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Aquark founder: Screwing up is great – it’s when you learn the most

Aquark founder

Andrei Dragomir is the co-founder and CEO of Aquark Technologies, a Southampton-based quantum startup developing a high-performance cold atom clock.

Founded in 2020 by Dragomir and Alexander Jantzen as a spinout from the University of Southampton, Aquark is working towards what it says will be the UK’s first commercially available cold atom clock.

Cold atom clocks can precisely measure time by cooling atoms to near absolute zero. The stability of atomic frequencies means it can theoretically operate for millions of years without losing a second.

In May this year, Aquark secured a £3.4m contract from government agency Innovate UK to make its technology commercially ready.

In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, Dragomir explains why founders shouldn’t oversell their vision, how a lab mistake sparked the creation of his startup, and why he’s excited by green technologies....