Microsoft-Funded Quantum Startup Plants Flags in Europe

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With the tech giant's support, new VC funding and a U.K. office, Photonic eyes fertile ground for its scalable quantum architecture.

www.eetimes.eu/, Apr. 02, 2024 – 

Quantum startup Photonic Inc. raised roughly US$100 million (roughly €92 million) in venture funds late last year to scale up its silicon-based optical quantum computing architecture, bringing total VC investment in the company thus far to US$140 million. The startup's approach photonically links spin qubits, manufactured on silicon chips, to form a scalable architecture that can support quantum networks over telecom wavelengths. Critically, key investor and new collaborator Microsoft is keen to combine these unconventional qubits and chips with its cloud computing platform, Azure, to deliver scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computers and networks.

The 2016 Simon Fraser University spinout, based in Vancouver, B.C., emerged from stealth mode in November and has been building a European presence. Participants in the November funding round included the U.K. government's National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) and London-based Amadeus Capital Partners, which invests in European high-tech companies. Photonic recently opened a sales office in the U.K.

"We're pleased that our ambitions in the U.K. have been supported by the U.K. Government's NSSIF ... and we're looking forward to playing our part in the U.K.'s quantum landscape over the years ahead," said Nick Morris, Photonic's U.K. managing director.

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