Deep Tech & Future

of Compute report.
2025
Contents.

2 Key statistics

4 Introduction
5 Equity investment
6 Breakdown of deals by size
7 Breakdown of deals over £2m
8 The most active VC investors
10 Top investment recipients
11 The most active angel investors

12 Grant funding
13 Top academic institutions

14 Spinouts
15 Exits
16 Top company exits in 2023 and 2024
17 Regional distribution

19 Thematic overview
20 Equity investment

21 Breakdown of deals by size

22 The most active VC investors
23 Top investment recipients
24 Grant Funding
25 Top academic institutions
26 Company exits
27 Fastest growing companies by headcount growth

28 Key takeaways
29 Concluding remarks

30 Appendix
31 Methodology
32 About
Deep tech * includes future of compute

5,613
Number of active deeptech companies
(including future of compute)
out of 6,726 incorporated between 2015 - 2024

£32.0b £9.68b
Total equity funding secured by deep Total equity funding secured by deep
tech* companies (2015 - 2024) tech* companies (2023 - 2024)

11,789 3,331
Number of deals secured by deep tech* Number of deals secured by deep tech*
companies (2015 - 2024) companies (2023 - 2024)

£2.15b £702m
Total grant funding awarded to deep tech* Total grant funding awarded to deep tech*
companies (2015 - 2024) companies (2023 - 2024)

Future of compute

69
Number of active future of
compute companies
out of 70 incorporated between 2015 - 2024

£1.53b £563m
Total equity funding secured by future of com- Total equity funding secured by future
pute companies (2015 - 2024) of compute companies (2023 - 2024)

191 64
Number of deals secured by future of Number of deals secured by future of
compute companies (2015 - 2024) compute companies (2023 - 2024)

£143m £63.2m
Total grant funding awarded to future of Total grant funding awarded to future of
compute companies (2015 - 2024) compute companies (2023 - 2024)

2
 Deep tech
overview.

3 3
Introduction

At AlbionVC we define Deep Tech as deeply Nowhere is this surge in investment more evident
technical, IP rich opportunities with a long-term than in the once-overlooked but now thriving field
moat. Companies in the sector have scientific of Compute—a Deep Tech subsector pioneering
and engineering breakthroughs at their core, new computational modalities and technologies.
many are founded in university labs and spun out The Future of compute encompasses the
to solve the world’s biggest problems. evolution beyond traditional Von Neumann
architectures to embrace new modalities
across seven core areas: semiconductors,
Over the past decade, Deep Tech has become
networking, in-memory, neuromorphic, photonic,
a strategic pillar for the UK, with the potential to
infrastructure and quantum computing. Over the
build global category leaders. Between 2015 and
past decade investment in this highly technical
2024, companies in the space raised a total of
space has surged from £3 million in 2015 to a
£32 billion in equity funding via 11.8k deals and
quarter of a billion (£284 million) by 2024, fueling
a significant number of companies raising large
the rise of highly promising and rapidly scaling
rounds of £10 million and above. Notable rounds
startups. In 2015, no equity deals in Future of
in 2023-2024 include AlbionVC backed AI unicorn
Compute exceeded £10 million, but by 2024,
Quantexa raising £104 million, UCL spinout
nearly 40% did.
Synthesia raising £217 million and AI self-driving
car startup Wayve leading the ranking with £833
This report explores the changing investment
million in funding secured.
landscape across the UK Deep Tech and Future
of Compute over the past decade and outlines
key ecosystem players behind the data.

4
Equity investment—
a decade of growth and resilience

Equity investment secured by deep tech companies in the UK

(2015 - 2024)

1,797 1,834
Amount raised (converted to GBP)
Number of deals 1,706

1,346 1,497

1,235

1,009

704

478

184

£0.53b £0.65b £1.06b £2.01b £3.00b £2.49b £5.58b £6.96b £4.49b £5.19b
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Between 2015 and 2024, deep tech companies deals from 2023 to 2024, mirroring the broader
raised a total of £32.0b in equity funding via 11.8k 24% drop in the equity market, deep tech
deals. The average deal value for deep tech companies raised more funds in 2024 (£5.19b)
increased from £2.53m in 2019 to £3.55m in 2024. compared to 2023 (£4.49b).
Despite an 18.4% reduction in the number of

5
Breakdown of deals by size —
the evolution of equity investments

Out of the 6,726 deep tech companies Most deals into UK deep tech companies fall
incorporated since 2015, 4,604 (68.6%) have within the £100k–£499k range, although their
secured at least one round of equity funding relative proportion has declined steadily over the
between 2015 and 2024. This indicates a strong past decade from 70% to 46%.
investor interest in deep tech and the sector’s
ability to attract capital over the past decade.

