In a remarkable development within the realm of quantum computing, significant investment has surged into the industryQuEra, a quantum computing startup based in Boston, has announced on Tuesday that it has successfully secured $230 million in a financing roundNotably included in this round were major investors like Google and the SoftBank Vision Fund, alongside existing stakeholders such as Valor Equity Partners, QVT Family Office, and Safar PartnersThis influx of capital will be provided in the form of convertible notes that are expected to convert to equity in the next financing round.
The speed at which this funding came together has turned headsQuEra’s interim CEO, Andy Ory, highlighted that after the company made strides in overcoming numerous technological hurdles, investors reached out actively, resulting in a remarkably swift deal that concluded in just a few weeksA noteworthy detail is that $60 million of the investment will only be released upon the company achieving specific technological milestones.
While QuEra has opted to keep its exact valuation a secret, insiders have revealed that the company is estimated to be worth between $750 million and $1 billion following this financing roundFor a company that has only been operational for a little over three years, this represents a significant accomplishment.
Yuval Boger, QuEra’s Chief Operating Officer, remarked on the impressive increase in valuation compared to previous rounds of fundingEarlier, the startup had completed a financing round of approximately $50 million, including a $17 million round in 2021. This recent funding round stands as one of the largest in the sector, second only to the $300 million raised by Quantinuum in 2024. Quantinuum's valuation has since soared to $5 billion, with speculation suggesting that they aim for a potential IPO at a staggering $10 billion valuation.
In contrast to many of its competitors in the quantum computing realm, QuEra is already witnessing tangible revenue generation
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The company has entered into a substantial $4.1 million contract for the sale of a quantum computer to Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, which will be utilized alongside NVIDIA's classical computing technologies for a new supercomputer projectMoreover, QuEra has been offering cloud services for its 256-qubit quantum computer through Amazon Web Services since November 2022, mainly targeting pilot projects and proof-of-concept experimentsThey plan to expand these services to other cloud platforms, although Boger noted that, despite support from Google's Quantum AI department, no partnership with Google Cloud is currently in the works.
Unlike rivals such as IBM and Google, who employ superconducting qubits, or IonQ and Quantinuum, who utilize trapped ion qubits, QuEra has taken a distinctive path by adopting neutral atom qubitsThis innovative technology is based on research from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, employing lasers to control and manipulate neutral atomsIn this system, scientists utilize rubidium atoms as the medium for qubitsThe atoms reach a “neutral” state when their positive and negative charges are balanced, which is how this technology derives its name.
Specifically, QuEra employs lasers, referred to as “optical tweezers,” to capture and fix individual atoms in placeThese lasers suppress atomic motion, effectively cooling the atoms to near absolute zeroAt such frigid temperatures, individual energy levels of the atoms can be discerned and manipulated, with some levels allowing for coherence times that exceed one secondWhen quantum computations are required, these atoms are excited to high-energy states known as Rydberg states, causing their electron clouds to expand to roughly a thousand times their usual size, facilitating quantum entanglement with neighboring atoms, a crucial element for quantum information processing.
“Compared to other quantum computing solutions, neutral atom qubits offer distinct advantages,” QuEra’s scientists explained. “Firstly, each atom is inherently identical, avoiding inconsistencies that can arise in artificially manufactured qubits
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Secondly, these atoms are highly resistant to environmental interference when not excited, a property that does not diminish with an increase in the total number of qubits in the system.”
This technology also boasts significant scalability advantagesTens of thousands of laser-captured atoms can be arranged within less than a square millimeter, requiring only a small amount of laser to accurately control multiple qubitsMore importantly, scientists can dynamically move these atoms during the computation process, offering the flexibility to adjust how qubits are interconnected based on different computational needs.
However, this technology also faces certain limitationsCompared to superconducting qubits, the operational speed of neutral atom qubits tends to be relatively slowerNevertheless, the leadership at QuEra believes that at this stage, achieving systems with dozens or even hundreds of logical qubits is the most crucial objective, leaving speed enhancement for subsequent problem-solving endeavors.
The viability of this technical approach has been substantiated through experimental verificationBy the end of 2023, the company successfully executed large-scale quantum algorithms within a system possessing 48 logical qubits through collaboration with researchers from Harvard University and MIT, conducting hundreds of quantum entanglement operationsThis achievement underscored the potential of neutral atom qubits in achieving error correction.
Building on advancements in neutral atom qubit technology, QuEra released an ambitious three-year roadmap in early 2024. They aim to launch a quantum computer featuring 10 logical qubits and 256 physical qubits by the end of 2024, although no official announcements have yet confirmed this milestone; the plan is to extend the system size to 30 logical qubits and approximately 3,000 physical qubits by 2025, and further increase it to 100 logical qubits and about 10,000 physical qubits by 2026.
A crucial aspect of this goal involves logical qubits
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Unlike physical qubits, logical qubits offer enhanced computational reliability through quantum error correction techniquesNate Gemelke, QuEra's co-founder and CTO, stated, “In the coming years, the quantity of physical qubits will become less essential to customers; the focus will shift toward logical qubits equipped with error-correcting capabilitiesWe are transitioning quantum computing from the experimental phase to a phase of genuine practicality.”
To assist researchers in comprehending and utilizing this technology effectively, QuEra plans to launch a cloud-based logical qubit simulator in the first half of 2024. This tool will allow researchers to explore various quantum error correction codes and evaluate their performance, preparing them for the forthcoming era of quantum error correction.
“As we reach 100 logical qubits and can execute millions of instructions without error, quantum computing will begin to reveal its true value in fields like materials science, life science, simulation, and optimization problems,” stated Andy OryA quantum computer of this scale will be capable of executing complex algorithms that surpass the simulation abilities of classical computers.
Hartmut Neven, head of Google’s Quantum AI department, expressed optimism regarding this outlookHe recently stated that commercial applications of quantum computing are expected within the next five yearsAs a participant in this funding round, Google has fully acknowledged QuEra's technological path.
Nevertheless, transitioning from 256 qubits to 10,000, all while implementing effective error correction, is a challenging target to achieve within three years
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