The UK Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have announced a major national funding package totaling £78 million ($103.8 million USD) to accelerate the commercialization of quantum sensing, quantum networking, and workforce development under the National Quantum Strategy.
Delivered through UKRI’s Quantum Technologies Priority Programme as part of the UK Industrial Strategy, the package includes £50 million ($66.53 million USD) in direct innovation grants for commercial sensing and positioning applications, £20 million ($26.62 million USD) for supply-chain component development in quantum networking, and an £8 million ($10.65 million USD) expansion of the QuEST Apprentices Programme.
| [ UKRI Quantum Funding Allocation & Project Breakdown ] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Funding Stream | Key Beneficiaries & Performers | Target Technology & Real-World Application |
| • Sensing & PNT Competition (£50 Million) | • MoniRail Ltd (West Midlands) • Siloton Ltd (Bristol/London) • ColdQuanta UK Ltd (Oxford) • Cerca Magnetics Ltd (Nottingham) • QLM Technology Ltd (Wales) • Quantum Fabrix Ltd (Oxford) | • High-accuracy train position and track-fault monitoring in GPS-denied areas. • Handheld OCT eye scanners for NHS diagnostic screening. • Compact quantum radio antennas for defense PNT and search-and-rescue. • Wearable OPM-MEG brain scanners for epilepsy treatment. • Greenhouse gas quantum cameras for utility infrastructure. • Satellite quantum clocks for defense and telecoms. |
| • Commercial Quantum Networking (£20 Million) | • Aegiq Ltd (Sheffield) & Component Suppliers | • Domestic supply chain development for photonic chips, single-photon sources, specialized lasers, and quantum communication nodes. |
| • QuEST Apprentices Programme (£8 Million Expansion) | • Harwell Incubator & QuEST North (North West England) | • Creates vocational pathways to train 150 specialist quantum and engineering technicians by 2030 to support commercial scaling. |
| • Quantum-AI-HPC Integration (£17 Million EPSRC Call) | • UK Higher Education & Research Organizations | • Addresses National Quantum Strategy Mission 1 by funding hybrid quantum-classical workflows, orchestration software, and AI-driven error mitigation. |
The funding directly advances the UK’s goal of establishing global leadership in quantum sensing by 2030, supported by the broader £2 billion 10-year National Quantum Strategy investment. Complementing the £78 million commercialization package, EPSRC has also opened a £17 million ($22.6 million USD) targeted funding opportunity (“UKRI: Integration of AI/HPC with quantum computing“) closing in December 2026, offering awards up to £3.75 million ($5 million USD) to integrate quantum computing platforms with classical high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence workflows.
Ahead of the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase 2026, these initiatives collectively reinforce the EPSRC Quantum Technologies Theme—which maintains an average annual baseline budget of £33 million ($44 million USD)—focusing on transitioning quantum physics out of academic laboratories into dual-use civilian, NHS, and national security infrastructure.
Review the official announcement on the UK Government Portal here, examine the funding release via the UKRI Newsroom here, inspect UKRI’s update on LinkedIn here, review the £17M AI/HPC Integration call on UKRI Opportunities here, and register for the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase 2026 Portal here.
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