Breakdown of equity investment by size of deal (using deal numbers)

(2015 - 2024)

Investment brackets
£10m and above
100% £5m to £9.99m
4.42% 3.25% 3.80% 3.06% 2.94% 5.12%
7.02% 5.82% 6.91% 6.84% £2m to £4.99m
1.55% 2.51% 3.60% 4.05% 4.25%
£1m to £1.99m
3.51% 6.18% 6.06% 5.34% 6.01%
90% 5.43% 6.71% £500k to £999k
9.25% 9.66% 8.97%
8.19% £100k to £499k
8.39% 10.49% 11.04% 12.14% less than £100k
80% 4.68% 14.69% 14.24%
10.89% 10.24% 12.37%

7.60% 12.36%
11.94%
70% 15.95% 12.59%
11.54% 11.50%
14.18% 14.20%
13.61%

60% 13.92%
13.55%
29.24% 13.83% 14.72%
50% 33.55%

35.45%
40% 36.59% 36.75% 37.28%

34.79% 32.49%
30.69%
30% 30.32%

20% 39.77%
33.55%
26.29%
21.69% 22.05% 20.57%
10% 17.16% 18.10%
16.91% 15.67%

0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

6
Breakdown of deals over £2m -
consistent growth in larger rounds
over the past decade

Breakdown of equity investment into deep tech companies by deals over £2m
(2019 - 2024)

Inves tment brackets

£10m and above
£5m - £9.99m
£2m - £4.99m

£4.94b
£3.34b

£3.81b
£2.44b

£1.89b
£1.29b
£0.63b
£0.73b £0.69b
£0.62b
£0.33b £0.38b
£0.78b £0.67b £0.65b
£0.54b
£0.36b £0.35b
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Since 2019, the proportion of investment rounds total £4.68b raised in deals over £2m, £3.34b of
exceeding £2m has grown significantly, with these came from deals over £10m. These larger
the total amount invested in such rounds nearly funding rounds are more valuable for deep tech
doubling—up from £2.58b in 2019 to £4.68b companies, which often face long timeframes
in 2024. Within these deals, there has been between R&D and commercialisation.
a consistent increase in the number of deals
over £10m during this period. In 2024, of the

7
The most active VC investors

Top investors by number of deals and stage of deal (2023 - 2024)

SFC Capital 15 105 (120) Stage of evolution at deal date

Established
Mercia Ventures 43 25 10 (78)
Growth
Fuel Ventures 6 31 1 (38)
Seed
Parkwalk Advisors 19 11 6 (36)
Venture
Cambridge Angels 17 13 4 (34)
Octopus Group 11 12 5 (28)
BGF (formerly Business Growth Fund) 16 4 5 2 (27)
Cambridge Enterprise 7 17 2 (26)
Ascension 12 14 (26)
Oxford Innovation 13 12 (25)
Sapphire Capital Partners 10 14 (24)
Future Planet Capital 12 8 1 (21)
SyndicateRoom 8 10 2 (20)
AlbionVC 10 5 4 (19)
Green Angel Ventures 12 5 1 (18)
Par Equity 15 1 1 (17)
Seedcamp 5 10 1 (16)
Praetura 8 7 1 (16)
Oxford Science Enterprises 7 5 4 (16)
Foresight Group 8 3 5 (16)

Between 2023 and 2024, SFC Capital emerged SFC are among a number of investors including
as the top investor in deep tech companies, Ascension, Sapphire Capital Partners, that
having participated in a total of 120 deals. The predominantly provide funds to early-stage deep
fund typically participates in funding rounds with tech companies.
a median value of £270k. It focuses on companies Investors backing companies across various
eligible for the SEIS, which offers tax incentives stages of growth include Mercia Ventures,
to investors in startups. As SFC Capital primarily Parkwalk, BGF, and AlbionVC. Mercia ventures tops
supports startups, the majority of its investments this group, having participated in 78 deals into
are in the seed and venture stages of growth. deep tech companies between 2023 and 2024.

