According to IBM, “Quantum computers can boost the development of new breakthroughs in science, medications to save lives, machine learning methods to diagnose illnesses sooner, materials to make more efficient devices and structures, financial strategies to live well in retirement, and algorithms to quickly direct resources such as ambulances.”
Cambridge-based Riverlane is a startup that develops software that transforms quantum computers from experimental technology into commercial products. It just raised funding!
Riverlane funding
Riverlane, a quantum computing startup spun out of Cambridge University, has completed its first fundraising to help accelerate its growth. It has raised $20M (approx €16.4M) in its Series A round of funding to build Deltaflow – its operating system for quantum computers.
This new funding follows a £3.25M (approx €3.6M) Seed round completed in June 2019.
Riverlane to build Operating System for Quantum computers
According to Riverlane, Quantum computers will change the world by solving problems that are fundamentally impossible to solve on classical computers. This step-change in computing power will impact a variety of industries including the chemical, pharmaceutical, and materials industries to improve algorithms as well as specify early applications of quantum computers.
“Over the next five years we will continue to see rapid progress in quantum hardware development and, as the quantum industry develops, it is vital that software is built on a solid foundation,” the company mentions in a statement. “For a quantum ecosystem to thrive, we urgently need an operating system. An operating system makes quantum computers useful – it allows programs and applications to run on many different machines. We aim to make our operating system Deltaflow a global standard,” says Steve Brierley, founder, and CEO of Riverlane.
Investors in this round
The current round was led by European technology venture capital fund Draper Esprit. In addition, existing investors, including Cambridge Innovation Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, and the University of Cambridge also participated in this round.
Use of the funds
Riverlane claims that over the past year, it has been able to sign up to 20 per cent of the world’s quantum hardware manufacturers to use Deltaflow, and will use the funding to expand internationally to the US, Europe and more.
This raised capital will also help accelerate Riverlane’s mission to build a high-performance operating system that makes quantum computers useful, sooner.
About Riverlane
Founded in 2017 by Steve Brierley, Riverlane develops software that transforms quantum computers from experimental technology into commercial products.
The company aims to build an ultra-low latency quantum operating system that accelerates quantum-classical hybrid algorithms and facilitates hardware R&D; as well as to develop algorithms making optimal use of the full quantum computing stack. “We go deep into the stack so that our hardware partners can focus on the physics and build better full-stack solutions.”
What is Deltaflow and how does it work?
Deltaflow is a new operating system for quantum computers. Quantum computers contain classical and quantum computing elements which must be arranged to tease out optimal performance. This is crucial for near-term applications such as quantum chemistry. In the long term, quantum error correction requires close integration of quantum and classical computers.
“Riverlane’s operating system Deltaflow creates a thriving quantum ecosystem, giving software developers access to all types of quantum computers at the right level. Providing a shared language for applications and quantum hardware development, Deltaflow is the infrastructure for great engineering and collaboration across the industry,” says the company.
Andrew Williamson, partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, believes that the commercialisation phase of quantum computing is arriving. “A key goal for quantum computing is realising quantum advantage – solving a problem that classic computers cannot solve as efficiently, or even at all. Riverlane’s Deltaflow accelerates the development of quantum computers that demonstrate quantum advantage by optimising the performance of quantum circuits for the underlying hardware. This means the commercialisation phase of quantum computing is arriving, and we are proud to continue to support one of the field’s pioneers – Riverlane.”
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