Topics of discussion will include:
- The experience of starting a quantum computing business.
- The challenge of protecting the intellectual property of a quantum startup while sharing enough to be able to grow the business and share ideas/research with partners and the research community.
- The areas of quantum computing are most attractive to investors in the short term.
- The perceived risk/reward ratio of quantum computing technology and the expectations from investors regarding the time to achieve a return on their investment.
- The challenges of investing in a technology which involves the use of quantum physics - a notoriously difficult science to understand for untrained business people.
- The challenges of investing in a technology which, with the exception of quantum cryptography, is still quite immature.
After the discussion we will be hosting a networking event from 8:15 until 10 in the CodeNode bar with hot food and drinks - generously funded by Microsoft. As turn out to these events is only around 50% the amount of food ordered will be estimated and so, although we aim to feed everyone, if numbers exceed expectations then food will be for the first X people to sign up on arrival - so arrive early (6:15) to sign up to avoid possible disappointment."
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Quantum Computing Startup Panel Discussion
Simon Gold
Simon is an investor in early stage ventures including in the quantum computing space, pre series A investments in both Rigetti Quantum Computing and QCWare. Other early stage investments that include strategic level involvement include Vagabond Wines, Staff Heroes and Leake Street Brewery (Boxcar); alongside a number of other ventures. For his day job he’s employed as a senior fixed income trader at a large US investment bank, and has a career in this industry spanning 15 years of sell side trading.
David Kelnar
David leads MMC's Research team, which provides MMC with a deep and differentiated understanding of the technologies, themes and sectors in which it invests. David has a focus on emerging technologies - AI, Blockchain and Quantum Computing. David also has eight years of entrepreneurial leadership experience in early-stage companies, having served as the founding CEO and CFO, respectively, of two consumer service technology companies, and is an advisor to a range of early-stage ventures.
Peter Leek
Dr Peter Leek leads the Leek Lab which works with Superconducting Quantum Devices at the University of Oxford. This research group works on new types of electrical devices that display quantum mechanical behaviour and that will lead to new technologies like quantum computing.
Steve Brierley
Dr Steve Brierley is a senior research Fellow in Applied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge with a background in architectures for quantum computing and quantum algorithms. He recently founded River Lane Research to develop industrial applications for quantum computers and develop a powerful software tool called Quantum Collective Knowledge (QCK).
Chris Erven
Lecturer in Quantum Engineering at the University of Bristol. Co-Director of the Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training and a researcher at the Centre for Quantum Photonics. Interests include photonic quantum technologies, in particular the development of integrated quantum cryptography devices and their commercial application.
Vid Stojevic
CTO and co-founder of a new start-up called GTN - Generative Tensorial Networks ( http://gtn.ai ) - who are using “advanced cutting-edge quantum physics and machine learning methods to enable the next 150 years of drug discovery” and are currently at the stage of actively hiring 10 engineers/physicists + others to start their company.