The definitions of growth stages used in this

analysis can be found here.

8
 Top investors by participation in deals valued
over £2m and by stage of deal (2023 - 2024)

Stage of evolution at deal date

Mercia Ventures 25 15 8 (48)
Established
Parkwalk Advisors 17 6 6 (29)
Growth
BGF (formerly Business Growth Fund) 16 4 5 2 (27)
Seed
Octopus Group 11 10 5 (26)
Venture
AlbionVC 10 5 4 (19)
Cambridge Angels 12 3 3 (18)
Oxford Science Enterprises 7 5 4 (16)
Seedcamp 5 7 1 (13)
MMC Ventures 6 5 2 (13)
Cambridge Enterprise 5 6 2 (13)
Ascension 9 4 (13)
Future Planet Capital 6 5 1 (12)
Par Equity 10 1 (11)
Northern Gritstone 6 5 (11)
Foresight Group 4 3 4 (11)
IQ Capital Partners 5 3 2 (10)
Google 5 4 1 (10)
IP Group 3 2 4 (9)
Praetura 5 2 1 (8)
Plural 3 3 2 (8)

Out of 3,331 equity deals between 2023 and 2024, Funding rounds with more capital are essential for
820 were valued over £2 million, with 191 of these deep tech companies that are looking to develop
deals exceeding £10m. past the early-stage. Mercia Ventures is the top
investor in funding rounds valued over £2m.
Between 2023 and 2024, the Mercia participated
This ranking contrasts with the previous, with
in 48 such rounds.
SFC Capital disappearing from the ranking while
funds like BGF ascend from seventh to third place.
AlbionVC’s rank increased from fourteenth to fifth,
as all 19 deals AlbionVC participated in are valued
at over £2m.

9
Top investment recipients

Top investment recipients by value of deals secured (2023 - 2024)

Wayve £833m

Synthesia £217m

NScale £145m

Stability AI £104m

Quantexa £104m

Build A Rocket Boy £102m

Netomnia £101m

Tessl £99m

Plastic Energy £90m

Envisics £84m

Between 2023 and 2024, deep tech companies in “Quantexa is a standout British deep tech
the UK raised a total of £9.68b in equity funding. success story, combining a visionary founder, a
Wayve emerged as the top investment recipient cutting-edge product, and strong market demand
by value, raising a total of £833m via two deals for AI-driven decision intelligence in both
during this period. enterprise and the public sector. With backing
from a syndicate of UK and global investors, the
The top company raising equity between 2023 company has raised £420m to date, fueling its
and 2024 via a single deal was Quantexa. The global expansion—making Series F just another
London-based company secured a single round step in its impressive journey.” Ed Lascelles,
totalling £104m, and received investment from Partner AlbionVC who led the first institutional
investors including AlbionVC and Dawn Capital. In investment in Quantexa in 2017 and is still on the
that same year, Quantexa acquired Irish company board today.
AYLIEN. In early 2025 Quantexa raised a further
£137m led by Teachers’ Venture Growth.

10
The most active angel investors

Top angel investors by number of deep tech

companies invested in (as of January 2025)

Charles Songhurst 67
Chris Mairs 40
Jonathan Milner 29
William Tunstall-Pedoe 27
Andrew Scott 25
Peter Hutton 24
Andre Crawford-Brunt 24
Richard Bednarek 23
Richard Allen 22
Quentin Solt 21

Cambridge Angels Charles Songhurst is the top angel investor backing

deep tech companies as of January 2025. Among the
are a leading force companies he’s backed are Crypto Quantique, Dexory, and
in the deep tech Wave Photonics. Of the 67 companies invested in, 32.4%
are in the venture stage of growth. These companies have
ecosystem. collectively raised £894m between 2015 - 2024.

Cambridge Angels, a syndicate of experienced

entrepreneurs focused on £150k to £1.5m, are a key player
for early-stage ventures with 80 deals done by the most
active angels in this ranking—Jonathan Milner, William
Tunstall-Pedoe, and Peter Hutton.

