Cambridge, UK – 4colors Research announces it has been awarded an Innovate UK Growth Catalyst grant to commercialise its quantum-ready AI optimisation platform for manufacturers and logistics companies. The solution creates integrated production and logistics plans that reduce costs, lead times, and CO2 emissions while meeting real-world operational constraints.
Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency that drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas. The grant will provide 4colors Research with a package of targeted support to develop innovative ideas into a commercial product and drive business growth.
The platform uses a hybrid solver architecture, running fully on classical hardware today while selectively applying quantum routines where they add clear value. This approach ensures robust performance without relying on quantum hardware for baseline operations. The system is designed to operate on near-term NISQ (Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum) devices, which have limited qubit counts and are prone to errors, and will scale to take advantage of more powerful quantum machines as they become available.
"Our focus is practical impact," said Dr. Marcin Kaminski, Founder and CEO of 4colors Research. "By combining state-of-the-art mathematical optimisation with targeted quantum methods, we deliver reliable results on classical systems today and a clear path to quantum acceleration tomorrow."
4colors brings deep expertise in mathematical optimisation, applying advanced techniques to solve complex industrial problems. Its prototype, validated during the Airbus–BMW Quantum Computing Challenge, will be developed into a market-ready solution with support from this grant. By advancing this technology, 4colors aims to create new commercial opportunities, generate exportable intellectual property, and support the UK's leadership in AI, optimisation, and applied quantum technologies.
This award follows 4colors Research's recognition as a semifinalist in the global XPRIZE Quantum Applications competition, sponsored by Google Quantum AI and the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator. 4colors Research has also been selected by Airbus to deliver a proof-of-concept project using its quantum computing technology to optimise Airbus's production planning, supply chain, and logistics processes.