Quantum Dice team formed within Oxford’s StEP program

Seven years after winning the inaugural 2019 cohort of Oxford’s student entrepreneurship programme, Quantum Dice has evolved from a student venture into a venture capital-backed, revenue-generating spinout. The company built its foundation on intellectual property from the University of Oxford’s Department of Physics, demonstrating a pathway for students to commercialize university research.

Quantum Dice has now developed a scalable Probabilistic Processing Unit to tackle complex computational problems, following the successful market deployment of its quantum random number generators. “StEP was the first programme that trusted aspiring student entrepreneurs to commercialize university IP,” says Wenmiao Yu, Co-Founder & Director of Business Development at Quantum Dice.

StEP Program Launches Quantum Dice Venture

Quantum Dice, a company originating from the University of Oxford, exemplifies the long-term impact of student entrepreneurship programs; the venture has evolved from a student project into a venture capital-backed, revenue-generating spinout after seven years. The company’s origins trace back to the inaugural 2019 cohort of Oxford’s StEP program, making Quantum Dice the first team to win the competition and subsequently launch a business focused on quantum technologies.

This success demonstrates a pathway for students to translate academic research into commercial ventures with dedicated support. The StEP program, a collaboration between the Incubator and Oxford Edge, is an eight-week initiative designed to equip University of Oxford students with practical entrepreneurial skills regardless of their academic discipline. Participants develop ventures with guidance from founders, investors, and experts from Oxford University Innovation, testing assumptions and validating ideas throughout the summer program.

The program specifically enables students to build businesses around existing university-owned technologies, fostering a direct link between research and commercialization. According to Quantum Dice, “It gave us the funding, network and support to build a company around the technology. Winning the programme meant we could develop our first prototype and connected us with the right quantum startup network to grow afterwards.” This initial investment and network access proved pivotal in developing a functional prototype and establishing connections within the quantum technology ecosystem.

Following the program, the team formally spun out the company in 2020, marking a significant transition from student project to independent enterprise. Since its inception, Quantum Dice has successfully deployed its patented quantum random number generator products in real-world cybersecurity applications, demonstrating the practical application of its core technology.

The company has now expanded its focus to developing a scalable Probabilistic Processing Unit (PPU) designed to address complex computational problems that challenge conventional computers. These challenges include optimizing delivery routes, scheduling telecommunications networks, designing computer chips, and training energy-based artificial intelligence models. This expansion reflects a strategic shift towards a new form of compute, leveraging probabilistic computing to handle uncertainty and complexity more effectively. Currently employing 20 people, Quantum Dice recently relocated to a new headquarters in central Oxford, consolidating its laboratory and office space while maintaining a presence in central London.

This move signifies a period of growth and investment in infrastructure, supporting the company’s ambitions to scale its operations and expand its research and development capabilities. George Dunlop, Co-Founder & Director of Partnerships at Quantum Dice, stated, “We’re entering an exciting new phase for Quantum Dice as we push towards a new class of computing hardware capable of tackling some of industry’s most complex optimization challenges.” He continued, “We continue to build on the foundations laid through StEP and the strength of the Oxford community.

I’m particularly pleased that as we scale, we’ve been able to retain our close ties and continue building in the centre of Oxford.” The company’s ORBIT PPU architecture, built upon its field-validated quantum technology and patented source of randomness, represents a move into probabilistic computing. This emerging approach aims to surpass the limitations of traditional computing methods when dealing with uncertainty and complex systems.

Quantum Dice’s journey, from its beginnings within the StEP program to its current status as a company, highlights the potential of supporting student entrepreneurs and fostering collaboration between academia and industry. The company’s success serves as an example of how initial steps into entrepreneurship can lead to careers, companies, and innovations that shape the future of computing and beyond, demonstrating that the program’s impact extends far beyond the immediate timeframe of participation.