11
Grant funding

From 2015 to 2024, deep tech companies was the top grant recipient by total awarded in
in the UK secured a total of £2.15b in grant grants between 2023 and 2024. The company
funding via 7,558 deals. M Squared emerged as received £31.7m in grant funding via 10 awards.
the most prolific recipient, winning 56 grants.
There was a notable decline in grant funding
While grant funding into deep tech companies
activity in 2024 compared to 2023, marked by
remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, it
a 37.9% drop in the value of grants. This trend
is still a small proportion of equity rounds—in
was not limited to deep tech companies, as
2024 all grant funding was only 5.2% of all
grant funding fell across the wider ecosystem
equity investment.
between 2023 to 2024. Artemis Technologies

Grant funding awarded to deep tech companies in the UK (2015 - 2024)

Amount received 1,403

Number of grants 1,330
1,278

908

660 769

500

373

181
156

£42m £69m £70m £110m £214m £312m £230m £401m £433m £269m
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

12
Top academic institutions –
London ecosystem ranks second
by the number of spinouts

Top academic institutions by deep tech spinout count

(incorporated 2015 - 2024)

University of Oxford 95
London ecosystem (Imperial College & UCL) 71
University of Cambridge 63
University of Manchester 42
Imperial College London 41
University College London (University of London) 30
University of Bristol 23
Queen's University Belfast 19
University of Sheffield 15
University of Leeds 15
Newcastle University 15
University of Liverpool 14
University of Warwick 13
Royal College of Art 13
University of Nottingham 12
University of Birmingham 12
Swansea University 12

The University of Oxford is the top academic companies have spun out of UCL. Stanhope AI
institution in terms of the number of deep tech spun out from UCL in 2021. The London-based
spinouts. Between 2015 to 2024, it spun out deep tech startup combines neuroscience and
95 companies. robotics to develop AI software for autonomous
machines, intended to allow them to make real-
The London ecosystem, represented by Imperial world decisions. The company received a £2.30m
College London and University College London funding round from multiple investors, including
(UCL), ranks second with a combined total of 71 AlbionVC via its UCL Technology Fund in 2024.
spinouts. Individually, Imperial has produced 41
spinouts between 2015 and 2024, whereas 30

13
 Top academic spinouts that have raised rounds over £2m (2023 - 2024)

Company name Origin academic institution Number of deals Amount raised

Synthesia University College London 2 £217.4m
Oxford Quantum Circuits University of Oxford 2 £79.5m
Perspectum University of Oxford 2 £45.8m
Quantum Motion University College London, University of Oxford 2 £42.5m
Echion Technologies University of Cambridge 2 £39.0m
Chemify University of Glasgow 1 £36.0m
Theolytics University of Oxford 2 £32.5m
Oxford Ionics University of Oxford 2 £32.0m
PQShield University of Oxford 1 £29.1m
Advanced Electric Machines Newcastle University 2 £28.0m
Oriole Networks University College London 2 £27.5m
Alloyed University of Oxford 1 £27.3m
Salience Labs University of Oxford 1 £24.1m
Forefront RF University of Bristol 2 £22.7m
Tympa Health Imperial College London 2 £22.3m

Among the total 812 active deep tech spinouts Of the top 15 spinouts raising investment between
based in the UK, 436 (53.7%) raised equity 2023 and 2024, eight spun out from the University
between 2023 and 2024. The top academic of Oxford.
spinout raising investment is Synthesia, which
raised £217m via two deals within this period. The
company spun out of University College London in
2017, and to date has raised £266m in funding via
six deals.

14
Company exits - M&A transactions
dominate the exit environment
Over the past decade, there have been 341 The number of exits in 2024 has remained
exits in the deep tech space, corresponding considerably high, with a total of 61 exits.
to 320 acquisitions and 21 initial public
offerings (IPOs). The top year for deep
tech exits during this period was 2021,
when 66 companies exited. Of these, nine
went public—the most in the past decade.

