PQA Case study
Supporting Market Intelligence
All spin-outs need to understand the market, their customers, and customer needs. The Photonics & Quantum Accelerator (PQA) provided funding to Dr Natalia Herrera Valencia and Rachel Connolly through its Quick Response Fund to gather market intelligence at Photonics West 2025.
The challenge
To gather global market intelligence on key photonics and quantum technologies, and the gaps in these areas. To engage with key market stakeholders.
The response
PQA funding enabled Rachel Connolly, a member of Heriot-Watt University’s commercialisation team, to attend Photonics West 2025 in San Francisco, on behalf of future spin-out Intertangle and others in the University’s quantum and photonics portfolio.
Engagement with key industry players
The event connected Intertangle with over 60 organisations in the quantum and photonics sectors, including startups, component manufacturers, and systems integrators. Discussions offered insights into market trends, technical challenges, and emerging opportunities. Outcomes already include follow-up meetings, requests for details on Heriot-Watt technologies – such as Intertangle’s multimode entanglement platform and FemtoForge’s Ti:sapphire laser – and invitations to pitch at government events.
Strategic meetings with stakeholders
Targeted discussions were held with: Fraunhofer UK: potential partner for scaling and productization; QAI Ventures: investor with a strong interest in quantum hardware; Global Scot: for internationalisation and market entry support; UK Department for Business and Trade: for export strategy and funding alignment; Technology Scotland: for ecosystem integration and policy alignment.
Ecosystem networking
Built relationships with key figures across academia, industry, and government. Strengthened Heriot-Watt’s visibility and credibility in the international quantum and photonics community. These relationships are instrumental in shaping future collaborative R&D and commercialisation pathways.
Competitive intelligence
Observed a substantial number of low-TRL prototypes with limited productisation. Many competitors lacked clear go-to-market strategies or user-centric design. This insight underscored Intertangle’s competitive advantage if it can accelerate its packaging and usability roadmap.
Market validation for intertangle
Received consistent feedback that there is a strong market need for robust, user-friendly, and integrated quantum photonics systems. This validates Intertangle’s core proposition and highlights the importance of continuing to prioritise usability and reliability in product development.
Identified several emerging trends
Miniaturisation and integration of photonic components. Hybrid quantum-classical systems gaining traction. Shift from lab-based demonstrations to real-world applications.
Customer discovery
Compiled a list of potential end-users and B2B customers, particularly in: quantum sensing, imaging systems, secure communications. These leads will be prioritised in Intertangle’s customer discovery and pilot engagement phases.
Outcomes and impact
New commercial champion found for the Intertangle project for Scottish Enterprise High-Growth Start-Up Programme as a direct result of networking at event.
Project lead of Intertangle, Natalia Herrera Valencia, selected to chair panels at three industry leading events.
Heriot-Watt University asked by UK Gov Business and Trade department to attend international investor summit in London and present spinout pipeline.
Intertangle project prioritised by Fraunhofer as result of networking at event.