Israeli startup Quantum Source, which is developing technologies for practical photonic quantum computers announced today that it has raised $50 million in a series A financing round. The round was led by Eclipse with participation from Standard Investments, Level VC, Canon Equity, as well as existing investors Pitango First, Grove Ventures, 10D, and Dell Technologies Capital. This brings the total amount raised by Quantum Source to $77 million.
The company said that the capital will be used, "To expand its R&D team, and achieve significant technology targets that will allow effective use of quantum computers possessing millions of qubits."
Quantum Source was founded in 2021 by semiconductor industry veterans and serial entrepreneurs CEO Oded Melamed, and chairman Dan Charash, who previously founded and sold a chip company to Broadcom for $300 million. Other cofounders are Gil Semo, a former Apple senior executive and Professor Barak Dayan. The company currently has 44 employees, according to IVC.
Last May, the company which was a relatively anonymous startup, hit the headlines when former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett joined its board of directors. At the time "Globes" reported that Bennett had met with several startups before deciding to joint Quantum Source after a two hour meeting.
Quantum Source is developing a quantum computer, which is a computer that utilizes natural chemical processes of light particles to produce computing operations at a rate and power millions or billions times greater than supercomputers - which are themselves considered extremely powerful computers.
The company says that Quantum computing is a fundamental paradigm shift in computing, with the potential to dramatically accelerate technological advancements in drug design, material development, cybersecurity, and more. Large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, with millions of qubits, are critical to unlocking the potential of quantum computing but have yet to reach commercial viability. Photonic quantum computing technology offers the best route to commercialization, however, the biggest obstacle has been the massive inefficiency in creating entangled photonic states, a challenge that Quantum Source addresses.
The company further explains that the most promising way to implement this type of computer is quantum photonic computing, which has made headlines in recent months following two huge deals. The Australian government signed an agreement to implement a quantum photonic computer for $620 million, and the US state of Illinois announced an investment of about $500 million to implement a similar system.
Bennett said, "Public, private and government sectors have made significant investments into the quantum industry, underscoring the impact quantum computing can have on shaping our future. Quantum Source is at the forefront of this revolution and I believe they will be the team to unlock the promise of quantum computing to transform critical industries."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 10, 2024.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.