Global VC urges Australia to rethink jail terms for unapproved quantum tech sales
A partner at $340 million French VC Quantonation says Australia's strict export controls could 'starve innovators' and benefit the likes of Amazon and Microsoft.
A partner at prominent French venture capital firm Quantonation has hit out at Australian laws threatening founders who share quantum technology with other countries with jail time, saying the rules hamper innovation and only benefit tech giants.
Will Zeng, a former Goldman Sachs analyst who is now partner at the $340 million quantum computing focused firm, said Australian export controls, which apply to even allied nations, were counterproductive and would ultimately harm the domestic industry.
“The Western market needs to be accessible to Australia’s homegrown technology startups, because the domestic market will not support this kind of long-term technology development,” Zeng told Capital Brief during a trip to Sydney. “People will move, they’ll go somewhere they can more quickly access a bigger market.”
Quantonation last year finished raising €200 million ($340 million) for its second quantum computing-focused fund. Months later it led a funding round into Diraq, a Sydney startup that plans to manufacture quantum chips with the same method used to build the processors used in your phone and laptop. Zeng, based in New York, sits on Diraq's board.
