Away from PreSeed Now, I spend a lot of my time in the quantum technology space. Despite this, we haven’t featured a quantum tech startup here at PreSeed Now.

That changes today as we meet London-based Qronon. Don’t be put off; I won’t blind you with qubits. Now really is the time to start paying attention to what’s happening in quantum–it’s a really interesting space.

Check out our primer from September if you’re new to quantum.

But first:

• You read about them first at PreSeed Now: Yesterday saw funding announcements for Auditsu, Future Greens, and NeuWave Technologies (via PXN’s PraeSeed programme) and Mater AI announced a round too.

• They were all profiled here on PreSeed Now long before these announcements.

• Savvy Premium subscribers use the PreSeed Now Startup Tracker to check for updates about funding, pivots, and more about the startups we feature here.

• Not already on Premium? Join them! 👇

– Martin

Qronon is improving weather forecasting with quantum tech (no quantum computer required)

Precise weather forecasts can be business-critical for sectors like aviation, agriculture, logistics, energy, construction, and insurance. But forecasting accurately beyond 10 days or so into the future is challenging, to say the least.

The butterfly effect means a tiny atmospheric change somewhere in the world can cause a chain of reactions that can be difficult to predict with existing models and computational power.

Qronon is harnessing the emerging world of quantum technology with the aim of making longer-range forecasts more accurate up to three or four weeks. This will allow for better long-term planning for businesses, and potentially more time to prepare for extreme weather long before it arrives.

Co-founders Osama Ahmed and Sallar Ali Qazi are using quantum reservoir computing to develop a new approach to modelling the weather. This draws on quantum algorithms to build upon what is possible with classical reservoir computing.

“[Reservoir computing] is a brain-inspired network. Everyone knows that there are neural networks that you can train, but our brain is different from traditional neural networks, because it is randomised, it's very efficient,” says Ahmed.

Using reservoir computing to predict weather with classical (i.e., non-quantum) computers requires huge amounts of compute power. But Qronon’s research has shown that quantum reservoir computing can forecast extreme weather events in advance of traditional approaches.

Qronon is part of an emerging field using quantum technology and AI together. See the work of SiC Systems, for example. A project in the Netherlands is using quantum-inspired algorithms to model water simulations for the Dutch Ministry of Defence.

One thing to note is that “quantum-inspired” algorithms don’t necessarily require a quantum computer, but can still provide real benefits. Qronon is using classical computing hardware for its product, and Ahmed says its tech outperforms other classical forecasting approaches, using “100 times less compute”.

He adds that the tech has already been tested successfully on an IBM quantum computer, providing a path to pure-quantum deployments in the future, when the field has developed further.

The story so far

Ahmed has an academic background in modelling complex systems, most recently as a PhD student exploring the capabilities of quantum reservoir computing. He has published research papers on the modelling capabilities of the technology, giving him early expertise in a field that is beginning to get more attention elsewhere.

Ahmed met his Qronon co-founder when Qazi—originally from the same part of Pakistan as Ahmed—let him stay at his place for a couple of weeks when he first moved to London.

Bonding over their shared backgrounds in modelling complex systems, they eventually realised the commercial potential of Ahmed’s research.

After joining the Conception X programme that helps turn PhD research into startups, the pair began working on a market-ready product.

In 2026, Qronon plans to run pilots with potential customers in the insurance and reinsurance space, to show just how useful the technology can be to this market that thrives on accurate forecast data.

This, Ahmed hopes, will help turn pilot partners into paying customers of its first commercial product.

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.