Telecommunications firm SK Telecom agreed on Monday to invest $65m in ID Quantique (IDQ), a Switzerland-based quantum cryptography technology spinout from University of Geneva.
The commitment was described by the companies as “a strategic investment plan,” though they have not disclosed details on when the full amount will be provided. SK Telecom will own more than 50% of IDQ once the deal is closed, according to online publication ZDNet.
Founded in 2001, ID Quantique has developed a random number generator that relies on quantum physics. Random number generators form a basic part of cryptography and are used to create keys that cannot be predicted by an attacker.
IDQ has also developed a range of optical instrumentation products covering areas such as single photon counting technology, which has applications in a wide range of fields from particle physics to communications and biological imaging to metrology.
The spinout emerged out of University of Geneva’s Group of Applied Physics and was co-founded by Grégoire Ribordy, IDQ’s chief executive, and Nicolas Gisin, who is a board director.
SK Telecom expects IDQ’s technology to become particularly relevant in the mobile telecoms space as 5G technology is introduced, and will work with IDQ to further develop its core technologies.
The corporate had invested $2m in IDQ in 2016 as part of a $4m funding round, and they subsequently collaborated on the development of what they said was the world’s smallest quantum random number generator.
Venture capital fund QWave Capital had previously supplied $4.5m in 2013, after VC fund I2I had provided $1.2m in 2003.
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.