Quantum computing firm reaches $10bn valuation as investor interest builds

"A British quantum computing entrepreneur has doubled the value of his stake in the business he founded to $2bn (1.5bn), after the company achieved a $10bn valuation in its latest fundraising. Ilyas Khan, 63, is the founding chief executive of Quantinuum, a UK-US firm that announced on Thursday it had raised $600m as investor interest builds in the cutting-edge technology."

"Khan founded Quantinuum's predecessor company, Cambridge Quantum, in 2014 before it merged with the US-based Honeywell Quantum Solutions in 2021. Khan, a former owner of his home town's football club Accrington Stanley, is now chief product officer at the business and to date has not sold any shares since founding it more than a decade ago. He owns a stake of about 20%, with the US conglomerate Honeywell controlling 54%."

"Excitement over the potential for quantum computing, and the companies at the forefront of its development, has been building amid a series of technological breakthroughs, with the UK government setting a target of 2035 to develop quantum systems capable of outperforming conventional supercomputers. Quantum computing has the potential to power breakthroughs in a wide range of areas, from drug discovery to artificial intelligence, owing to its ability to carry out far bigger calculations than conventional computer systems."

Quantinuum secured $600m in a funding round that set its valuation at $10bn, boosting Ilyas Khan's stake to approximately $2bn. Khan founded Cambridge Quantum in 2014 and led its merger with Honeywell Quantum Solutions in 2021; he remains chief product officer and has not sold shares. Honeywell holds about 54% of the company, and new investors include Nvidia and QED. Quantum computing promises major advances in areas such as drug discovery and artificial intelligence by performing far larger calculations, but hardware stability and risks to high-level encryption remain key challenges.

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