UK-based Quantum Motion, which builds quantum computers on silicon chips, raised a $160M Series C; EU-backed growth fund Kembara made its first investment
Kembara, a technology growth fund backed by the European Union, made its first investment, supporting a British startup that builds quantum computers running on silicon chips.
Context & Ripple Effects
Quantum Motion had previously raised a £42M Series B in 2023, making this a substantial follow-on financing rather than an initial validation round. The company is part of a wider quantum stack in which UK peer Nu Quantum is pursuing interconnects, while Quantum Machines supplies tools to quantum-computing builders.
Kembara’s participation is notable because this is the EU-backed growth fund’s first disclosed investment, tying Quantum Motion’s next phase to a new source of European growth capital.
First-order effects
- Quantum Motion gains $160M to advance its silicon-chip-based quantum-computing program, extending the funding runway established by its earlier Series B.
- Kembara deploys its first investment, making Quantum Motion an early test of the fund’s ability to back deep-tech companies at growth stage.
Second-order effects
- The round raises the competitive funding bar for quantum-hardware companies and for adjacent infrastructure providers, including networking and control-system vendors that depend on hardware builders progressing toward larger systems.
- EU-backed capital entering a UK quantum company broadens the investor base available to European quantum startups, potentially reducing reliance on specialist venture investors alone for later-stage rounds.
Third-order effects
- If Kembara continues making comparable investments, European public-backed growth capital could become a more consequential bridge between early research-heavy quantum ventures and the scale-up financing they require.
- The pattern points toward competition shifting from isolated quantum components to financed ecosystems: compute hardware, networking, and enabling tools will need to mature together, though commercial adoption remains uncertain.
The trend: This is one data point in the expansion of European growth-stage financing for quantum technologies across hardware and the infrastructure needed to scale it.