The United Nations announced that 2025 will be celebrated as the International year of Quantum (IYQ), which has once again brought Quantum Technologies to the forefront of media. While every country is hosting events over the course of the year, the hype has also unfortunately increased.
I recently had someone outside the field of Quantum tell me that their impression was fault tolerance would be achieved by the end of this year! While we at Amadeus are thrilled that Quantum Technologies are getting attention, we also believe in tracking roadmaps of the big and small Quantum computing companies. Fault-tolerance is definitely now a when rather than an if- and from there distributed quantum computing is exciting.
Consolidation is the other headline. I always expected it in quantum. It’s here. Unfortunately, the awkward truth is that deals don’t always follow the “best” technology synergies; they follow who has cash and time. Quantum technology revenue is set to pass $1bn this year, but brilliant teams with thin runways will become targets. Buyers pick pieces across the stack. Some of those pieces won’t make the final roadmap—and that’s fine. Platforms are built by selection, not sentiment.
Why it matters: too much “revenue” today is government-backed. Hugely helpful to get kit into racks and a welcome source of revenue, but unfortunately not repeatable. If we want products, not prototypes, corporates need to sit next to the testbeds—banks, pharma, telcos, manufacturers—actually building with the engineers, not waving from the conference stage. This time around corporates are being more thoughtful about their team build and engagement but I would love to see more. (I’d be happy to trade a panel slot for a purchase order for one of my portfolio companies)
On timing, I’m cautious.
People keep asking when a quantum system will match—or beat—a classical one on a real application. Given we’re already in August, calling it for this year is ambitious. Even quantum physicists take a summer holiday. Next year is the prudent view. I’d love to be wrong about this year; I’m just not staking sleep on it.
Near-term wins still look practical: new materials, pharma, and logistics/optimisation. Quiet progress beats fireworks. In the meantime, expect more M&A as balance sheets, valuations, and technology maturity ebb and flow.
In spite of all the hype of this year and IYQ, I am bullish about Quantum Computing and the best-integrated stack will be the one that ships.
Read on for how our portfolio and partners are navigating this shift across Intelligence, Human, and Planet this month.
Intelligence
On stage: quantum meets capital markets. Our CEO & co-founder Dame Anne Glover joins an expert panel at Platform Global 25 (Antibes) on 8 September, 11:50 to discuss quantum’s implications for data-centre infrastructure and investors — alongside IQM, Quantinuum, Alice & Bob and Equinix, moderated by Karine Peters (T-Capital).
Open optical networks. iPronics and Lumentum are leading the new Optical Circuit Switching (OCS) effort at the Open Compute Project, aligning hyperscalers on open standards for higher-throughput, lower-latency data-centre fabrics.
Voice AI with measurable ROI. PolyAI reports a 391% ROI in a new TEI study, and beauty brand Hello Sugar is rolling out PolyAI’s voice agents to automate customer calls.
Quantum tech is moving into the market. Revenue from quantum technology is set to pass $1bn in 2025. VCs invested $2.6bn globally in 2024 with an upside of $900bn-$2.0tn in revenue across industries estimated by 2035. Learn more in this video.
Awards momentum: Sitehop is a finalist for the National Cyber Security Awards (Startup Innovation in Cyber, sponsored by Santander; winner announced 29 Sept). Shortlisted for The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year (judging 19 Sept). And winner of ClimbUK “Cyber Security Innovation of the Year.”
Backing the next wave. Through the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, we’ve joined Voima Ventures in Farang’s €1.5m seed to develop a brain-inspired LLM that drafts the whole answer first, then writes it — aiming for a step-change in coherence at a fraction of today’s compute.
Human
Life-changing wearables. Charco Neurotech reported a 12-week, double-blind, sham-controlled RCT: its CUE1 vibrotactile device improved motor and non-motor outcomes in Parkinson’s — strong evidence for patient-controlled neuromodulation.
Bio-process safety, faster. Oxford Nanopore and ViruSure launched the first GLP-validated nanopore-sequencing test for adventitious viral agents — accelerating contamination screening for biologics manufacturing.
AI catches cancer earlier. Quibim’s QP-Prostate has been selected for an NHS rollout across seven hospitals in England to boost earlier prostate-cancer detection.
Planet
Plastic-free, at scale. Xampla (Morro™) and Bunzl UK & Ireland agreed an exclusive partnership to roll out Morro Coating across food-service packaging; Huhtamaki ‘Taste’ boxes with Morro are fully recyclable and SUPD-exempt.
Efficiency dividends. iPronics is driving Optical Circuit Switching with Lumentum at the Open Compute Project, bringing open, programmable photonics to data-centre fabrics. The payoff: higher utilisation and lower switching overheads — more compute from the same watts.
Where the smart money’s orbiting. In our latest blog, James Baker maps a $415bn space tech market and shows launches are up 12× since 2014 — with margins migrating to space-traffic management and on-orbit servicing.
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