UK anti-counterfeit firm sizes up an AIM listing

A spinout from the University of Lancaster in the UK, Quantum Base, is considering a listing on the AIM stock exchange as it builds a business around its Q-ID anti-counterfeit technology.

The 12-year-old company is hoping to raise between £3m and £5m ($3.9m to $6.5m) from new institutional and other shareholders through the placing, with the money earmarked for product development and new commercial and operational hires.

The move comes after Quantum Base signed two new agreements with printing partners for its anti-counterfeit platform, including Madrid, Spain-based Signe, which specialises in document security, and an unnamed security printer that intends to use the Q-ID system for government tax stamp clients.

The two contacts mark the first stage of the commercialisation of its platform under the current "design and license" business model.

Q-ID harnesses the random effects of quantum materials to create unbreakable quantum unique identities – based on billions of randomly arranged atoms – that can be used to identify and authenticate physical products. It is based on research carried out in the lab of Lancaster University Prof Robert Young.

According to Quantum Base, the tech is compatible with most common printing methods and substrates and can be detected using a regular, unmodified smartphone.

"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," said Quantum Base's chief executive Tom Taylor.

"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," he added.

"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."