Scottish Widows has made its first investments in four British technology ventures through a specialist pension investment programme, directing long-term savings capital into companies developing quantum computers, battery technology, and healthcare applications.
The investments involve Oxford Quantum Circuits, Quantum Motion, Nyobolt, and Genomics. Financial details of the individual commitments have not been disclosed, although the four companies represent substantial areas of UK scientific and technology development.
The pension provider introduced its private market investment options in February, broadening the assets available within its workplace pension arrangements. Aberdeen Investments manages the overall investment structure, with IP Group overseeing the specialist UK venture-growth component.
The arrangement connects workplace pension capital with investment managers experienced in financing research-intensive companies. Such businesses can require repeated investment rounds as they progress from scientific development to commercial production and wider customer adoption.
Oxford Quantum Circuits and Quantum Motion are pursuing different approaches to quantum computing hardware. Oxford Quantum Circuits develops superconducting quantum processors, while Quantum Motion focuses on silicon-based systems designed around semiconductor manufacturing technologies.
Both businesses have attracted substantial investment independently of Scottish Widows’ latest commitments. Oxford Quantum Circuits completed a £260m funding round earlier this year, while Quantum Motion secured $160m. Those figures relate to the companies’ wider financing rounds and should not be interpreted as the sums invested by Scottish Widows.
Nyobolt develops battery technology for applications requiring rapid charging and high power delivery, while Genomics uses genetic data and analytical technology in healthcare and drug discovery. The four businesses therefore expose the investment programme to different commercial and technological markets.
For Scottish Widows, the investments mark an expansion into a category of UK assets that has historically received relatively little capital from workplace pension schemes. Venture-backed technology companies are typically less liquid than listed shares and may take years to generate returns through an acquisition, flotation, or another investment exit.
The activity forms part of a wider movement among pension providers to increase investment in private markets. Under the voluntary Mansion House Accord, seventeen major providers have expressed an ambition to allocate at least 10% of their main defined contribution default funds to private markets by 2030, including 5% to UK assets.
Recent industry figures show that signatories held £11.1bn in UK private market investments at the end of 2025, equivalent to 3.3% of relevant growth-phase assets. The total includes property and infrastructure as well as private equity, demonstrating why overall private market allocations cannot be treated as equivalent to venture investment in British technology businesses.
Research from IP Group and Parkwalk has also identified increasing concentration in the UK’s university spinout investment market. During the first half of 2026, spinouts attracted £1.56bn, but first-time equity investment fell substantially, while large funding rounds accounted for an increasing share of capital.
Scottish Widows’ initial selections concentrate on established technology ventures rather than early-stage company formation. The investments give those businesses access to another source of institutional capital, while adding exposure to private UK technology companies within the pension provider’s broader investment programme.
The financial returns will depend on the companies’ commercial performance and the eventual realisation of their investments. Individual allocation amounts and investment terms remain undisclosed.
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