Universal Quantum — vendor dossier

Universal Quantum

Quantum computers
U

University of Sussex spin-out building modular trapped-ion quantum computers based on ytterbium-171 ions and silicon-microchip ion traps. Moves ions between modules via electric fields rather than photonic links — chip-to-chip ion shuttling under extreme-high vacuum — targeting fault-tolerant scale through copy-paste tiling of small modules. Founded in 2018 by Winfried Hensinger and Sebastian Weidt. Anchor contract is a EUR 67M four-year programme awarded by Germany's DLR in 2022 to deliver a fully scalable trapped-ion quantum computer at DLR Hamburg, scaling toward the ~100-qubit class.

HQ
Haywards Heath, United Kingdom
Founded
2018
Status
private
Last verified
Wed May 20 2026 08:00:00 GMT+0800 (Singapore Standard Time)

Timeline

201820192020202120222023202420252026202720282029today
2018
Universal Quantum founded as a University of Sussex spin-out by Winfried Hensinger and Sebastian Weidt
2020
Demonstrated chip-to-chip ion transport in a modular ion-trap testbed (Sussex group), the experimental basis for UQ's "electric-field ion link" architecture
2022-11
€67M (~£58M) contract awarded by Germany's DLR to build a fully scalable trapped-ion quantum computer at DLR Hamburg over 4 years — single-chip system plus a multi-chip system scaling to ~100 qubits
2025-12
Strategic MoU with Atlas Copco (Edwards / Leybold / Gamma / Montana Instruments) to co-develop extreme-high-vacuum systems for modular ion-trap architectures
2026
Continue DLR Hamburg build-out — single-chip system delivery, then multi-chip module scaling to ~100 qubits
shipped milestone public roadmap

Current flagship

Modular ytterbium-ion architecture (DLR programme) — silicon-microchip ion trap with chip-to-chip ion shuttling under XHV; pre-commercial

Milestones

  1. 2025-12
    Strategic MoU with Atlas Copco (Edwards / Leybold / Gamma / Montana Instruments) to co-develop extreme-high-vacuum systems for modular ion-trap architectures
    Quantum computers press source ↗
  2. 2022-11
    €67M (~£58M) contract awarded by Germany's DLR to build a fully scalable trapped-ion quantum computer at DLR Hamburg over 4 years — single-chip system plus a multi-chip system scaling to ~100 qubits
    Quantum computers press source ↗
  3. 2020
    Demonstrated chip-to-chip ion transport in a modular ion-trap testbed (Sussex group), the experimental basis for UQ's "electric-field ion link" architecture
    Quantum computers web source ↗
  4. 2018
    Universal Quantum founded as a University of Sussex spin-out by Winfried Hensinger and Sebastian Weidt
    Quantum computers web source ↗

Roadmap

  • 2026 Continue DLR Hamburg build-out — single-chip system delivery, then multi-chip module scaling to ~100 qubits source ↗

Capability details

Quantum computing

Qubit type
trapped-ion
Physical qubits
—
Logical qubits
0
1Q gate fidelity
—
2Q gate fidelity
—
T₁
—
T₂
—
EC code
—
Connectivity
modular-shuttling
9 unverified fields
  • modalities.qc.physical_qubits_current
  • modalities.qc.one_q_fidelity
  • modalities.qc.two_q_fidelity
  • modalities.qc.coherence_t1_ms
  • modalities.qc.coherence_t2_ms
  • modalities.qc.ec_code
  • modalities.qc.gate_set
  • shareholders — UQ is private; no equity percentages disclosed. Tracxn lists 15 investors across 6 rounds totalling ~$5M VC plus the €67M DLR commercial contract; individual seed investors not all confirmed against primary sources.
  • roadmap — Public roadmap is essentially the DLR contract milestones; no separate vendor-published multi-year roadmap.

People

  • Sebastian Weidt — CEO & Co-founder (since 2018) ↗
  • Winfried Hensinger — Chairman & Chief Scientist & Co-founder (since 2018) ↗

References