Start-up Society #24: The Quantum Computing Issue

Keeping The American Dream Alive

Welcome to the 24th edition of Start-up Society! This is a weekly blog that promotes nationwide entrepreneurship and highlights some of the most exciting start-ups in the country striving to keep the American Dream alive.

Make sure you check out the previous issue, if you have not already, here!

There has been a lot of excitement and development in the Quantum Technology arena. The technology has the potential to spur breakthroughs in health care, financial strategies, security, and beyond. There are multiple distinct types of Quantum Technology that have been emerging some including Quantum Sensors, Quantum Communication, Quantum Computing & Quantum Hardware. Today, we are focusing on the Quantum Computing component of the space.

That being said, we quickly discovered that the main players in this vertical touch multiple elements of the Quantum Computing technology stack. Manufacturing hardware and integrated chips encounters a whole series of challenges, but to also develop the software around that technology that is compatible with classical computers is an entirely different problem set. The ability to produce and maintain Quantum Computing hardware that can compute at an acceptable fault tolerance with a significant number of Qubits, and the ability to design software around it will determine what companies are key players in the Quantum Computing sector.

IBM’s new 53-qubit quantum computer. Photograph: Stephen Shankland/CNET

The overall quantum computing market reached $93 million in 2019 and is expected to be at $283 million by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 24.9%. The need for robust computing that has the potential to overcome the difficulties involved in discovering drugs to target specific cancers and evaluating portfolio risk prominently contributes to the market’s growth.

Source: https://research.aimultiple.com/quantum-computing-companies/

California

PsiQuantum

HQ: Palo Alto

Founded: 2016

Total Raised: $215M+

Company Highlights

• PsiQuantum is focused on building the world’s first useful quantum computer, using the same industrial tools that produce your laptop.
• PsiQuantum is working to develop a one million physical qubit quantum computer based upon a photonic technology that incorporates extensive error correction and can be manufactured in a semiconductor wafer fab.
• This technology has several potential advantages since photons are less affected by external environment interactions and do not require an expensive dilution refrigerator to supercool the device. Also, photonic technology has the ability to network together multiple photonic chips into a mini quantum internet using photons and fiberoptic cables to create a scalable and expandable system.
• PsiQuantum’s big claim is that its technology will be able to string together 1 million qubits and distill out 100 to 300 error-corrected or “useful” qubits from that total.
• The start-up was initially developed at the University of Bristol’s Centre for Quantum Photonics. In 2019, PsiQuantum relocated to Silicon Valley to gain greater access to capital.
• The company raised $215 million of Series C venture funding in a deal led by Atomico on April 6, 2020, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $300 million. M12, SciFi VC, New Ground Ventures, Playground Global, A&E Investments, C4 Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, The House Fund, Roadster Capital, Founders Fund, MFV Partners, WorldQuant Ventures, BlackRock, and Baillie Gifford also participated in the round.
• Samir Kumar, general manager of M12, put in perspective what the company says its machine will be able to do: “By the time you get to 80 qubits, you are in a place where the qubits are storing more information than the total number of atoms in the entire universe.”

About the Team

Jeremy O’Brien, Co-Founder & CEO

• Jeremy got interested in quantum computing back in 1995 when he read about the potential for this technology to bring about a revolution comparable to the agricultural, industrial, and digital revolutions humanity has already experienced, and he has since devoted his life to bringing this vision into reality.
• Previously, Director at the Centre for Quantum Photonics & Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering at the University of Bristol from 2006 to 2018.
• Earned his P.h.D. in Quantum Technologies from UNSW Australia.
• Earned his B.A./B.S. in Physics, Maths, Philosophy, and Psychology from The University of Western Australia.

Terry Rudolph, Co-Founder

• Serves as Professor of Quantum Physics at Imperial College London.
• After finishing his undergraduate at the University of Queensland in 1994, a year of backpacking in Toronto, he decided to do a Ph.D. and chose the nascent field of quantum information.
• Upon completion of his Ph.D. in 1998, he lectured for two years at the University of Toronto. After taking a postdoctoral position in Vienna for a year followed by a research position in Bell Labs for two years, he joined Imperial College in 2003 on an Advanced Fellowship. There he was promoted to full professorship in 2012.
• In 2016, he took a leave from academia and co-founded PsiQuantum.

