The UK National Quantum Technology Showcase brings together academia, industry and government to highlight advances in quantum technology. The 2024 Showcase, held in November, included two days of business matchmaking meetings at the quantum hub on the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxford, and at Clare College, Cambridge.

The meetings were organised for UK companies participating in the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme, a government-funded initiative that helps British scaleups unlock commercial opportunities in 11 markets across the Asia Pacific region.

The corporations from APAC which attended included Fujitsu and Qunasys from Japan, Qunova Computing and Quantum Intelligence from South Korea, and Taiwania Capital and Mediatek from Taiwan.

The UK companies given the opportunity to present their technologies to these Asian corporations included:

• Element Six, a leader in the design, development and production of synthetic diamond and tungsten carbide advanced materials
• Quantum Software Lab, a quantum software development research facility hosted by The University of Edinburgh with the UK National Quantum Computing Centre
• Wave Photonics, a designer of integrated photonics which uses scalable, high-volume semiconductor fabrication processes to make chips that use light
• Phasecraft, which creates quantum algorithms that accelerate the practical application of quantum computing

Companies participating in the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme benefit from market entry guidance, business development support and introduction to potential partners and customers, such as those involved in this business matchmaking event. The programme is delivered on behalf of the government by international business development consultancy Intralink.

Jamie Lee, CEO of Wave Photonics, said: “The business matching meetings organised by the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme gave us an insight into the exciting technologies under development in the quantum space in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. This has enabled us to identify opportunities for us to accelerate the deployment and commercialisation of these technologies via photonic integration.”

Nan Chiu, Investment Principal at Taiwania Capital, said: “We’re always looking for cutting-edge technology in the high-performance computing sector. The business matchmaking sessions enabled us to engage with UK companies that have strong scientific foundations, as well as significant market potential. The UK has a robust ecosystem in quantum computing and the sessions completely changed my perceptions of the commercialisation opportunities for this technology.”

Sungmin Lee, Technical Leader at Korea-based Qunova Computing, added: “The meetings we held with potential UK partners were very useful and, as a result, we’ve created collaborative relationships and working models with several of the companies.”

Jeremy Shaw, who leads the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme at Intralink, said: “There’s growing interest in British innovation throughout the APAC region – and this is an opportunity UK tech firms should not hesitate to capitalise on.

“Carefully curated business matchmaking meetings, such as those we arranged during the National Quantum Technology Showcase, are a highly effective way to introduce some of our most pioneering technology companies to potential customers and partners in APAC. We look forward to supporting the progress of the companies that took part.”

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