Who we are

Steve Brierley founded Riverlane in 2016 to build the error correction stack for quantum computers. Driven by his conviction that fault-tolerant quantum computers will accelerate human progress, Riverlane partners with leading quantum hardware companies to make that happen sooner.

Steve has worked in quantum for over 20 years and is an expert advisor to the UK government. He holds a PhD in quantum information, spent a decade in the intelligence community and worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge leading major research projects in quantum computing.

Marco is an expert in delivering deep-tech prototypes and products. He holds a joint CERN/SSSUP Phd in Innovative Technologies with emphasis on highly constrained systems. Marco has produced novel solutions in high energy physics, intelligent cars, smart cities, internet of things, virtual reality and optical communications.

From small scale software solutions to multi-million units per year hardware chips, Marco has always focused on quality, reliability and time to market. Marco deeply believes that real innovation comes from the joint efforts of research and development.

Cory has over 15 years experience bringing new technologies to market through strategic partnerships. As VP of Business Development and Strategic Alliances at Riverlane, Cory is passionate about establishing partnerships that accelerate the adoption of Riverlane products and unleash the power of quantum computers.

Cory has an engineering degree from the University of Michigan, and was previously a founding member of the partner organisations at Salesforce.com, GoodData, and GitHub. Cory lives with his family in Truckee, California where they enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, mountain biking, and skiing.

Bek is responsible for building world-class teams and scaling company operations to enable Riverlane to reach its strategic goals. Bek enjoys supporting and empowering high-performing teams and has a supreme talent for driving work to completion.

Bek has 15 years' experience within leading health, research and higher education organisations. She co-founded THIS Institute, a £42m healthcare research institute at the University of Cambridge, building a team of 35 people in one year. Bek also has experience in fundraising and stakeholder management across a range of sectors and countries as Chief of Staff at the University of Cambridge.

Bek holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the Open University. Outside of work, she runs, reads and plays a mean game of squash.

Glenn brings over 20 years experience in C-level Communications, Marketing and Sustainability roles at leading technology companies, including Trustpilot, O2, Telefonica, Ebone and EE.

As a key member of the management team that scaled Trustpilot from startup to global market leader and unicorn IPO, Glenn developed the brand into a universal symbol of trust with billions of online brand impressions every month.

At O2, he co-led the European launch of the iPhone, helped transform the Millennium Dome into The O2, built one of Europe's most successful social impact and sustainability programmes (Think Big) and was part of the management team that transformed the company from last to first place in a hyper-competitive market.

Outside of work, Glenn coaches baseball, is vice chair of youth music charity Future Talent and loves listening to old jazz records.

Maria has over a decade of experience in quantum technology. As Head of Business Development at Riverlane, she built a network of global partners and a deep understanding of the global quantum computing ecosystem. As VP of Product, she is developing solutions that address those needs.

Maria has a PhD in Physics from the University of Southampton and an MBA from Kedge business school. After 4 years of post-doctoral research on single photon sources, she worked in science publishing as a Senior Editor at Nature Materials. Outside of work, she swims, works on her headstand and plays with her sons.

Earl is a world expert in quantum error correction with nearly two decades of experience in creating fresh design concepts for fault-tolerant quantum computing architectures. During his career, Earl has made significant contributions to quantum error correction, fault-tolerant quantum logic and compilation and quantum algorithms with 80+ publications and authoring the premier review on quantum error correction in Nature.

Before joining Riverlane, Earl worked as a senior architect for Amazon Web Services' quantum computing team. Earl has a PhD in Quantum Computing from University of Oxford and is a senior lecturer and EPSRC research fellowship holder at University of Sheffield. Earl continues to accelerate our quantum error correction efforts, establishing a pipeline of research scientific publications and leading our scientific teams.

Amelia is a Principal in the Early Stage Fund at Amadeus Capital Partners with an investment focus of autonomous systems, AI and machine learning, cloud computing, digital health and medical technology.

As well as sitting on the board of Riverlane she is Director at other technology companies including Paragraf, delivering the capabilities of graphene to the real world; Immense Simulations, an intelligent mobility enabling software company and SLAMcore, a spin-out from Imperial College, developing spatial intelligence for autonomous robotics and drones.

Amelia holds a BSc in Chemistry and Biology from Durham University and is a mentor on the Judge Business School's Accelerate Programme.

Stuart was a Director of 3i Ventures in London before he co-founded Molten Ventures. He has over 25 years of venture capital experience in Europe and the US - including founding 3i US in Menlo Park, CA. Stuart was responsible for Molten's investments in Lagan Technology (sold to Verint), Redkite (sold to Nice) and Kiadis (sold to Sanofi). Stuart serves as a director with Netronome, Aircall, Resolver, Realeyes, Riverlane and Conversocial; and as observer with Graphcore and Crate.

