Macquarie, Nvidia tip into PsiQuantum's $1.5b Series E
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The news: PsiQuantum has completed a USD1 billion ($1.5 billion) Series E fundraise that values the quantum computing startup at USD7 billion.
The raise was led by BlackRock, Baillie Gifford and Singapore's Temasek, with additional funding from Macquarie Capital and Nvidia's NVentures among others.
While local VC Blackbird completed a follow-on investment, the Federal government did not.
The context: The Commonwealth and Queensland governments last April invested a combined $940 million in PsiQuantum in a deal that would make Brisbane the home of the startup's first quantum computer.
The Series E valuation is more than double the USD3.15 billion PsiQuantum raised at for its 2021 Series D. That means the government's stake will go up in value, even if its decision to not invest again will see its shares diluted.
Quantum computers are capable of running algorithms that would brick the most powerful traditional computers of today, enabling them to model the world at an atomic scale. Proponents of the tech believe that will enable it to revolutionise several industries, leading to advances like new pharmaceuticals and more environmentally friendly ways to make things like concrete, steel and fertiliser.
To achieve that, however, companies need to create machines capable of running over one million "quantum bits" (qubits). PsiQuantum has pledged to create such a machine in Brisbane by the end of 2027, despite today's most cutting-edge quantum computers being able to run around 1,000 qubits.
Besides the Australian and Queensland governments, the other Australian entity on PsiQuantum's cap table is Blackbird.
Other companies investing in this blockbuster round include the Qatar Investment Authority, Morgan Stanley's Counterpoint Global and SentinelOne's S Ventures.
What they said: “Only building the real thing — million-qubit-scale, fault-tolerant machines — will unlock the promise of quantum computing,” said PsiQuantum CEO Jeremy O’Brien.
“We defined what it takes from day one. This is a grand engineering challenge, not a science experiment."
BlackRock head of fundamental equities technology group Tony Kim said: "AI is built on classical computing, which has underpinned the last fifty years of technology".
"Now, we are at the dawn of an adjacent computing platform — rooted in quantum mechanics — that will allow us to simulate the physical world with transformative accuracy."
The source: PsiQuantum
