Zapata’s $38 Million Series B Funding Targeted to Optimization of Workflows, Particularly for Large Enterprise

(BizJournals.Boston) Zapata Computing, a Cambridge-based quantum computing startup that spun out of Harvard in 2017, has raised $38 million in Series B funding to optimize workflows, particularly for large enterprises.
Supply chain problems are currently experiencing an unusual amount of time in the limelight due to Covid-19. Everything from toilet paper to an eventual vaccine needs to get in the hands of individuals in entirely new ways — a fact that is not lost on executives of the large corporations Zapata works with.
“When you dig into this like we have, we’re bringing quantum computers to that party,” founder and CEO Christopher Savoie said. “We’re a little bit shocked at how arcane some of these systems really are. You would think that a company big in distribution, like Amazon or FedEx or whatever, would have a big supercomputer like the Wizard of Oz saying which package goes where. But usually, it’s just a guy with a clipboard saying, ‘Yeah, I can fit one more pallet on that truck.'”
The round was co-led by Comcast Ventures, Pitango and Prelude Ventures, with participation from BASF Venture Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, The Engine Accelerator Fund, Ahren Innovation Capital, Alumni Ventures Group, Honeywell Venture Capital, ITOCHU Corporation and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund.