Firgun Ventures launches with $70m for quantum tech innovation
Firgun Ventures has launched with an initial close of $70 million as the first venture capital firm dedicated to early growth-stage quantum technology investments.
The fund, which is targeting a final size of $250 million, will focus on Series A and B start-ups advancing quantum computing, sensing, communications, and cryptography. Firgun Ventures has received an anchor investment from the Qatar Investment Authority and plans to invest globally from its base in London.
Quantum focus
The firm's founders, Dr Kris Naudts and Zeynep Koruturk, bring a mix of scientific, entrepreneurial, and financial backgrounds. Dr Naudts previously founded Culture Trip, while Koruturk served as a senior executive at Goldman Sachs and co-founded the bank's technology initiative. Both have experience as angel investors in quantum technology firms and first backed Cambridge Quantum Computing - now known as Quantinuum - in 2016.
Firgun will concentrate on companies that have progressed beyond the research stage and are looking to scale their solutions for real-world applications. The firm will consider opportunities in sectors such as healthcare, climate science, finance, and cybersecurity. An advisory group supports the venture, with members from academic institutions including Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT, as well as from industry organisations like Google, the European Investment Bank, and the Wellcome Trust. Mete Atature, Professor of Physics at Cambridge University's Cavendish Lab, will provide technical due diligence for potential investments.
Investment strategy
The fund's strategy is to back quantum start-ups at a stage when foundational science must be bridged with commercial execution. Firgun aims to offer capital and sector-specific guidance. The co-founders emphasise an approach that blends scientific expertise with practical experience in company-building and investment management.
Family offices and several key individuals, including Ilyas Khan, founder of Cambridge Quantum Computing, have also contributed early backing to the firm. Firgun's structure is designed to offer quantum-specific due diligence and support to entrepreneurs ready to move from research to market impact.
Advisory board
Firgun benefits from an advisory board with expertise across science, technology, and finance, which it says will help maintain rigorous technical standards in its investment process. This support is intended to increase investor confidence and to ensure robust selection criteria for its portfolio companies.
Dr Naudts said:
"Quantum isn't a buzzword. It's an industrial revolution. It will reshape how we compute, communicate, and diagnose or cure disease. We're here to fund its future leading companies."
"Our investor ethos begins with 'First, do no harm,' borrowed from the medical world, but used here to mean that we are focussed on helping founders and management teams maintain innovation and drive sustainable and organised growth. Quantum technology is here to change the world, and we strongly believe in its ability to do so for the better," said Naudts.
"We back quantum founders who have already crossed from lab to market, and they need investors who understand both worlds in order to successfully scale," said Zeynep Koruturk, Co-Founder. "After more than a decade working with technology entrepreneurs at Goldman Sachs, I've seen how transformative innovation takes hold when it's backed by the right kind of capital. Quantum is no different - it needs investors who combine conviction with values. That's exactly what Firgun was built to deliver."
