UKRI Backs UK Quantum Businesses With Share of £50 Million

16 October 2026. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is backing British businesses developing quantum technologies with a share of £50 million. The funding is delivered through UKRI's Quantum Technologies Priority Programme, as part of its Industrial Strategy programme, and forms part of a new government package.

Winning projects include a quantum monitoring system led by West Midlands-based MoniRail, which could pinpoint the precise location of faults in railway tracks and signalling equipment where GPS is unable to reach. Bristol-based Siloton is developing a handheld quantum eye scanner designed to make advanced eye diagnostics available outside specialist hospitals. Oxfordshire-based ColdQuanta UK is being backed to develop a compact, mobile quantum radio system that can locate signals with high accuracy.

UKRI is also investing £20 million in UK-based businesses to build domestic capability in quantum networks through its Enabling Commercial Quantum Networking competition. Companies like Sheffield-based Aegiq will develop specialist components, such as lasers and photonic chips. An £8 million expansion of UKRI's QuEST Apprentices Programme will create new routes into skilled quantum jobs, including QuEST North. By 2030 the scheme aims to equip 150 apprentices studying engineering subjects.

Science, Innovation and Investment Minister Chris McDonald said: "Quantum has long been an exciting technology, but now real world applications are within our grasp." The funding forms part of the government's wider mission to make the UK a world leader in quantum sensing by 2030, backed by up to £2 billion investment earlier this year.

Source: UKRI news