Quantum leap
A pioneering UofG spinout company which is developing advanced quantum hardware for use across a wide range of industries has been awarded a major prize by the Institute of Physics (IOP).
Quantcore received the IOP’s qBIG prize at the Economist’s Commercialising Quantum 2026 event held in June. The prize, awarded by the IOP's quantum Business Innovation and Growth group, recognises and celebrates innovation and real-world commercialisation in quantum technologies.
Quantcore is developing superconducting processors, resonators and sensors which will help create the quantum computers and sensing systems of the future. The company, founded by Dr Jack Brennan, Dr Valentino Seferai, Wridhdhisom Karar, and Professor Martin Weides, is based at the University’s Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre, was spun out from the University in August 2025 and recently secured £2.5m in seed funding.
Professor Weides, Quantcore’s scientific advisor, is also director of the University’s James Watt Nanofabrication Centre (JWNC), where many of Quantcore’s components were prototyped.
He said: “We’re pleased and proud to have received this recognition from the Institute of Physics so soon after Quantcore was established, and during our year of celebrations of the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre’s 20th anniversary.
“Quantcore is the latest in a string of spinout success stories enabled by the JWNC’s state-of-the-art facilities, which have supported more than 170 companies through our commercial arm, Kelvin Nanotechnology. The JWNC is also a key part of the Critical Technology Supercluster, which brings together government, academia and industry with the aim to boost Scotland’s tech sector to a turnover of £10bn by 2035.