Rigetti Computing, the US-based quantum computer developer backed by media company Bloomberg, raised $50m from undisclosed investors in late 2017, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Founded in 2013, Rigetti is working on a quantum computer – a type of system that processes data using individual photons instead of the binary digit-based system utilised by traditional systems – that will have 128 qubits, making it more powerful than rival systems built by Google and IBM.
The computer is expected to utilise a chip designed by Rigetti that will have more than six times as many qubits as its existing chips.
The company did not previously disclose the round, which increased its overall funding to $119m, because it did not wish to unnecessarily raise expectations for its technology, it told Bloomberg.
Bloomberg Beta, Bloomberg’s early-stage investment arm, took part in Rigetti’s $24m series A round, which was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and only announced in conjunction with a later series B round that was revealed in March 2017.
Data Collective, FF Science, AME Cloud Ventures, Susa Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, Lux Capital, Morado Ventures, WTI, Sutter Hill Ventures and Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund also contributed to the series A round.
Andreessen Horowitz, Data Collective, Y Combinator Continuity Fund, AME Cloud Ventures, Morado Ventures and WTI returned for Rigetti’s $40m series B round, which was led by Vy Capital and backed by FF Science.