Number of deep tech company exits by type of exit (2015 - 2024)

Exit type
Acquisition
IPO

57

63
60
58

27
22
13
6 13
9
1 4 1 3 1 1 1 1
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

15
 At least five exits between 2023
and 2024 were £100m+

Acquisition price /
IPO market
Company name Company type Year of exit Exit type capitalisation

Darktrace Deeptech 2024 Acquisition £3.99b

Graphcore Future of compute 2024 Acquisition £462m
InstaDeep Deeptech 2023 Acquisition £362m
LandVault Deeptech 2024 Acquisition £352m
Celixir Deeptech 2023 Acquisition £135m
30 Technology Deeptech 2023 Acquisition £92.0m
Ocean Polymers Deeptech 2023 Acquisition £86.4m
Angstrom Sports Deeptech 2023 Acquisition £81.0m
Yellowstone Biosciences Deeptech 2024 Acquisition £16.5m
IntelliAM Deeptech 2024 IPO £15.4m

Top acquisition Top IPO

The top exit in 2024 by total consideration paid The top IPO in 2024 (ranked by market
was Darktrace. The cybersecurity firm was capitalisation) was IntelliAM. It underwent a
acquired by US-based firm Thoma Bravo at a £15.4m IPO in July 2024. The company uses AI
valuation of £3.99b in October 2024. and machine learning to optimise manufacturing
processes.

16
Regional distribution of active deep
tech companies in the UK (2024)

Number of companies*

102 2,3 51

* includes the location of 5,613 active deep tech

companies incorporated between (2015 and 2024)

London remains the dominant force in

deep tech, with a clear concentration of
companies. The top local authorities for
active companies are Westminster (432),
391
Camden (367), and Hackney (264).

Outside of London, the top local

authority is Cambridge (144), followed by
the City of Edinburgh (142).

129 Despite deep tech firms being mostly

102 based in the Golden Triangle (the area
35 7 connecting London, Oxford, and
22 1 Cambridge), Scotland ranks highly in
terms of active deep tech companies.
This signals momentum for Scotland’s
deep tech ecosystem and opportunities
for expansion.
159
228
14 5 487

2,351
694
360

17
Future of compute
overview.
 Thematic overview

The future of compute represents a small but Companies such as Oriole Networks are leading
thriving subset of the deep tech sector, driving this charge, pioneering photonic switching to
the next generation of computing technologies create faster, more energy-efficient networks.
that will enhance the UK’s computing capabilities. Its technology supports high-performance
This area gained strategic focus in 2022 when computing and data centres, strengthening AI
the Independent Review of the Future of capabilities while reducing environmental impact.
Compute was published, setting out 10 strategic
Investment trends reflect the capital-intensive
recommendations to strengthen the UK’s
nature of this sector. While both deep tech
computing capabilities. The review highlighted
and future of compute companies have seen
that the UK’s long-term economic growth and
sharp increases in public and private funding
ambition to become a Science and Technology
since 2015, future of compute companies
Superpower by 2030 hinge on advancing
secure, on average, £5.3m more per deal than
computing to maximise its impact across the
the wider deep tech cohort. This suggests that
economy and science base. The government’s
computing companies face higher costs related
AI Opportunities Action Plan further highlights
to infrastructure, talent, and R&D—consistent
this, with the expansion of AI relying heavily on
with the demands of scaling and technological
enhanced computing.
innovation in the computing space.

1
“Independent Review of the Future of Compute: Final Report and Recommendations.” GOV.UK. 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-compute-re-
view/the-future-of-compute-report-of-the-review-of-independent-panel-of-experts.
2
“AI Opportunities Action Plan.” Department for Science, Innovation & Technology. GOV.UK. 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-opportunities-action-plan/
ai-opportunities-action-plan.

19
Equity investment – the rapid rise in
investment over the past decade

Equity investment secured by future of compute companies in the UK

(2015 - 2024)

33
Amount raised
Number of deals
31
27

24
25

18

12

11
8

2
£3m £32m £75m £173m £71m £176m £258m £177m £279m £284m
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

From 2015 to 2024, companies in the future of The number of deals peaked at 33 in 2023,
compute sector secured a total of £1.53b in reflecting rising investor confidence in next-
equity funding, showcasing a sharp increase generation computing technologies. Despite
in funding from £3m in 2015 to £284m in 2024. some fluctuations, the sector has maintained
Graphcore was a notable recipient within this strong momentum, and funding increased
group, securing several large deals, including a in 2024.
£158m round in 2018 and a £162m deal in 2021.

