QuantWare, a Dutch startup developing quantum processors for research and commercial use, announced today that it has raised €6 million (equivalent to approximately $6.33 million) with the participation of Dutch deep-tech investors Forward.One, QDNL. Graduate – in the participation of entrepreneurs, among others. The company said it will use the new funding to expand its team and support the production and development of the 64-qubit Tenor processor, which, thanks to its innovative architecture, allows the company to move faster from chips to larger to scale qubits.
Last year, Quantwire was selected to supply the quantum processing unit for Israel's first quantum computer (along with Quantum Machine), and in recent months the company has launched foundry services to help others produce their own superconducting quantum chips and first raw materials. , "crescendo" amplifier. All this is happening against the background of growing interest in an open hardware ecosystem comparable to where classic computers exist.
For now, Quantware is focused on its new processor. Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, the company's CEO and co-founder, told me that the most important breakthrough is how it connects different qubits. With this new processor, the company is moving into 3D and bringing those control lines from above. "This allows us to create modules that we can connect together and then get a large number of qubits very quickly," he said. The company hopes to at least double the number of qubits each year — and Rizlersdam notes that given the current state of the industry as a whole, potential customers will have a hard time keeping up, even if they move quickly. Currently 1000 qubit machines.
When Quantware was first launched, Rizlersdam told me the company wanted to enable others to build quantum computers. “We're trying to get people to be Dell, Quanter Dell,” he said. This will put QuantWare on par with Intel and AMD for quantum computing. With a project like Israel's first quantum computer as a key customer, some of those bets are now paying off. “An ecosystem is being built around our processors. So that's exciting to see," Rieslersdam said.
He also said that he hopes that the company created by TU Delf/QuTech can adapt to any current needs; After all, it is not thousands of companies that want to build a quantum computer. Quantware, which currently uses national cleanrooms available to Dutch researchers and companies, will eventually bring more of its production in-house. "It's not really about volume," says Rizlersdam. "It's about quality. It's about having total control over your process."
The company informed me that it raised more money than originally planned. Rijlaarsdam told me that the plan calls for the investment to roughly double the size of the company, but that the bulk of the investment will also go into the production and purchase of measuring equipment (measuring equipment is quite a hurdle industry, Rijlaarsdam noted). .
