Classiq Announces Strategic Investment from Global Business Leaders HSBC, NTT Finance, Neva SGR
PRESS RELEASE — Classiq, a leader in quantum software development, today announced the participation of three industry leaders – HSBC, NTT Finance, and Intesa Sanpaolo – in the second closing of its Series B funding. This comes on the heels of its earlier Series B round news, and brings Classiq’s funding for this round to $36 million and its overall funding to $51 million. It also demonstrates that key industry players view quantum as a strategic imperative.
HSBC, which is based in the U.K., is the second-largest bank in Europe. Japan’s NTT is the world’s fourth-largest telecom company and a Classiq customer. Neva SGR is part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, the Italian leading bank in Europe. The three new, noteworthy investors join existing Classiq investors Wing VC, Entrée Capital, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Team8, Phoenix, Sumitomo Corp. (through IN Venture), OurCrowd, Spike Ventures, Samsung NEXT, and chip design titans Lip-Bu Tan and Harvey Jones.
“We are pleased to welcome three new corporate investors, all leaders in their fields,” said Classiq CEO Nir Minerbi. “Quantum is poised to be one of the most impactful technology categories of the coming decades, and these companies share our vision of what quantum could deliver and understand the problems that need to be solved to reach that goal. We look forward to collaborating with them to advance the state-of-the-art in quantum software.”
“Quantum computing has the potential to overhaul how we operate areas of the bank, like option pricing and risk analysis, which would lead to greater efficiencies and customer service improvements. We look forward to working with Classiq to explore this technology further,” said Steve Suarez, global head of innovation, global functions at HSBC.
NTT forecasts that the need for and availability of quantum computing will rise dramatically. It is investing in Classiq and its platform, which NTT DATA is using to create novel credit risk analysis algorithms in the quantum field. The NTT investment by NTT Finance was initiated by NTT Innovation Laboratory Israel.
“Quantum computing is certainly a key technology for the future,” explained Mario Costantini, CEO of Neva SGR. “We decided to invest in this highest potential technology because we think it could guarantee excellent returns to our investors. In addition, we are seeing the same high potential in several industrial sectors, including the financial one, which is already testing these new technological frontiers.”
Quantum computing will change cybersecurity and national security posture, prompt investment, and unlock value in the world. Leading public and private organizations will use quantum to solve complex problems and create innovative, new solutions across disciplines.
“Quantum is now a top strategic priority for public and private organizations, ”said Yinam Cohen, consul general of Israel to the Midwest. “Quantum technologies will help determine the winners and losers of the 21st century.”
About HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 64 countries and territories in its geographical regions: Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Middle East and North Africa. With assets of $3,022bn at 31 March 2022, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
About NTT Innovation Labs
NTT Innovation Laboratory Israel (NTT Israel) is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT and serves as an internal strategic resource to breakthrough innovation from Israel. NTT Israel’s mission is to support the evolution of NTT Group customer businesses, promote innovation and digital transformation. NTT Israel collaborates with Israeli companies and academia developing cutting-edge technologies in cybersecurity, digital health and AI robotics and other various fields, as well as promotes investment opportunities with Israeli companies.
About Neva SGR
Neva SGR, part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and wholly owned by the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, plans and manages investment funds for professional investors interested in seizing diversification and high-yield opportunities offered by Venture Capital investments. Neva SGR can count on Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center’s and Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s strength, financial resources, know-how and network of relationships, a unique source of value on the market. Neva SGR can watch trends and markets from a privileged position, and takes action with the strength and the responsibility of Italy’s leading banking group. Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center has invested in Neva First, the investment fund designed for excellent, high-tech, high-innovation start-ups, which take advantage of trends with exponential growth potential. The fund mainly focuses on FinTech and Italian companies with global growth plans or international companies that plan to develop projects with positive effects on industrial and production chains in Italy. www.nevasgr.com
About Classiq
Classiq is the leading quantum software company, providing a development platform built for organizations that want to jumpstart and accelerate their quantum computing programs. Our patented “CAD for quantum software” engine automatically converts high-level functional models into optimized, hardware-aware circuits. Customers use the Classiq platform to build sophisticated algorithms that could not otherwise be created, bypassing the need to work at the quantum assembly level. Backed by powerful investors such as HPE, HSBC, Samsung NEXT, NTT and others, Classiq has raised more than $50 million since its 2020 inception, built a world-class team of scientists and engineers, and distilled decades of their quantum expertise into its groundbreaking platform. With Classiq, customers can push the envelope of what’s possible in quantum software, build valuable IP blocks, explore quantum solutions for real-life problems, and prepare to take full advantage of the coming quantum computing revolution. To learn more, follow Classiq on LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube or visit www.classiq.io.
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Matt Swayne
With a several-decades long background in journalism and communications, Matt Swayne has worked as a science communicator for an R1 university for more than 12 years, specializing in translating high tech and deep tech for the general audience. He has served as a writer, editor and analyst at The Quantum Insider since its inception. In addition to his service as a science communicator, Matt also develops courses to improve the media and communications skills of scientists and has taught courses.
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MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE
Classiq
Classiq Technologies specializes in quantum computing software, focusing on enabling the design, optimization, analysis, and deployment of quantum algorithms. It develops a high-level quantum algorithm design platform (IDE, compiler, “OS”) that transforms functional models into optimized, hardware-aware quantum circuits to address the challenge of gate-level complexity. It emphasizes abstraction, circuit synthesis, and resource optimization, working with enterprises, researchers, and hardware/cloud providers to deliver scalable quantum software.
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HSBC
HSBC stands as a global bank, possessing assets amounting to USD 3 trillion and serving a customer base of 40 million individuals across the world. Its operational footprint extends across 64 countries, supported by approximately 220,000 full-time employees. The bank maintains significant presence in regions such as Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and North America. Notably, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong stand as the bank's largest markets. HSBC's services encompass a wide range, including retail, commercial, and institutional banking, global banking and markets, as well as wealth management and private banking.
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NTT
The NTT Group is a world leader in providing technology and business solutions to people, clients and communities.
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