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I have been reading up on UK quantum computing lately and wanted to get a clearer picture of where the sector actually stands, since most coverage either sounds like science fiction or way too vague on the business side. Here is what I have pieced together so far, would appreciate anyone correcting me or adding context. The UK has a National Quantum Strategy backing the sector, with government funding aimed at building out both research and commercial applications over the next decade. A lot of activity seems centered around Oxford, Cambridge, and London, often spinning out of university research groups rather than starting as purely commercial ventures. Most current activity seems split between hardware companies actually building quantum computers, and software or algorithm companies building for quantum systems that do not fully exist yet at scale. Industries like pharmaceuticals, finance, and materials science come up a lot as early use cases, mainly around simulation and optimisation problems that are difficult for classical computers to handle efficiently. What I am still trying to understand is how far away genuinely commercial, revenue generating quantum applications actually are, versus how much of current activity is still research funded and pre revenue. Has anyone here worked at, founded, or invested in a UK quantum computing startup? Curious what the actual work looks like day to day compared to the headlines, and what you think is realistic versus overhyped right now. I ended up reading a related piece on Entrepreneur Plus when I was trying to make sense of this, it framed things from a founder angle which helped.
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