Agnostiq Quantum Computing SaaS Startup Raises $2 Million in Seed Funding for Software Platform

(PRNewswire) Agnostiq, Inc., the first-of-its-kind quantum computing SaaS startup, has raised $2 million in seed funding to support the continued development of its software platform. The growth financing is led by Differential Ventures, with follow-on participation from Scout Ventures, Tensility Venture Partners, Boost VC, and Green Egg Ventures. The company previously raised $830 thousand in pre-Seed funding, with the majority coming from current investors Differential Ventures and Boost VC.
One of only a handful of available SaaS-based quantum solutions hosted on the cloud, Agnostiq’s platform is comprised of three main technologies that make it easier for enterprises to build their own quantum computing applications:
Workflow management tools that make it simple for non-experts to access, submit and scale jobs on hybrid quantum computers
Privacy and quantum obfuscation tools that keep workloads private while they are run over the cloud; a necessity given that all quantum computers today are cloud-based
Pre-built applications such as Portfolio Optimization and Options Pricing and their underlying algorithms that can be used by beginners and experts (with different levels of functionality for each)
“Quantum computers are inevitable, and their game-changing nature makes it imperative that businesses invest in developing in-house expertise,” says David Magerman, managing partner of Differential Ventures. “Agnostiq’s tools address key challenges when it comes to developing proprietary research in the space, which is ultimately what led us to invest.”
Co-founded by CEO Oktay Goktas and COO Elliot MacGowan in 2018, the duo aims to build a company at the forefront of enterprise quantum computing. Goktas, a physicist by training, received his PhD from the Max-Planck-Institute in Stuttgart, Germany where he worked under the supervision of Nobel laureate Klaus von Klitzing. Prior to founding Agnostiq, Goktas was a postdoctoral researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and a visiting researcher at the University of Toronto. Prior to Agnostiq, MacGowan worked at Bell Canada in various operational and strategic roles. He received his MBA from the University of Toronto.