Silicon Quantum Computing secures $20m investment from NRF
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The news: Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) has received a $20 million SAFE note investment from the National Reconstruction Fund.
The raise is part of an ongoing funding round, although further details were not provided by the NRF to Capital Brief.
The context: Existing investors in the quantum computing company include the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Telstra, UNSW and the NSW government. The federal government also became a shareholder when it invested $25 million in 2017 as a part of SQC’s seed funding round.
SQC has invented a manufacturing technique that enables it to fabricate quantum computing chips on an atomic level. It also claims to be able to design, produce and test new quantum chips in under one week.
The new funding will be used to expand its Precision Atom Qubit Manufacturing process, dubbed PAQMan, which it claims is the world’s most precise semiconductor manufacturing technique.
The quantum chip technology has helped reduce training time for Telstra AI models from weeks to days and has supplied its chips to the Department of Defence through its emerging technology accelerator.
The company, like rival Diraq, is one of 11 that has advanced to stage B of the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
What they said: “This investment backs Australian ingenuity and ensures world-leading quantum technologies are designed, built, and commercialised here at home,” Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said.
NRF CEO David Gall said: “Australia leads the world in quantum computing, and SQC’s in-house manufacturing allows the company to iterate significantly faster, and with greater accuracy, than its competitors. This gives SQC a critical edge in forging the fastest and most cost-effective path to a commercial-scale quantum computer.”
Silicon Quantum Computing CEO and founder Michelle Simmons said: “From day one, SQC’s mission has been clear: To build the world’s first commercial-scale quantum computer in silicon, right here in Australia.”
The source: NRF media release
