(FinanceYahoo) Quantum Brilliance, a venture-backed Australian-German full-stack quantum accelerator startup, today announced closing a USD$9.7 million seed investment co-led by the QxBranch founders’ and Main Sequence investment consortium.
Quantum Brilliance harnesses synthetic diamonds to build quantum accelerators that do not require near absolute zero temperature or complex laser systems to operate like mainframe quantum computers. Quantum Brilliance is one of only a few companies worldwide already able to deliver quantum computing systems for customers to operate on-site today.
The company was spun out in 2019 from The Australian National University’s leading research group in diamond quantum science. The co-founders invented novel fabrication techniques and processor architectures and have worked closely with innovative early adopters making their software products accessible for co-development.
“It is wonderful to see venture investments in breakthrough research commercialization spin-outs like Quantum Brilliance,” said ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt. “If the University’s goal to create a billion-dollar company in the next five years is to happen, it will be through these joint efforts.”
“We’ve had experience with companies developing technology quietly until their breakout and then reaching significant valuations on the global stage,” said Shaun Wilson, founder of QxBranch, Australia’s first quantum computing applications company, founded in 2014 and acquired by Rigetti in 2019. “We are quietly confident Quantum Brilliance has all the foundations in place to be a globally significant company and to reshape the quantum computing industry.”
“We’re excited to support the Australian quantum industry and visionary companies like Quantum Brilliance who have a unique approach to designing and building quantum accelerators at the edge,” said Bill Bartee, partner at Main Sequence Ventures.
Quantum Brilliance is actively hiring for 20 roles including VP of Engineering and scientists, physicists, software engineers and control engineers to support the research, development, engineering and production of the company’s quantum computing technology.
The company’s projected roadmap to provide quantum accelerators the size of a lunchbox with over 50 qubits by 2025 will greatly accelerate the adoption of useful quantum applications across a variety of sectors. Quantum accelerators can be deployed wherever classical computers are used such as satellites, vehicles, hospitals and robotic systems.
“We are tremendously appreciative of the trust our investors have in our capabilities to deliver on our R&D and go-to-market plans,” said CEO Andrew Horsley, Ph.D., one of three company co-founders that also includes Chief Scientific Officer Marcus Doherty, Ph.D., and COO Mark Luo.
The seed round also featured participation from CP Ventures, Investible, Jelix Ventures, MA Financial (formerly Moelis Australia) Growth Ventures Fund, R3I Ventures, and Ultratech Capital Partners.