Tony Lowe Chief Operating Officer, Oxford Quantum Circuits

Company

Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) is Europe’s leading quantum computing company, bringing the power of quantum to its customers’ fingertips to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems: from climate change, to new drug discoveries. OQC builds end to end quantum computers based on proprietary technology from the University of Oxford; from quantum processor, to classical software, hardware and firmware. With this approach, OQC has delivered Europe’s first Quantum Computing-as-a-Service (QCaaS) solution, available on AWS, opening up a world of opportunities for innovation in Europe.

OQC began life as a spinout from Oxford University and work done there by world-renowned academic founder, Dr Peter Leek. In July 2022, it raised the UK’s largest ever Series A in quantum computing at £38 million (US $46.45 million), co-led by Lansdowne Partners and the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC), a deep tech fund out of Japan. This will be used to further scale the company’s quantum systems and its private Quantum Computing as-a-Service offering, and will also consolidate their position in Europe and accelerate international expansion in Asia-Pacific.

Search Background

OQC experienced a breakthrough year in 2022, and is now at an incredibly exciting time in its evolution having secured its latest funding round. With an increasing headcount, expanding international footprint, customer base and new revenue streams (including Data Centres being developed Q1 2023), the business required a Chief Operating Officer who would serve as an integral part of the leadership team and help set and execute the expansion strategy.

Requirements

OQC was seeking a COO who could be responsible for overall business operations, working closely with the CEO to shape and implement the strategic direction of the company. The business needed someone to lead and develop the existing operations team, and help to evolve a world-class Ops function that would enable and support the organisation as it scales and internationalises, at pace.

Because of the unique complexities associated with scaling a Deep Tech/hardware business, the search focused on candidates with experience of growing category defining deep tech companies at the bleeding edge of innovation.

Result

Erevena executed an extensive search across Europe, ultimately securing Tony Lowe from fellow Deep Tech Oxford University spin-out Oxbotica. With a background in technical operations roles with Jaguar Land Rover, Tony has a strong set of experiences across hardware and innovation, and has spent the last two and a half years leading Oxbotica through a period of significant growth. Tony has been instrumental in implementing process, structure and operational discipline into the business, assisting with three rounds of funding including their recent $140M Series C in January 2023. Tony joined OQC in March 2023.