On Tuesday, Israel’s Quantum Machines, which has developed the world’s first universal quantum computing cloud infrastructure, announced that it has received an investment from Qualcomm Ventures, the $1.5 billion corporate venture capital arm of chip giant Qualcomm.
The investment is an extension of the $50 million Series B venture capital round that Quantum Machines announced last month. The round was led by Red Dot Capital Partners with participation from Exor, Claridge Israel, Samsung NEXT, Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management LP, TLV Partners, Battery Ventures, 2i Ventures, an affiliate of Altshuler Shaham, and other existing investors.
Quantum Machines marks the first-ever investment by Qualcomm Ventures in a quantum computing company. The fund is currently invested in more than 150 companies in the verticals of 5G, AI, transportation, IoT, enterprise & cloud, and consumer applications, with portfolio investments in the U.S., China, India, Israel, Europe, Latin America and South Korea.
Founded in 2018, Quantum Machines has evolved to become the leading provider of control and operation systems for quantum computing across companies and research centers, with a client base spanning 15 countries. In recent years, the company has developed a full-stack Quantum Orchestration Platform, significant because it combines software and hardware solutions, thus enabling a totally new approach to the control and operation of quantum processors and increasing quantum R&D team productivity by (what the company calls) “an order of magnitude.” The company has also released QUA, the first standard universal language for quantum computers.
According to Quantum Machines, last month’s Series B round marked the largest-ever investment in a non-full-stack quantum startup.
“Quantum processors hold the potential for immense computational power, far beyond those of any classical processor we could ever develop, and they will impact each and every aspect of our lives,” Quantum Machines CEO Dr. Itamar Sivan said when that milestone was announced “Given that we work with so many of the global leaders in the field, we are in an incredible position to make this happen sooner than ever believed possible.”
“When we look towards the future, we believe Quantum Computing will be an important technology that redefines many industries such as AI, Cybersecurity and Cloud,” said Boaz Peer, Senior Investment Director at Qualcomm Ventures Europe and Israel at Qualcomm Israel Ltd. “We’re excited to invest in Quantum Machines to help drive the Quantum Computing revolution forward.”
“It’s always very important to find the right investors who are aligned with our goals,” Quantum Machines’ Sivan added, upon announcing the participation of Qualcomm Ventures. “We’re very proud to be working with Qualcomm Ventures, as we believe their desire to push boundaries and commitment to innovation matches our drive to transform and advance the quantum computing industry.”
