PRESS RELEASE — Rigetti Computing, a pioneer in hybrid quantum-classical computing, and Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II, Ltd. (NYSE: SNII), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, today announced $45 million in additional commitments for a private placement of Supernova II common stock in connection with their proposed business combination. The commitments include a new investment from Lansdowne Partners (UK) LLP and from an existing PIPE investor.
Supernova II previously entered into subscription agreements for a private placement of approximately $103 million of common stock at $10.00 per share in connection with the announcement of the proposed business combination in October 2021. With the additional commitments, the aggregate amount of PIPE commitments is approximately $148 million. The additional commitments are at a premium to the previously announced PIPE, with a price per share of $10.25. All other terms are the same as the previously announced PIPE.
Rigetti plans to use the proceeds from the merger to accelerate its development of multiple generations of quantum processors and grow its commercial business. Last week, the company introduced its next-generation ‘Aspen-M’ 80-qubit quantum computer into private beta. As the world’s first commercial multi-chip quantum processor, Rigetti believes Aspen-M is a key development milestone that solves a critical scaling challenge toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Lansdowne Partners joins other leading investors participating in the private placements by purchasing shares of Supernova II common stock. The PIPE investment is subscribed to by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.; Bessemer Venture Partners; Franklin Templeton, among others.
The proposed business combination is subject to the approval of Supernova II stockholders and other closing conditions. Following completion of the proposed business combination, the combined company will be named Rigetti Computing, Inc.
About Rigetti Computing
Rigetti Computing is a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing. The company has operated quantum computers over the cloud since 2017 and serves global enterprise, government and research clients through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services platform. The company’s proprietary quantum-classical infrastructure provides ultra-low latency integration with public and private clouds for high-performance practical quantum computing. Rigetti has developed the industry’s first multi-chip quantum processor for scalable quantum computing systems. The company designs and manufactures its chips in-house at Fab-1, the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility. Rigetti was founded in 2013 by Chad Rigetti and today employs more than 140 people with offices in the United States, U.K. and Australia. Learn more at www.rigetti.com.
About Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II
Supernova II is led by Michael Clifton, who was most recently a technology investor at The Carlyle Group; Robert Reid, a long-time senior partner at Blackstone; Spencer Rascoff, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Hotwire, Zillow, dot.LA and Pacaso and who led Zillow as CEO for nearly a decade; and Alexander Klabin, founder and CEO of Ancient and former managing partner, co-CIO and co-founder of Senator Investment Group.
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