Large tech companies don’t sleep with Quantum Chips: Amazon Web Services introduced Ocelot. Microsoft, Majorana; and Google, Willow. But while all of these are considered breakthroughs, quantum startups often focus on more practical advances and are making progress.
Founded in 2020, Dutch startup Quantware is one of these, claiming that the hardware it manufactures already powers quantum computers for customers in 20 countries. Its core product, Vio, focuses on scaling the bottlenecks of quantum processing units (QPUs).
Everyone in the quantum computing field is striving for more Qubits equivalent to the bits, but integrating more qubits on a single chip is more powerful and error-free than networking several small systems together. According to CEO Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, Quantware’s proprietary 3D chip architecture, Vio, “is a missing link when scaling QPUs.”
Tu Delft and its associated laboratory Qutech spin-outs have now raised a Series A (approximately $19.27 million) of EUR.
European funding aside, this full-value round is co-led by the Dutch state-owned company Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund and local economic development agency InnovationQuarter, solidifying Quantware’s position as a frontrunner in the Dutch growth quantum ecosystem.
The new fund will be used to measure Quantware’s team and technology. This has been updated recently. In February, Startup announced that it would accept pre-orders for Contralto-A, the first QPU to fix QUANTUM errors.
While Google’s Willow Processor has introduced Quantum Error fixes in the spotlight, Quantware aims to have a roadmap-focused strategy. Designed to be upgradeable to QPUs with large Vioes, Contralto-A’s claim to fame is that it is “almost twice as large as the competing solutions on the market.”
Large tech companies are also engaged in racing to see who has the largest QPU with the most qubs. But from a startup’s risk of not surviving long without revenue, race is also about making Quantum Hardware commercially accessible to everyone.
On that front, Quantware pursues two paths. Distributes uniquely designed QPUs, allowing other companies to use the technology via casting and packaging services. New funding will also be rolling out in these two directions. This is further development of Vio and the construction of a chip manufacturing facility.
In addition to research agencies, users include several funded quantum startups, including Alice & Bob, which recently raised $104 million. Two of these — quantum machines that raised $170 million last month and SeeQC, which announced $30 million in new funding in January, is working with Dutch startups on technology and product development.
It is too early to tell which of these companies will come up with a quantum architecture that can provide millions of Qubits, if any. Microsoft has also participated in the race, and Majorana’s announcement estimates that the horizon is “within years, not decades.”
Rijlaarsdam told TechCrunch that Quantum is the ability to solve meaningful industrial-scale problems, Rijlaarsdam said.
“Even gigawatt AI clusters cannot be solved, but quantum computers have large and valuable classes of problems. “That’s why we’re building these systems. Some examples include the calculation of quantum systems, such as creating better materials, discovering new catalysts that break down microplastics, improving the sustainability of fertilizers.”
But for Quantware, who believes in Quantum Open Architecture, the question is not who will build these 1 million Qubit systems. With Vio, you just want to do that role in pushing it so that it’s done quickly.
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