French quantum computing startup Pasqal has officially commenced trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol PSQL, signifying a significant milestone in its journey to commercialize neutral-atom quantum technology.

The listing is a testament to the company’s successful transition from research to developing practical solutions and expanding its global footprint in the burgeoning field of quantum computing.

Supported by investments from Wa’ed Ventures, which backed Pasqal in 2023, the listing is positioned to reinforce the startup’s ambitions to lead innovation in quantum computers and simulators.

These are powered by neutral atoms technology, along with the requisite hardware and software that make these advanced capabilities accessible to a broader range of users.

This technological leap is pivotal as quantum computing holds the potential to revolutionize numerous industries by offering unprecedented computational power.

Saudi Arabia has emerged as a key player in Pasqal’s strategic expansion.

The establishment of the company’s regional headquarters in the Kingdom underscores the region’s growing influence in the tech sector.

With the collaboration of Aramco, Pasqal has already deployed what is described as the Middle East’s first commercial quantum computer.

This system provides quantum computing as a service, highlighting the region’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology into its economic framework.

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Pasqal envisions its Nasdaq listing as a springboard, offering a necessary platform and capital to accelerate its ongoing projects and further its vision of making quantum computing more ubiquitous.

By leveraging the financial and symbolic boost of going public, the company is well-positioned to push forward its mission to advance accessibility and implementation of quantum technology on a global scale.

The strides made by Pasqal reflect broader trends in the tech industry where innovation hubs, such as Saudi Arabia, are increasingly investing in future-defining technologies.

As Pasqal moves forward, its developments in quantum computing will likely continue to shape the landscape, offering practical solutions that transform theoretical possibilities into real-world applications.

London-based AI startup Callosum has raised $100 million in Seed funding to develop a software platform that orchestrates artificial intelligence workloads across different models and computing hardware.

The round was led by Atomico, with participation from Plural and DCVC. It also marks the first investment from the newly established UK Sovereign AI Fund, linking Callosum’s technology to the country’s broader push to strengthen domestic AI infrastructure and computing capabilities.

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Rethinking How AI Workloads Use Compute

Callosum is developing an approach it calls “heterogeneous intelligence,” built around the idea that increasingly complex AI workloads will require combinations of specialized models and processors rather than a single model running on one type of hardware.

Its platform breaks workloads into individual components and determines which combination of AI model and silicon should process each task. The system considers factors including performance, cost, latency and energy consumption when allocating computing resources.

Callosum argues that this architecture becomes more useful as the number of available AI models and specialized chips grows. Instead of requiring one processor to handle every part of a workload, the platform is designed to match different tasks with the hardware best suited to execute them.

The startup refers to this process as “programmable heterogeneity,” giving customers greater flexibility over how AI workloads move across an increasingly diverse computing ecosystem.

UK Sovereign AI Fund Makes First Investment

The $100 million round is notable for the participation of the UK Sovereign AI Fund, with Callosum becoming its first investment.

The fund was established to support the UK’s domestic artificial intelligence ecosystem, with an emphasis on technological capabilities, economic growth and AI sovereignty.

Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s Minister for Artificial Intelligence, said competition in AI will depend not only on securing advanced chips but also on extracting the greatest possible value from available computing infrastructure.

That challenge sits at the center of Callosum’s strategy. By optimizing how workloads are distributed across different processors, the company aims to improve the economics and efficiency of deploying increasingly demanding AI systems.

Building a Broader AI Hardware Ecosystem

Alongside the funding announcement, Callosum unveiled partnerships with computing companies including Cerebras and Rebellions as it expands the hardware ecosystem connected to its platform.

Its collaboration with Cerebras is intended to support ultra-low-latency, multi-agent AI workloads at scale. Callosum is also integrating technology from Rebellions, allowing its architecture to handle workloads for which it is particularly suited alongside other specialized processors.

Rebellions CEO Sunghyun Park said this approach gives different computing architectures an opportunity to perform the tasks they handle most effectively rather than forcing a single type of hardware to process an entire workload.

Tailoring AI Inference to Specific Tasks

Callosum is already applying its orchestration technology through what it calls “Tailored Inference” APIs.

The APIs are designed to provide AI inference optimized around individual workloads, allowing organizations to balance performance and computing costs according to their specific requirements. The company is targeting demanding applications including cybersecurity and financial services.

With its Seed capital, Callosum is positioning itself between the rapidly expanding markets for AI models and specialized computing hardware. Rather than competing to build another general-purpose model or chip, the startup is betting that efficiently coordinating an increasingly fragmented AI computing landscape will become an infrastructure challenge of its own.

Newcastle-based fintech startup Noggin HQ has raised £2.3 million = $3.13M  in an oversubscribed seed round and secured credit referencing authorisation from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Blackfinch Ventures led the funding, with existing investors Oxford Capital and Bethnal Green Ventures also participating. The round attracted several sector-focused angel investors, including Alastair Douglas, former CEO of TotallyMoney.

The financing follows Noggin HQ’s earlier £710,000 pre-seed round. The company will use the fresh capital to move beyond its successful pilot programmes, scale operations and introduce its open banking-powered credit assessment technology to lenders across the UK.

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Challenging the Traditional Credit Model

Credit referencing in the UK has long been dominated by three established providers. Noggin HQ is entering that concentrated market with a model that evaluates consumers through their current cashflow rather than relying solely on conventional credit histories.

Its FCA approval makes the company one of only a small number of new credit reference agencies authorised in the UK during the past decade. Obtaining that regulatory status removes a major barrier to commercial adoption and allows Noggin HQ to provide credit information directly to lenders.

The startup is targeting a problem that affects consumers whose finances do not fit neatly into traditional scoring frameworks. An estimated 3.2 million UK adults were declined credit in the two years leading up to May 2024, according to figures provided in the announcement.

People with limited credit histories, irregular earnings or recent arrival in the country can struggle to access financial products even when they have sufficient income and consistently meet their financial obligations.

Using Open Banking to Assess Cashflow

Noggin HQ uses permissioned transaction data obtained through open banking to analyse consumers’ income and expenditure patterns in real time. The platform aims to give lenders a more current view of an applicant’s financial position and ability to manage repayments.

Traditional credit scores generally depend on historical borrowing records and repayment behaviour. Noggin HQ’s approach supplements that information with cashflow data, potentially allowing lenders to assess applicants whose conventional credit files provide an incomplete picture.

The company says this more detailed analysis can support nuanced lending decisions while helping financial institutions reach customers underserved by existing credit infrastructure.

A Business Built From Personal Experience

Childhood friends Evangeline Atkinson and Laura Mills founded Noggin HQ after encountering shortcomings in the credit assessment system themselves. Both had full-time jobs and regularly paid their bills, yet were declined for credit.

That experience prompted them to build an alternative designed around contemporary financial behaviour rather than legacy indicators alone.

Atkinson said consumers’ finances have become more complex, while much of the UK’s credit referencing infrastructure still reflects an older and less flexible economy. With FCA authorisation secured, the company now intends to help lenders conduct credit checks that better account for how people earn, spend and manage money today.

From Pilot Programmes to Market Adoption

The combination of regulatory approval and new funding gives Noggin HQ the resources to pursue wider commercial adoption. However, breaking into a market controlled by established credit bureaus will require the startup to demonstrate that its cashflow-based assessments can improve lending decisions at scale.

Its immediate opportunity lies in helping lenders evaluate applicants who may appear risky or invisible under conventional models. If its technology gains traction, Noggin HQ could give financial institutions another way to expand access to credit without relying entirely on static historical records.