UK-founded Quantinuum has confirmed a $600m investment round that includes the venture arm of Nvidia, valuing it at around $10bn.
The company which is controlled by Honeywell International says the capital raise will support its advancement of quantum computing at scale, including progress toward the upcoming launch of Helios, Quantinuum’s next-generation quantum computing system, expected to launch this year, as well supporting its path to becoming the first to perform universal fault-tolerant computing – the holy grail of quantum computing.
This round sees NVentures (Nvidia’s venture capital arm), Quanta Computer and QED join as investors alongside existing shareholders like JPMorganChase, Mitsui, Amgen, Cambridge Quantum Holdings, Serendipity Capital and Honeywell – all of whom have reinvested in this round.
A full-stack quantum computing provider, Quantinuum says it is developing “commercially useful quantum computing” with commercially available quantum computers that it claims are the industry leaders in performance.
Quantinuum says it will work with Nvidia as “a founding collaborator” on breakthroughs at the Nvidia Accelerated Quantum Research Centre, and that it has entered strategic partnerships aimed at innovative quantum computing solutions that will “expand the capabilities of classical artificial intelligence and realise next-generation technologies”.
Quantinuum had recently announced partnerships and collaborations with Riken, SoftBank, Infineon and STFC Hartree Centre, as well as expansions into New Mexico, Qatar and Singapore. The company’s joint venture in Qatar was selected to deliver advanced quantum computing infrastructure and solutions to the region as part of Qatar’s $1bn investment over the next decade.
“We are proud to partner with investors who share deep conviction in our vision for the future of quantum and AI,” said Dr Rajeeb Hazra, president and CEO of Quantinuum.
“With the continued support of our customers and supply chain partners, this new funding will further extend our leadership, accelerate our roadmap and strengthen the entire quantum ecosystem.”
UK scientist Ilyas Khan founded Cambridge Quantum in 2014 before it merged with the US-based Honeywell Quantum Solutions in 2021 to become Quantinuum, where he was founding CEO. He remains as chief product officer of the company, as well as vice-chair of the board of directors. Today, Quantinuum has 630 employees, including more than 370 scientists and engineers, across the US, UK, Germany and Japan.
The raise had been signposted by Bloomberg in recent days, but was confirmed by both Honeywell and Quantinuum yesterday (4 September). It is all part of a growing interest from investors in the sheer potential of quantum computing to solve complex problems, way beyond what today’s computing power can achieve.
On Wednesday (3 September), Finland’s IQM, which develops full-stack quantum computers, announced it had raised $320m in the largest ever Series B raise in the quantum sector outside of the US.
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