A North West tech firm plans to become the first Lancaster University spin-out to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Quantum Base is looking to raise £3m-£5m from new institutional and other shareholders, which will be used for product development and new key commercial and operational hires.
Founded by physics professor, Rob Young, Quantum Base’s patented Quantum Identity (Q-ID) which “harnesses randomness at the atomic level, ensuring a virtually infinite number of combinations” which can be applied to a vast array of products, significantly mitigating counterfeiting which is estimated to cost businesses and tax authorities at least $2.8tr in lost revenue per year.
Traditional solutions, such as holograms, tags and security inks, are often susceptible to replication, as well as being expensive to produce.
Tom Taylor, Quantum Base CEO, said: “As a UK-based company and a British scientific success story, floating in London was the obvious choice for us.
“For over a decade, we have been developing our patented Q-ID solution – a quantum-secure tag that is virtually impossible to replicate or clone.
“As the first innovation of its kind to be easily integrated with the most common printing methods and quickly authenticated with a smartphone, it has been vital for us to maintain independence and credibility so that we can grow our solution in a sustainable manner.
“We believe that floating on AIM will provide us with this independence, whilst also enabling us to leverage access to a world-leading market and potential investor base.”
Founder Prof Young added: “Our Quantum Identity solution, now with over 500 million units produced, has incredible potential to benefit society by protecting industries, governments, and consumers from the damaging impacts of counterfeiting.
“Listing on the London Stock Exchange is a critical next step for our company’s future growth and development. Quantum Base has an exceptional team behind it, and I believe passionately that this is just the beginning of our journey towards setting a new global standard in authentication technology.”
Quantum Base has already signed agreements with two security printing firms to integrate Q-IDs into their products. One is a major security printer that plans to apply the technology to tax stamps used by government agencies. The other, Madrid-based Signe, specializes in document security and is assessing Q-ID’s application in its operations.
The company is also confident that Q-ID can be applied to postage stamps, banknotes, clothing, luxury goods, pharmaceuticals, aerospace parts and more.
The authentication process to identify printed tags uses existing smartphone technology, providing easy authentication and proven security for global brands, governments and consumers.
Taylor continued: “I would like to extend my thanks to our existing stakeholders and partners for their continued support, and I look forward to welcoming new investors as we continue on this exciting journey of establishing a new global standard in authentication.”
