Electronics producer Hitachi led a $24m series A round for Strangeworks yesterday, one of several quantum computing startups to raise money so far this year.
Hitachi invested through corporate venture capital arm Hitachi Ventures and was joined by computing technology provider IBM, aerospace manufacturer Raytheon’s RTX Ventures unit and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Great Point Ventures and Ecliptic Capital.
The sector has had an exciting opening to 2023, with corporate-backed rounds already at more than 60% of the total in 2022 (see below). They include a $109m round for quantum processor developer Pasqal, backed by Saudi Aramco and Eni, while Quantum Motion secured more than $50m from investors including Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Porsche.
Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics to greatly increase computing power, meaning users could potentially solve problems beyond the most powerful supercomputers.
US-based Strangeworks provides what it bills as the most complete quantum ecosystem available, offering access to hardware and software along with catalogues of compute resources and applications. The idea is that organisations can source the technology, which might otherwise be difficult or expensive to get, quickly and easily through a single place.
IBM claims to be the world leader in quantum computing. Raytheon believes quantum computing could be used in a variety of ways in the aerospace, defense and commercial sectors. Hitachi is working on the technology at a University of Cambridge laboratory and sees it as a solution in a range of industries.
“Hitachi identified quantum computing as a key technology to advance society and develop its own quantum technologies and quantum-inspired solutions,” said Norihiro Suzuki, Hitachi’s chief technology officer, in a statement accompanying the announcement.
“Quantum computing has the potential to help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, from fighting climate change to curing fatal diseases that require far greater computational power than is currently available in classical computers. The Strangeworks platform removes barriers to access quantum and quantum-inspired solutions creating customer value already today.”
Strangeworks completed the funding having boosted its staff numbers by 40% in late 2022. It is growing its product offering to incorporate artificial intelligence and ‘quantum-inspired’ high-performance computing, additions to a sector it says could be worth $125bn by the end of this decade.
