Quantum Source raises $50M to develop light-based quantum computers

Israel-based Quantum Source has raised $50 million to help produce quantum computers that use a light-based technology to crunch data, the company said on Tuesday.

Tech giants such as Alphabet’s Google and Intel are working on various approaches to constructing a commercially useful quantum computer.

At present, no viable commercial applications have been possible, but there are hopes that in the future, quantum computers could be able to crunch some data that is effectively impossible for today’s chips.

Quantum Source has developed a method of creating quantum computers that involves generating the photons, or light, which makes its systems more efficient than other approaches, CEO Oded Melamed said in an interview.

Using photons allows the company to construct room-temperature quantum computing systems, whereas other approaches call for extremely low temperature systems that are bulky and costly. Smaller, room-temperature systems would allow it to deploy the computers in data centers or elsewhere without special retrofits.

“This means we can enjoy about four orders of magnitude better efficiency compared with other solutions,” Melamed said. “And four orders of magnitude efficiency means a smaller machine, a machine that can be installed in standard server (unit) and moreover, the (standard) infrastructure.”

The company plans to use the proceeds from the fundraising round to help built a complete quantum system that will allow it to generate millions of qubits, the building blocks of quantum computing.

The funding round was led by the California-based Eclipse, and included investments from Standard Investments, Level VC and Canon Equity. Several existing investors participated and the company has raised a total of $77 million, including Tuesday’s amount.

The company has 45 employees and is based in a suburb of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 2021. Reuters