20
Breakdown of deals by size –
the rise of mega rounds

In 2024, the proportion of deals valued at The rate of deals valued under £100k has been
£2 million and above reached its highest on a decline, with only 3.23% of deals in 2024
point, representing 74.2% of all transactions. falling into this category.
Meanwhile, £10m+ mega rounds accounted for
38.7% of all deals.

Breakdown of equity investment into future of compute companies

by size of deal (using deal numbers) (2015 - 2024)

100% Investment brackets

10.00% 10.00% £10m and above
14.29% 15.38%
18.18% 17.65% 18.18% £5m to £9.99m
90%
25.00% £2m to £4.99m
10.00%
£1m to £1.99m
80% 20.00% 38.71%
14.29% 5.88% £500k to £999k
9.09% 15.38%
50.00% 10.00% £100k to £499k
4.17%
70% 24.24% less than £100k
8.33%
14.29% 18.18% 23.53%
11.54%
60% 20.00%
25.00% 9.68%

50% 9.09% 5.88% 15.38% 15.15%

33.33%
28.57%
40% 20.00%
7.69% 25.81%
18.18%
20.00% 15.15%
29.41%
30%

50.00% 10.00%
9.09% 12.50%
12.12%
20% 30.77% 12.90%

28.57% 20.00%
3.23%
10% 18.18% 20.00% 17.65% 12.12%
16.67%
6.45%
5.00% 3.85% 3.03% 3.23%
0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

21
The most active VC investors

Out of the 64 deals in the future of compute Among the top investors providing follow-on
cohort, 79.7% were valued at over £2m. The investment is AlbionVC, which participated in
investors listed in this ranking all participated in the funding rounds of Phasecraft and Oriole
deals over £1m. The top investor into future of Networks.
compute companies is Parkwalk Advisors. The
fund participated in a total of eight deals—all
valued at over £2m.

Top investors participating in future of compute deals over £2m by

total number and stage of deals (2023 - 2024)

Parkwalk Advisors 5 3 (8) Stage of evolution at deal date

Growth
Oxford Science Enterprises 2 1 3 (6)
Seed
AlbionVC 3 2 (5)
Venture
Octopus Group 2 1 (3)
NATO Innovation Fund 1 1 1 (3)
IQ Capital Partners 2 1 (3)
IP Group 1 2 (3)
Cambridge Innovation Capital 1 2 (3)
Cambridge Enterprise 2 1 (3)
Amadeus Capital Partners 1 2 (3)
XTX Markets 2 (2)
Future Planet Capital 1 1 (2)
Foresight Group 1 1 (2)
Creator Fund 1 1 (2)
Clean Growth Investment Management 2 (2)
Cambridge Angels 2 (2)
Braavos Investment Advisers 1 1 (2)
BGF (formerly Business Growth Fund) 2 (2)

22
Top investment recipients

The top investment recipient between 2023 and £15.0m in its first round in April 2023, followed by
2024 among future of compute companies is a second fundraising in August 2024 for a total of
Oxford Quantum Circuits. In total, the University £58.6m. Riverlane develops proprietary software
of Oxford spinout raised £79.5m in equity across to reduce data errors in quantum computing.
these two years, via two fundraisings. Oxford
Quantum Circuits develops quantum computers
using superconducting circuits. Since its launch in
“UCL spinout Oriole Networks raised
2017, it has raised £120m in equity via four deals.
£27.5m in just 18 months after incorporation,
demonstrating the team’s unique ability to
scale university research into global product
Riverlane raised a total of £73.6m via two deals enabling the AI paradigm shift”.
between 2023 and 2024. The company raised Sebastian Hunte, Investor AlbionVC

Top future of compute investment recipients by value

of deals secured (2023 - 2024)

Oxford Quantum Circuits £79.5m

Riverlane £73.6m

Quantum Motion £42.5m

Oxford Ionics £32.0m

PQShield £29.1m

Oriole Networks £27.5m

Salience Labs £24.1m

Forefront RF £22.7m

Paragraf £21.7m

AccelerComm £21.5m

23
Grant funding

Grant funding awarded to future of compute companies in the UK

(2015 - 2024)

