Data analytics firm Quantexa has committed to invest £125 million in funding for artificial intelligence (AI) development by 2027, as the company looks to cement its place in the UK AI ecosystem.
The UK-based firm will invest £85 million within the UK alone and is set to create 170 new jobs as it opens its new London AI Innovation Center.
Quantexa works in data and analytics, and aims to help firms pull out the meaning in their data stacks using its decision intelligence platform.
With its AI stack the firm has combined techniques such as machine learning (ML) and natural language processing to draw complex data together with added context, with the aim of empowering businesses to make more informed decisions.
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Its new AI tool Q Assist, currently in tech preview, will allow business users query big data, both structured and unstructured, using natural language inputs. Quantexa intends for the tool to empower analysts to carry out investigations at a high skill level.
In an example, the firm stated that the AI assistant could allow a junior analyst to carry out a complex examination of potential financial crime and automate the creation of reports on any suspicious data.
Q Assist is large language model (LLM) ‘agnostic’. This means it can operate using popular models such as ChatGPT, open source models, or a firm’s own proprietary model.
“We are investing our time, money, and resources into the biggest technological breakthrough for generations as it will transform how organizations make decisions,” said Vishal Marria, CEO and founder of Quantexa.
“We’re proud to invest in London-based innovation but the impact will be felt by the global economy and will start a ripple effect that will unlock decision intelligence capabilities for our clients and their respective industries.”
University of Washington analysis has suggested that the total £200 million in investment could lead to a £600 million benefit to the global AI industry by 2027, as a knock-on effect of innovation and job creation.
In April Quantexa became the UK’s first unicorn of 2023, with a valuation of $1.8 billion.
Singaporean investment entity GIC led an investment round that raised a total of $129 million for Quantexa.
The company’s success has come at a pivotal moment for the UK startup sector, with the growth rate of UK unicorns (companies valued at more than £780 million or $1 billion) having slowed dramatically.
Tech Nation’s noted in its recent How to Build a Scale Up report that UK unicorn creation across 2022 happened at a rate ten times slower than the previous year.
Despite the recent downturn in unicorn creation, the report’s authors speculated that the UK could soon see a “glut” of unicorns, driven by the persistent growth of sub-$1-billion companies with strong value potential.
The UK government has placed AI at the core of its strategy to grow the UK tech scene. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt used the Spring Statement to announce £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) in tax relief credits for SMBs, as well as an annual £1 million ($1.3 million) prize fund for AI innovators.
“We want to ensure the UK remains the best place in the world to build, test, and use safe AI technology,” said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“Quantexa’s new £85M London AI Innovation Centre will help cement this reality. It will create over 170 jobs, harness the extraordinary potential of AI as we grow our economy, and lead the way on responsible AI development around the world.”
