlier did work I respect and admire, and of course they have some first-mover advantage. But in hardware, the problems you defer at the start are the ones that determine whether you can scale, and they cost far more to fix later on the roadmap than to design around early. We chose to go back to first principles and find a different way. What I learned since we founded the company is how much of this comes down to people. This raise is mostly about finding more of them: the type of people who are driven to solve the hard version of the problem rather than the one that, at least initially, seems easier. I won’t pretend the difficult part of ZuriQ’s journey is now behind us. It isn’t. But I’m excited for the climb alongside a world-class team, each with the ambition to reach a new summit. Onwards. Link in the comment to our feature coverage by Sifted

NEW RESEARCH: Ruthless Insights has published a Flash Report on Archer Materials Limited (ASX: AXE) following the Company's recently announced strategic Quantum Compute Agreement with global quantum leader IonQ (NYSE: IONQ). The agreement marks a significant strategic development for AXE - Australia's only ASX-listed pure-play quantum technology company. Providing access to world-leading quantum compute infrastructure and establishing a joint pathway to evaluate sovereign quantum computing capability on Australian soil. Key highlights from the report: 🔹 The IonQ agreement provides access to world-leading quantum compute power across an initial three-year term 🔹 Both companies will jointly evaluate deploying an IonQ quantum computer in Australia 🔹 A strongly supported $7M placement and up to $3M SPP strengthens the balance sheet with approximately 10 quarters of funding runway 🔹 Multiple commercialisation pathways across quantum computing, quantum machine learning, and medical diagnostics. The partnership arrives at a pivotal moment for the global quantum sector, with sovereign quantum capability increasingly recognised as a strategic national priority across allied nations. Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/gnhfx9E6  #ASX #Quantum #DeepTech #EquityResearch #ArcherMaterials #IonQ Ruthless Insights is the independent equity research arm of Ruthless Ventures, a deep-tech advisory and productions platform. We produce institutional-grade equity research on ASX-listed and private deep-tech companies, as a Corporate Authorised Representative of BR Securities Australia (AFSL 456663). Ruthless Insights has been engaged and paid by Archer Materials for ongoing research coverage. This report is general advice only and does not consider your personal circumstances. Please read the full disclosures in the report before making any investment decision.

𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗶. On 5 August the SEC declared Pasqal's registration statement effective, clearing the way for its merger with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II. Shareholders vote on 25 August. After that, Pasqal trades on Nasdaq as PSQL. The same day, in Shanghai, TuringQ completed its IPO tutoring filing with the local bureau of the CSRC. Tutoring is a preparation stage Chinese companies must finish before they can apply to list. TuringQ is the third quantum computing company to reach it, after Origin Quantum and Boson Quantum. Here is the part I did not know. Quantum is now a named category on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In June, at the Lujiazui Forum, the CSRC extended the STAR Market's fifth listing standard to quantum technology, alongside AI large models and several other frontier sectors. That standard removes the profit requirement and replaces it with market value and research spending. It also requires state approval of the company's core technology as a condition of listing. No quantum computing company anywhere is profitable, so this is the difference between being able to list and not being able to. Europe has no equivalent. IQM Quantum Computers listed on Nasdaq on 2 July, with Helsinki alongside. Pasqal goes to Nasdaq first, with Euronext Paris targeted for 2026 or 2027. Both choices are rational. Nasdaq has the comparable companies, the specialist analysts and the investors who already own quantum. One thing we do not know yet. How much cash Pasqal actually receives depends on how many Bleichroeder shareholders take their money back before closing. The trust held around $289m in February. The 25 August vote will give the real figure. 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱. #QuantumComputing #CapitalMarkets #TechSovereignty #Europe #China European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC)

Chips Act 2.0 landed on 3 June, and the real advantage it hands Finland is, Dilution Math. Vexlum raised €10 million in Tampere against only €6 million of equity, with a €2.4 million EIC grant and a €1.6 million loan covering the rest. The founder bought the same runway for roughly 40% less ownership. The Chips Joint Undertaking has sixteen calls worth €300 million open right now, so the structure is repeatable. Finland is unusually built to exploit it. Tesi , Business Finland , the EIC and a specialist fund like Cloudberry VC writing €400,000 to €1 million checks stack together rather than compete for the same slice. Hardware companies burn cash through long qualification cycles, so every point of equity preserved early becomes leverage at Series B when the capital need is largest. For the country's roughly 90 chip companies chasing €5 to 6 billion in revenue by 2035, that compounding is the strongest argument for sourcing here #VCInsights #InvestmentMemo #Semiconductors #DeepTech #Finland #NordicTech https://lnkd.in/daUBGjrX

The quantum computing sector is emerging as a potential growth area for equity capital markets, with an expanding pipeline of companies considering public listings.