Mark Thompson, Co-Founder & Chief Technologist

• Serving as Professor of Quantum Photonics at the University of Bristol since 2008.
• Prior, served as a Research & Development Engineer at Toshiba.
• Earned his P.h.D. in Engineering from the University of Cambridge.
• Earned his Master’s in Physics from The University of Sheffield.

Peter Shadbolt, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer

• His decision to focus on quantum mechanics was based on the fact that it remains one of the most frustrating and wonderful scientific theories, with great scope for new discoveries.
• Holds a postdoctoral position at the Centre for Controlled Quantum Dynamics at Imperial College London.
• Earned his P.h.D. in Experimental Photonic Quantum from the University of Bristol.

Stu Aaron, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Commercial Officer

• Joined PsiQuantum in 2018
• Previously, he served as Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Blue Jeans, where he helped grow the business from zero to a leadership position in the video collaboration market.
• Seasoned startup executive (President, COO, CMO, CCO, CSO, VP Marketing, VP Product Management) with consistently strong results and multiple successful outcomes (IPO, M&A).
• Earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

Start-up Society Assessment

• If PsiQuantum succeeds in developing a commercial quantum computer, it will give a new dimension to a variety of industries eliminating traditional computers, enabling organizations to increase their productivity in an efficient manner. This technology could render several industries obsolete, whilst enabling the generation of many new ones
• Still, the start-up has a ways to go. Until it has a completed computer, the company can’t run calculations to compare against Google, IBM, or others.
• The company has been very secretive, declining to publish academic papers that can be reviewed for their merits or to let outsiders evaluate its technology.
• We remain optimistic, but also slightly skeptical. A working device is still likely years away.

Go Deeper

• Welcoming PsiQuantum to the M12 portfolio
• Our Investment in PsiQuantum: building the world’s first useful quantum computer
• PsiQuantum Targets Million Silicon Photonic Qubits by 2025

Rigetti

HQ: Berkeley

Founded: 2013

Total Raised: $198.5M

Company Highlights

• Rigetti Computing is an integrated systems company that builds Quantum Computers and superconducting processors. By developing the software platform, Quantum Cloud Services (QCS), their quantum hardware can be accessible via public or private cloud connections.
• Quantum computers operate as specialized co-processors in tandem with classical computing resources. Rigetti pioneered hybrid quantum-classical computation with its Quantum Cloud Services platform (QCS), which supports ultra-low latency connectivity between a customer’s high-performance classical hardware and Rigetti QPUs.
• “The company is dually focused on building scalable, error-corrected quantum computers and supporting high-performance access to current systems over the cloud. Rigetti offers a distinctive hybrid computing access model designed for practical applications,” said Chad Rigetti, Founder & CEO

Source: https://www.rigetti.com/why

• The company received $8.6 million of grant funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on March 26, 2020. The funds will be used to develop a full-stack system with proven quantum advantage for solving real-world problems.
• The company raised $79 million through the combination of Series C and Series C-1 venture funding in a deal led by Bessemer Venture Partners on August 4, 2020, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at an estimated $50 million. Northgate Capital, Alumni Ventures Group, Battery Ventures, Morpheus Ventures, EDBI, DCVC Bio, Felicis Ventures, Mark Leslie, Alpha Intelligence Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Franklin Templeton Investments also participated in the round. The funds will be used to accelerate the momentum of the company’s business growth. Of the total amount, $23.85 million was raised in the form of convertible debt subsequently converted to Series C equity.

About the Team

Chad Rigetti, Founder & CEO

• Chad Rigetti is a quantum computing physicist and the founder and CEO of Rigetti Computing. He worked in the quantum computing group at IBM. Chad has a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Regina and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Yale.

Taryn Naidu, COO

• Taryn Naidu is Chief Operating Officer at Rigetti. He brings more than 15 years of entrepreneurial and executive experience across engineering, product, and operations in B2B and B2C internet technology companies. Taryn most recently served as CEO of the public company Rightside Group. He has a B.Sc. in computer science from the University of Regina.

