RobQuant has been selected to join the fourth cohort of ChipStart UK, the government-backed semiconductor startup incubator.
March 2026, Sheffield UK. We are pleased to announce that RobQuant has been accepted into ChipStart UK Cohort 4, the leading UK incubator for semiconductor startups. The programme is fully funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and delivered by SiliconCatalyst.UK, the world’s most experienced chip startup accelerator.
RobQuant was one of eleven companies selected from 42 applications. The cohort was announced at The Royal Institution on 19 March 2026, with a keynote from Minister Kanishka Narayan MP and a presentation by Moshe Gavrielov, former CEO of Xilinx and current board member of TSMC, NXP Semiconductors, and Cadence Design Systems.
What ChipStart UK provides
ChipStart UK is a 12-month, fully funded incubation programme. There is no cost to the startup and no equity is taken. The programme provides:
- Access to commercial chip design tools, including Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software and foundry prototyping
- Bespoke mentorship from experienced semiconductor industry executives through the global Silicon Catalyst network
- Connections with prospective investors, strategic partners, and over 270 Silicon Catalyst advisors
Across its first three cohorts, ChipStart UK alumni have raised close to $100M in equity funding. The programme has now supported over 40 companies since its launch in 2023 as part of the National Semiconductor Strategy.
What this means for RobQuant
We are developing a room-temperature, solid-state quantum sensor for brain-signal measurement, built on nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond integrated with silicon photonics. ChipStart UK gives us access to the design tools and fabrication pathways we need to advance our chip-scale sensor architecture, alongside expert guidance on the commercial and manufacturing challenges of bringing a new semiconductor product to market.
Being part of this programme is a strong endorsement of our technical direction and a significant step in our journey from lab demonstrator to a manufacturable product.
The Cohort 4 companies
The twelve companies selected for Cohort 4 span quantum computing, photonics, AI processing, biosensing, satellite communications, and biotech manufacturing:
- ABACQuS — Novel quantum processor using arsenic dopants in silicon
- Altro Photonics — Optical transceivers for AI data centres and quantum photonics (UCL spinout)
- Analogue Opto — Optical disaggregated memory architecture for LLMs
- Atlas Processing — Memory and computation fabric for AI inference
- Compound Hound — Electronic nose technology for supply chain monitoring
- Nibras Communications — Light-based signal generation for satellite communications
- Orbicom — 3D-stacked photonic chips for AI data centres
- Qascade — Scalable semiconductor qubits for quantum computing
- RobQuant — Room-temperature solid-state quantum sensors
- Skoosh — Real-time biopharmaceutical production monitoring
- TrackStar — Silicon photonics-based eye tracking for smart glasses
If you are interested in finding out more about our work, please visit our technology page or get in touch at info@robquant.com.