Before 3i, Stuart was involved in software and systems implementations for Midland Bank. He is a graduate of Loughborough University and currently serves on the Strategic Advisory Board for the Loughborough School of Business.

In 2015 Hermann was awarded an KBE for services to Engineering and Industry.

Serial Entrepreneur and Co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, Dr Hermann Hauser KBE has wide experience in developing and financing companies in the information technology sector. He co-founded a number of high-tech companies including Acorn Computers which spun out ARM, E-trade UK, Virata and Cambridge Network. Subsequently Hermann became vice president of research at Olivetti. During his tenure at Olivetti, he established a global network of research laboratories. Since leaving Olivetti, Hermann has founded over 20 technology companies. In 1997, he co-founded Amadeus Capital Partners. At Amadeus he invested in CSR, Solexa, Icera, Xmos and Cambridge Broadband.

Hermann is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry and of the Royal Academy of Engineering, as well as an Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. In 2001 he was awarded an Honorary CBE for 'innovative service to the UK enterprise sector'. In 2004 he was made a member of the Government's Council for Science and Technology and in 2013 he was made a Distinguished Fellow of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.

Hermann has honorary doctorates from the Universities of Loughborough, Bath, Anglia Ruskin, Strathclyde, Glasgow and York.

Elaine is an Investment Director in the Seed Funds team, focusing on spin-out opportunities emerging from the physical sciences. Since joining Cambridge Enterprise, she has spun-out nine new companies and worked on several follow-on funding rounds. She has held many director positions and currently sits on the boards of PervasID, Intellegens, Sorex, Xampla and CB2Tech as well as being an observer of AudioTelligence and Riverlane.

She has extensive experience in all stages of the investment process including due diligence, financial modelling, deal negotiation and investment management.

Elaine has worked in early-stage tech investing since 2001. At Dresdner Kleinwort Capital, she sourced new investment opportunities and managed the direct-investment portfolio for early-stage tech deals as well as leading on a £2bn fund of funds secondary sale. At PUK Ventures she focused on early-stage tech opportunities emerging from the public sector and UK universities.

Elaine has a BSc in Laser Physics and Optoelectronics (University of Strathclyde), a PhD in Physics (Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton) and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) in 2000.

Elaine Joined Cambridge Enterprise in December 2015.

Andrew Williamson is the Managing Partner and specialises in technology investments. He has hands on experience of building technology businesses, coupled with a venture investing background and an understanding of Cambridge and its academic institutes.

Prior to joining CIC, he was at True North Venture Partners in Chicago where he was a partner in its $300 million venture fund. Before this Andrew spent ten years leading materials science and semiconductor research in US government research laboratories, followed by managing director positions at venture capital funds Physic Ventures in San Francisco and MalibuIQ in Los Angeles.

Andrew studied at the University of Cambridge as both an undergraduate and a graduate, receiving an MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Physics. He also holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Andrew manages CIC's investments in Audio Analytic, AudioTelligence, Imagen, Origami Energy, PervasID, PragmatIC, Prowler.io, Riverlane, Swim.ai and Undo.

Chris McLaughlin is a highly experienced tech sector executive and qualified NED, with decades of corporate experience in space, technology, government and blue-chip companies. Serving on FTSE-listed management teams, Chris has attracted significant financing for projects and programmes.

As a special advisor to OneWeb in 2020, he gained the political traction for a unique $1bn buy-out, led by UK Government.

From 2021-22, appointed by the Minister of State, he served as Co-Chair of the Spaceflight Safety and Regulation Council (SSRC).

From 2017 -2021, he served as a NED and interim executive at Avanti Satellite plc.

A graduate of The LSE, Chris was awarded a Research Fellowship at University of Freiburg, Germany, within a United Nations University programme.

Andreas is responsible for growth acceleration and fundraising at Riverlane. He is an investor and advisor with experience across the entire company life cycle. Andreas serves on the Board of several private and public companies. He has 12+ years' experience in R&D, business development, IP management, and product definition in segments such as IoT, robotics, cloud, AI/machine learning and cybersecurity. Andreas holds a PhD in electrical engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Dan Browne is a Professor of Physics at University College London.

Dan has two decades of published research into quantum computation. He studied at Imperial College London, and later in Germany. His PhD thesis was entitled "Quantum Information Processing with Quantum Optical Systems". In 2004 he was awarded a Junior Research Fellowship at Merton College, Oxford. While in Oxford, Dan worked in both the Atomic and Laser Physics Group and the Quantum and Nanotechnology group. Since 2007 he has been a lecturer in the Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Positronic Physics Group at UCL.