Start-up Society Assessment

• Rigetti is a vertically integrated full-stack Quantum Computing company. The company designs and fabricates quantum chips, integrates them with a controlling architecture, and develops software for programmers to use to build algorithms for the chips. This allows Rigetti to cultivate a deep understanding of how this technology can be used on a commercial level at every step of the supply chain. Check out their Technology Stack in detail!
• The level of ownership that they have over their supply chain amplifies their need for and current stock of Quantum Computing experts who will publish insightful research for the industry. This need for experts and research, once filled will turn into a flywheel effect of qualified talent pouring into Rigetti as opposed to any other start-up, quantum computing, or otherwise.
• The classical and quantum hybrid approach that Rigetti is taking is a critical step in driving adoption and usage among industries and parties that the technology is applicable for.

Go Deeper

• Rigetti Computing to Lead £10M Consortium to Launch First Commercial Quantum Computer in UK
• Rigetti Computing took a $71 million down round, because quantum computing is hard
• Quantum Computing Market by Offering

New York

Seeqc

HQ: Elmsford

Founded: 2018

Total Raised: $29.2M

Company Highlights

• Seeqc combines classical and quantum computing technologies to develop the first fully digital quantum computing platform for global businesses. The company aims to address the efficiency, stability, scalability and cost issues inherent in the quantum computing space.
• Seeqc applies an all-digital architecture which includes proprietary digital chips that are co-located with qubit chips as multi-chip modules in the same cryogenically cooled system. This enables the company to eliminate the challenges of building quantum computers with thousands or even millions of qubits. It also allows the company to reduce system complexity and latency, ushering in a more effective way to commercialize quantum computing.
• “Seeqc is focusing its approach on industries like chemical engineering, machine learning/AI, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical development,” said John Levy, co-founder and co-CEO of Seeqc.
• Seeqc is one of the first companies to have built a superconductor multi-layer commercial chip foundry. The company has an infrastructure in place for the design, testing, and manufacturing of quantum-ready superconductors.
• The company secured a total of $22.4 million in its Series A fundraising, led by EQT Ventures. Ted Persson, Partner and investment advisor at EQT Ventures, will also join Seeqc’s board of directors. Additional investors in the Series A round include FAM AB, M Ventures, BlueYard Capital, New Lab Ventures, and the Partnership Fund for New York City. The investment capital will be dedicated to advancing commercially viable application-specific quantum computing systems.

About the Team

John Levy, Co-Founder & Co-CEO

• John earned his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
• He was a board member of several companies such as Evogen, HiGTek, Wispry, Simparel, Inc., OnPath Technologies, Peek, Bend the Arc, BioLite, and PlusN.
• He’s currently a board member of The Cathay Capital Group, Hypres, and goTenna, and the Investment Committee Chairman of the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

Oleg Mukhanov, Co-Founder, Co-CEO, & CTO

• Oleg completed his studies at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute and Lomonosov Moscow State University.
• Prior to co-founding Seeqc, Oleg served as a Senior Vice President in Hypres and went on to become the company’s CTO.

Matthew Hutchings, Co-Founder & CPO

• Matthew earned his master’s degree in physics and his Ph.D. in photonics from Cardiff University.
• He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at both Cardiff University and Syracuse University researching and developing quantum technologies. We went on to become an Enterprise Fellow at Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre.

Start-up Society Assessment

• Seeqc is serving as a pioneer of quantum computing scalability with its own superconductive chip foundry. As the company uses a Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ) approach to commercialize quantum computing, Seeqc can potentially become the foundational platform for most global business applications.
• Given that the commercialization of quantum computers is still quite contemporary, talent acquisition and R&D must remain a top priority for Seeqc to see its products come to full fruition.

Go Deeper

• TQD Exclusive: Seeqc Cuts Its Own Path to the Quantum Era With Integrated Circuit Approach
• On EQT Ventures’ investment in Seeqc, the digital quantum computing company
• Seeqc Selected For $150,000 Phase I Award By Air Force Research Laboratory

Thank you for reading this article! Feel free to leave a comment, clap, and follow. Stay tuned for next week’s write-up, posted every Monday at 5 AM ET.

Authored by Arteen Zahiri, Rumeer Keshwani, and Elham Chowdhury