Delft-based QuantWare, a provider of large-scale superconducting quantum processors, announced on Thursday that it has raised €6M in a Seed round of funding led by Forward.One.
QDNL Participations and Graduate Entrepreneur also participated in the round.
The announcement comes a year after raising €1.15M funding in a pre-seed round from FORWARD.one, UniiQ, Quantum Delta NL, Rabo Innovatie Lening (RIL), and Angel investors.
The Dutch firm says it plans to utilise the funds to expand its workforce to aid the production and advancement of its latest 64 qubit processor, Tenor.
QuantWare says the device provides more than twice the number of qubits compared to its previous largest QPU at a 10x lower price point.
Since the qubits are fully controllable, these processors are very suitable for powerful error-correction schemes, says the company.
QuantWare: “Intel of quantum computing”
Founded in 2020 by Dr. Alessandro Bruno and Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, QuantWare develops, designs, and fabricates scalable, superconducting quantum processors.
QuantWare aims to become the ‘Intel of quantum computing’ by providing easy-to-use, increasingly powerful, and affordable quantum processors to organisations globally.
The Dutch company has created a patented 3D technology that directs connections vertically.
This innovation enables the scaling of superconducting quantum processors to thousands of qubits, which could lead to the ‘quantum advantage’.
Talking about addressing limitations of quantum computing technology Matthijs Rijlaarsdam tells Silicon Canals, “We are constantly improving our QPUs in terms of qubit count and quality. We partner up with the best in the industry for the scaling of the other components.”
As a result, QuantWare enables third parties to build a quantum computer at a 1/10th of the cost compared to competing options by providing them with these processors.
Last year, QuantWare was selected to deliver quantum processing units for Israel’s first fully functional quantum computer.
Throwing light on partnerships, Rijlaarsdam adds, “With SeeQC we have a longstanding partnership. And with our partners in the quantum ecosystem of the Netherlands, we are building open-quantum architecture systems.”
According to Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, QuantWare is planning to add several new chip components and implement quality improvements.
“Expect some exciting announcements to come,” he adds.
The Investors
FORWARD.one is a venture capital fund focused on high-tech hardware startups and scaleups. The VC manages €200M across multiple funds, with investments in robotics, semiconductors, photonics, sensors, virtual/augmented reality, biomanufacturing, and other hardware technologies.
Paul Pruijmboom, Partner at FORWARD.one Venture Capital for Hardware, says, “We are proud to have been one of the first investors to see QuantWare’s potential in 2021. With this Seed Round investment, QuantWare will continue to spearhead innovation in the superconducting quantum space and accelerate the advent of real-world quantum applications.”
Ton van ‘t Noordende, Managing Director of QDNL Participations, says “We’re incredibly excited to back Matthijs, Alessandro, and the team as they continue to develop and deliver state-of-the-art Quantum Processor Units. They’re well on their way to deliver quantum advantage to end users and perfectly positioned to serve both R&D and commercial markets in the future.”
Ludolf Stavenga, Partner at Graduate Entrepreneur, says, “QuantWare is built on state-of-the-art technology from TU Delft. We are delighted to see this technology being used to make an impact in the world by QuantWare.”
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