7. Quantum Dice: taking no gambles with cybersecurity

Founders: Ramy Shelbaya, Marko von der Leyen, Zhanet Zaharieva, Wenmiao Yu, and George Dunlop
Year founded: 2020
Website: quantum-dice.com

The cybersecurity landscape is currently concealing a massive problem. In order to remain secure, practically every computer system relies on random number generation (a process where random sequences of numbers are used to encrypt information).

The issue? Due to the underlying, rule-based structure of computers, it is almost impossible to create consistently foolproof codes – opening up risks to any device that relies on this security measure.

Quantum Dice has found the solution. The Oxford spinout set out to fix this longest-standing problem in computing by developing the Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG), a device capable of continuously generating truly random numbers using the principles of quantum mechanics.

In simple terms, Quantum Dice has claimed to have cracked the code to true randomness, representing a major breakthrough in cybersecurity, and bringing potential benefits to financial services, telecommunications, and beyond.

And if this wasn’t enough, the company’s QRNGs are capable of generating these codes at world-leading speeds — 8x faster than their closest market competitors.

Climbing from #14 in last year’s Startups 100 Index, Quantum Dice is the brainchild of five Oxford graduates, who met in 2019 through its inaugural Student Entrepreneurship Programme (StEP Ignite). After recognising the value of QRNG, the founders rolled the dice and developed a business proposition around the patent; a decision that has, so far, resulted in a major winning streak.

The company has since won a series of accolades and raised $2m in pre-seed funding, as well as a $2.09m grant from Innovate UK to develop its compact QRNG product for enterprise and industrial clients.

The startup is working with BT Group to explore the use of QRNG in the telecommunications sector. But forget going global, it’s gone universal, having partnered with Singaporean aerospace company SpeQtral, Quantum Dice has created its first ever space product which will be used to fortify the security of SpeQtral’s upcoming satellite mission.

Quantum Dice is working on miniaturising its QRNG product to tap into the booming Internet-of-Things (IoT) market. With the IoT market currently being valued at $714.48bn, we expect nothing short of quantum growth for the startup in the coming years.