In a recent “Seeds of Bravery” podcast, Mykola Maksymenko, Co-founder and CTO of Haiqu, shared his opinion on quantum computing, the journey of his startup and the future potential of this revolutionary technology. Haiqu, a quantum computing startup, is one of the 14 grant recipients from Seeds of Bravery this year.
Maksymenko, with a background in theoretical physics and extensive experience in R&D, began the discussion by introducing Haiqu and its mission.
“Quantum computing is a new type of computational technology which potentially can unlock a lot of interesting applications which will disrupt and transform a lot of industries,” he explained.
One of the primary challenges in quantum computing, as Maksymenko described, is dealing with noise and environmental effects that spoil computations.
“These machines are very prone to various environmental effects and influence, and that spoils your computations when you run something on them,” he said. This fragility and the presence of noise make current quantum computers less effective on a larger scale.
To address these challenges, Haiqu focuses on improving the performance of quantum computers using proprietary software.
“We improve the performance of quantum computers using our proprietary software, particularly our proprietary technology which we embed in the so-called Quantum middleware stack,” Maksymenko stated. This middleware stack optimizes applications to run efficiently on specific quantum hardware.
The journey of Haiqu began at the Creative Destruction Lab Quantum accelerator, where Maksymenko and his co-founder Richard Given met.
“We participated in the hackathon together, won in that hackathon, and decided that it was a good idea to probably try to formulate a business project around potential startup,” Maksymenko recounted. This collaborative environment facilitated the incubation of their technology, leading to the development of their first prototype and successful fundraising efforts.
Reflecting on the milestones achieved by Haiqu, Maksymenko shared: “We already have a developed technology, it works, we proved that it allows to gain significant improvement in a number of benchmarks, and we now are piloting this technology with a number of prospective customers and use cases of our partners.”
This progress underscores the potential of quantum computing to revolutionize various industries.
Haiqu’s success is also attributed to the strong scientific and engineering foundation of its team.
“We have like very complementary set of skills, typically from research perspective and from engineering perspective,” Maksymenko said. The team’s focus on both production-level research and futuristic exploration positions Haiqu at the forefront of quantum innovation.
Maksymenko also addressed the importance of flexibility and adaptability for scientists and entrepreneurs in the field.
“Try to not get in love with the technology too much. Be always open-minded and try to see how this technology combines with something else and maybe be ready to pivot to some other technology,” he advised. This open-minded approach is crucial for navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of quantum computing.
The interview with Maksymenko revealed the transformative potential of quantum computing and the innovative efforts of Haiqu in pushing the boundaries of this technology. As quantum computing continues to advance, startups like Haiqu are paving the way for a future where complex computations and groundbreaking applications become a reality.