【Press Release📢】OptQC Speaks at the "Australia-Japan Quantum Workshop" to Strengthen Japan-Australia Bilateral Cooperation On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, Takuji Hiraoka, Director of OptQC, delivered a pitch as a Japanese quantum startup at the "Australia-Japan Quantum Workshop" held at the University of Sydney Nano Institute in Sydney, Australia. This workshop was held in conjunction with the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Quantum Science, Technology, and Innovation between Japan and Australia, signed by Minister of State Kimi Onoda and Australian Minister Tim Ayres on July 27. With the support of Q-STAR and Quantum Australia (QA), the event served as a vital opportunity to translate intergovernmental agreements into concrete business and research activities. OptQC introduced the development achievements of its first optical quantum computer "MoQuren" and its membership initiative "HIQALI," presenting proposals on the transition from research to commercialization and new business opportunities through Japan-Australia industrial collaboration. Moving forward, we will continue to accelerate the global deployment of optical quantum technology and steadily advance its practical application in overseas markets, with a strong focus on Australia. 2026年7月28日（火）、オーストラリア・シドニーのThe University of Sydney Nano Instituteで開催された「日豪量子ワークショップ」において、当社取締役の平岡 卓爾が日本の量子スタートアップとしてピッチを行いました。 本ワークショップは、前日の7月27日に小野田紀美内閣府特命担当大臣とオーストラリアのティム・エアーズ大臣による「日豪間の量子科学技術及びイノベーションに関する協力覚書（MOC）」署名に連動して開催されたものです。Q-STARおよびQuantum Australia（QA）の支援のもと、政府間合意を産業・研究の現場での具体的な活動へと繋げる重要な機会となりました。 当社は、光量子コンピュータ初号機「MoQuren」の開発成果や会員プログラム「HIQALI（ヒカリ）」を紹介し、研究成果から商業化への移行プロセスや日豪産業間連携による新たなビジネス機会の創出について提言を行いました。 当社は今後も、光量子技術のグローバル展開を加速させ、オーストラリアをはじめとする海外市場での実用化を着実に進めてまいります。 詳細はプレスリリースをご覧ください。 ＜🔍Related Links＞ View our news page / お知らせページはこちら EN:https://lnkd.in/gB_Bc3py  JP: https://lnkd.in/gg8Q_p4r #DeepTech #QuantumComputing #OpticalQuantumComputing #OptQC #量子コンピュータ #光量子コンピュータ #QSTAR #QuantumAustralia #Australia #Sydney #日豪量子ワークショップ #MoQuren #HIQALI

Historically, capital deployment and commercial partnerships in the quantum and deep-tech markets have relied on fragmented networks, hype, and blind introductions. We decided to do something about it. Starting today, we are rolling out the Nexus Certificate of Verification. We are replacing that guesswork with objective data. This gives founders an objective, verified mark they can take directly to investors. For investors, it’s the clear signal needed to cut through the noise and trigger a deep dive into a startup's actual technical capabilities on the platform. Crucially, this is not a static badge. We update a startup's verification after every technical milestone they hit, ensuring the data is always current and reflecting real-time commercial progress. Every week, we will highlight a startup whose tech stack, supply chain capabilities, and operational milestones have been rigorously mapped, and verified through the Nexus engine (powered by the Global Quantum Intelligence, LLC ontology) Pallavi Soni and Pranshi Saxena thank you for all the hard work on this! We are issuing our inaugural certificate to Icarus Quantum. Icarus is actively bridging the gap between technical development and commercial deployment by developing room-temperature quantum interconnects to scale quantum computers through modular architectures. They are building the critical infrastructure, efficient photon sources and microwave-to-optical transducers required to power photonic, superconducting, and spin-based quantum datacenters. For the investors and corporate partners operating on the Nexus platform, Icarus' verified profile and data room are now live and actively routing through the matchmaking algorithm. You can download it straight from their profile. We will continue to build the ecosystem and set a new standard in educating investors on what is truly happening within the quantum start-up community. A huge thank you to Poolad Imany and team for being one of the first users of Nexus. #quantumcomputing #quantumtechnology #nexus #investment #verified

With investment accelerating to meet soaring AI-driven demand, how is the financing of data centres and digital infrastructure evolving? In this video, partners Emma Matebalavu, Robert Villani and Chin Seng Chew examine how the convergence of different financing approaches is set to unlock new sources of capital, the expanding range of investor opportunities, and key lessons learned from advising on complex projects across the globe. Interested in finding out more? Download our latest client briefing on GPU infrastructure – financing and contracting for AI compute capacity: https://okt.to/jirw90 #privatecredit #GBU #DataCentres Clifford Chance

Pegasus Tech Ventures has been investing in #quantum computing long before it became a mainstream theme, backing multiple architectures across neutral atom, superconducting, photonic, and quantum software. Our first investment in Rigetti Computing was at a $20M valuation. Today, its market cap stands at $4.7B. Quantum isn’t replacing classical computing. It’s complementing it, and the earliest commercial applications will likely emerge in pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and simulation-intensive industries. Thank you to Troy Hooper for taking the time to interview Anis Uzzaman Ph.D. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gcDW-SVs