62
Amount received
Number of grants
54 55

38
34

25

20

15

9
6

£1.17m £1.94m £3.84m £4.84m £9.34m £24.1m £7.41m £27.6m £34.3m £28.9m
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Over the past decade, the future of compute “While grant funding for the future of
sub-sector secured £143m in grant funding via compute companies has gone up over the
a total of 318 grants. During this period, the top past decade, it is still only 10% of the equity
recipient was M Squared, which received £17.4m investments made in 2024 signalling an
of the total grant funding. opportunity for the government to double
down on supporting this strategically
Other top grantees included Riverlane and Orca important sector.”
Computing. These companies received a total of David Grimm, Partner AlbionVC
19 and 18 grants respectively.

24
Top academic institutions

Top academic institutions by future of compute spinout count

(incorporated 2015 - 2024)

University of Oxford 8
London ecosystem (Imperial College & UCL) 6
University of Cambridge 6
University College London (University of London) 4
University of Southampton 3
University of Bristol 3
Imperial College London 2

The University of The University of Oxford is the leading university by count

of future of compute spinouts, with a total of eight.
Oxford is the leading
university by number Tied for second place, the London ecosystem along with
the University of Cambridge each produced six spinouts.
of future of compute An emerging player in the future of compute space
spinouts. is Oriole Networks. Founded in 2023, the UCL spinout
develops technology to make data centres more energy
efficient. Since its inception, it has secured £27.5m in equity
via two rounds of funding. It has been backed by investors
including AlbionVC, Plural, XTX Ventures, Clean Growth
Fund, and Dorilton Ventures.

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 Future of compute
company exits (2015 - 2024)
Given that in 2015 only £3 million was invested in all future of compute companies in
the UK, it is not surprising that the sector has not yet established a strong exit track
record, however positive early signs are emerging within the M&A market:

Graphcore (2024)
Graphcore develops accelerators for AI and
machine learning. The company spun out from
the University of Bristol in 2016 and raised a
total of £528m in equity via eight rounds. It was
acquired by SoftBank Group in 2024 for £462m.

Lumenisity (2022)
Lumenisity was formed in 2016 as a spinout from
the University of Southampton. It develops fibre
optic cables. Prior to being acquired in December
2022 by Microsoft, the company raised £28.4m in
equity via four rounds.

ArQit (2021)
Established in 2017, London-based ArQit develops
a global quantum key distribution network—a
communication method using encryption. It was
acquired by US-based Centricus Acquisition Corp.
in 2021.

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Fastest growing companies by
headcount growth (2021 - 2024)

Oxford Ionics (77.3%)

Oxford Ionics develops quantum computing technology, developing
and manufacturing a trapped-ion silicon chip. The company spun out of
the University of Oxford in 2019, and to date has raised £34.5m in equity
via three deals. It has also received nine grants totalling £6.33m. The
company grew its team from seven employees in 2021 to 39 in 2024.

AegiQ (71.0%)
Founded in 2019, AegiQ develops quantum computing photonics
hardware. Since launch, the University of Sheffield spinout has raised
£8.24m in equity via five deals, with investors including Quantum
Exponential and Deepbridge Capital. The company has also won a
collective £3.72m in grant funding, via a total of seven grants. In 2021,
AegiQ employed three people. This value has grown by a CAGR of 71.0%,
to 15 employees by the end of 2024.

Phasecraft (48.1%)
Bristol-based Phasecraft develops quantum software, with applications
in modelling and simulations, allowing scientists to predict the
outcomes of chemical reactions. The company is an academic
spinout emerging from the universities of Bristol and UCL. Since
its incorporation in 2018, it has raised £17.4m in equity via three
fundraisings, including continued support from AlbionVC. Phasecraft
grew its employee base from eight in 2021, to 26 in 2024, marking a
48.1% compound annual growth rate.

