Company: Aquark Technologies
Founder: Andrei Dragomir & Alexander Jantzen
Website: https://www.aquarktechnologies.com/
About Aquark Technologies
Quantum technology startup, Aquark Technologies, was founded in 2021 by Andrei Dragomir and Alexander Janzten as a spin-out from the University of Southampton. After a happy accident in the lab during their fellowship and PhD studies, the pair founded Aquark Technologies to develop a compact and robust cold matter core that will enable the next generation of quantum sensing and computing. It is the coldest place in the universe, packed into a small black box the size of a toaster.
Aquark Technologies overcame challenges transitioning from academia to industry, securing investment for dual-use technology, and advancing quantum innovation amidst an early-stage supply chain. Despite these hurdles, it has successfully accelerated towards the adoption of groundbreaking cold atom systems in critical applications.
Aquark Technologies’ mission is to make quantum technology accessible and scalable, and the company is well on its way to achieving this. Early success saw Aquark awarded a £3.4m commercial contract from Innovate UK to support the development of the AQlock – the company’s flagship product which is set to become the first UK-designed and built commercially available cold atom clock.
Following successful trials of its miniaturised cold atom platform for quantum sensing in the air via drones, and at sea aboard the Royal Navy’s HMS Pursuer, Aquark received a further €5 million in seed funding this year to improve the size, weight, power, and cost of quantum devices.
The round was led by the NATO Innovation Fund, marking the alliance’s first investment in a quantum technology company, and supported by the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), MBDA (an alliance between aerospace and defence specialists Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo), and UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital. This made Aquark the first ever company to undergo the NATO DIANA accelerator and receive equity funding from the Nato Innovation Fund.
Over the past year, Aquark’s team has grown to include quantum, electronic, and cold atom engineers, and a new head of commercial operations as they build their roadmap to commercialisation.
Most recently, the company announced its latest prototype of its cold atom engine, the AQuest, at the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Showcase. Designed to work straight out of the box, the AQuest will facilitate more industry growth by increasing access to advanced technologies for undergraduate students and researchers alike, allowing non-specialist industries to trial cold matter technologies for the first time.
Since launching, Aquark Technologies has attracted the attention of several accelerator programmes, becoming one of the first 44 startups selected to join the first phase NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and subsequently one of the first 10 startups to graduate to the second phase of the accelerator. The company is also a member of the Airbus UK Space Accelerator – the first accelerator of its kind, which forms part of the wider national initiative to develop the UK’s space ecosystem.
In 2025, the company will drive towards the successful delivery of its quantum sensing systems to its first wave of customers.
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