Could a pure-play quantum startup be headed to NASDAQ?
While it’s a long leap from startup to the big boards, Quantum Computing Inc., which is currently listed over the counter (OTCQB: QUBT), reports it has applied to list its common stock to Nasdaq, according to a company news release.
The stock was up a little over 22 percent on its last day of trading to end the week at $14, up from $12 a share earlier in the month. The stock was trading at about $5 a share earlier in December.
“As the leading stock exchange for emerging growth companies, we anticipate a Nasdaq listing will elevate our profile in the investment community and increase awareness of our industry-leading Mukai quantum software development, connectivity and execution platform,” said Robert Liscouski, CEO at QCI. “We expect broader market participation to support greater liquidity for our shareholders, increase our base with retail and institutional investors, and attract analyst coverage. The timing is also ideal, as we begin to launch several new growth initiatives.”
For QCI, these initiatives include growing sales and marketing to drive customer acquisition and increasing business development activity with key industry partners that include Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) and Meraglim. The company is also building out its professional services team for assisting customers with quantum application development.
Mukai is a software platform designed to deliver performance advantages with quantum-ready applications running in a classic environment (Intel® or AMD processor-based). Its best-in-class breakthrough in performance was highlighted in a benchmark study published earlier this year. The company recently launched Mukai 3.0, which supports easy, direct connections to the widest selection of the world’s top quantum computers, including those from IonQ, D-Wave, IBM and Rigetti.
The company said developers and organizations can try Mukai and discover firsthand how to migrate their existing applications to quantum-ready solutions and realize superior performance in solving real-world problems—even when running their quantum-ready applications on classic computers.
“Following the roll out of Mukai 3.0, our focus has turned to connecting with new customers and bringing real value to their businesses with hybrid quantum-classic solutions,” added Liscouski. “Given the recent major advances in quantum computing and the unique way Mukai makes these powerful capabilities easily accessible, it is an exciting time for QCI and the industry.”
Nasdaq’s acceptance for listing the company’s shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market is subject to approval based on several factors, including satisfaction of minimum listing requirements. The company intends to satisfy all of the applicable listing requirements; however, there can be no assurance the application will be approved.
For more market insights, check out our latest quantum computing news here.