27
Key takeaways

Deep tech
£32.0b
• A decade of resilience and growth — deep tech Total equity raised by
companies secured £32.0b of equity investment from deep tech companies
2015 to 2024. (2015 - 2024)
• Maturing investment ecosystem — The amount invested
in rounds exceeding £2m has nearly doubled up from
£2.58b in 2019 to £4.68bn in 2024, with £10 million and
above rounds securing £3.34b in 2024.
• London is UK deep tech hub — home to 42% of all deep
tech companies with London universities producing a
strong pipeline of deep tech spinouts. £3.34b
Total equity raised by
rounds over £10m
in 2024

Future of compute £1.53b

Total equity raised
• Rapid rise in equity investment — from £3m in 2015 to by future of compute
£284m in 2024. companies (2015 - 2024)
• Mega rounds have transformed funding —
74.2% of funding in 2024 were in deals valued £2m+, with
£10m+ rounds dominating the space.
• 69 UK companies to watch.

40%
of all deals within Future
of Compute were £10m+
rounds in 2024

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Concluding remarks
This report examines the deep tech sector over the R&D, strengthen the startup ecosystem, and create
past decade, highlighting a resilient and evolving regulatory frameworks that balance innovation with
ecosystem. Deep tech offers transformative risk. These steps will be critical as the UK positions
solutions to some of humanity’s greatest challenges, itself as a Science and Technology Superpower in
driving job creation, new ways of thinking, and the Fifth Industrial Revolution.
technologies that will secure the UK’s future in AI,
quantum computing and clean energy. Realising its
full potential will require strategic policies to support

“The Deep Tech and Future of Compute

Report shows how the UK is emerging as a
global leader in these industries, particularly
in fields like quantum computing, where
we’re seeing world-class innovation driven
by university spinouts and cutting-edge
research. The rapid growth in larger deal
sizes, over £10 million, signals increasing
investor confidence in a new generation of
breakthrough startups with a capital base to
scale into global leaders.”
David Grimm, Partner, AlbionVC

29
 Appendix.

30 30
Methodology
While there is no universal definition of deep
tech, the term generally refers to a broad and
evolving category of technologies driven by High-growth tracking triggers
significant innovations in engineering and
science. Equity investment

To identify deep tech companies for this

report, sub-sectors of Beauhurst-defined
Scaleups
industries and emerging technologies were
used in combination with growth milestones.

These growth milestones (outlined on the Accelerator attendances

right) are Beauhurst-defined high-growth
triggers, which represent a significant event
or achievement that validates a company’s MBOs/MBIs
growth, innovation, or strategic progress.
More detail on Beauhurst’s tracking triggers is
available via their website.
Academic spinouts

A 10-year company limit on company age

is applied. The age limit and the growth
milestones work together to ensure this report High-growth lists
provides a closer analysis of how starting
and scaling deep tech companies are faring
in the UK, minimising the inclusion of older Major grant recipients
companies that may have diversified beyond
their initial deep tech focus.
Venture debt
Equity investment
To be included in our analysis, any investment
must be:
• Some form of equity investment
• Secured by a non-listed UK company
• Issued between 1 January 2015 and 31
December 2024

31
About
Beauhurst is the ultimate source of UK private company data.

Through our data platform, we provide data on every UK private

Contact company—from investments and hiring status, to patents and trade
data—identifying hidden growth, innovation, risk, and ESG signals
4th Floor, Brixton House across UK companies.
385 Coldharbour Lane
London
SW9 8GL Our Research and Consultancy team can provide powerful insights,
thought leadership, and data-led reports.
www.beauhurst.com
+44 (0)20 7062 0060 Please get in touch if you would like to talk about a project.
[email protected]

AlbionVC supports visionary founders and technologies with

long-term capital and scale-up know-how.

Founded in 1996, it was amongst the first to back leading global

Contact success stories such as Booking.com, Egress, Quantexa and Oviva.
With £1bn in AUM and over 100 exits successfully realised, it funds
1 Benjamin St venture breakthroughs that drive real outcomes for founders,
Farringdon investors and society.
London
EC1M 5QL
AlbionVC is the technology investment arm of Albion Capital Group,
www.albion.vc which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
020 7601 1850
For more information please visit: https://albion.vc/

Report Contributors
Henry Whorwood, Miraj Mistry, and Blanca Valencia, Beauhurst
David Grimm, Sebastian Hunte, AlbionVC

32