The pace of private investment in quantum technologies pulled back in Q3 of 2024 compared to Q2, but the industry continued to pick up steam, particularly in terms of research advances, according to The Quantum Insider quarterly report.
The report indicated there was an approximate 25% reduction in the number of funding rounds from Q2 to Q3, which translated to about 60% decrease in the funding dollar amount. Q3 numbers tend to be slower historical and a large funding round in late Q2 affected the discrepancies between the two quarters.
The Quantum Insider Intelligence Platform recorded 26 separate funding events – from small pre-seed rounds to large series Cs during the quarter. A total of $348 Million in new private capital flowed into quantum technology during the third quarter, about 17 percent less than Q3 2023.
Select Q3 2024 Highlights
Riverlane’s $75 Million Investment: UK-based Riverlane secured $75 million in a Series C round led by Planet First Partners. This funding will accelerate its quantum error correction (QEC) technology development.
Quantum Circuits, Inc. (QCI) Advances Error Detection: QCI finalized a Series B round exceeding $60 million to commercialize quantum systems with integrated error detection features, leveraging more robust qubits for scalable computing.
Quantum Source’s $50M Series A Round: Israel’s Quantum Source raised $50 million to advance photonic quantum computing technology aimed at scalability and cost-efficiency. The funding, led by Eclipse and supported by several venture firms including Dell Technologies Capital, signals a growing interest in practical photonic quantum solutions.
NATO Backs Aquark Technologies: The UK’s Aquark Technologies secured €5 million in a seed round led by the NATO Innovation Fund. This investment underscores the strategic importance of quantum technology for securing critical infrastructure.
Collaborative Progress in Quantum Research: The report mentions a notable collaboration between Microsoft and Quantinuum, which achieved a new record in the number of entangled logical qubits with the highest fidelity observed to date.
India’s Quantum Processor Milestone: Researchers from the DRDO and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India successfully completed end-to-end testing of a 6-qubit quantum processor based on superconducting circuits.
Yale and Quantum Circuits Inc. Develop a New Qubit: A study published in Nature Physics by a team from Quantum Circuits Inc. and Yale University introduced the dual-rail qubit (DRQ), a new superconducting qubit with built-in error detection capabilities.
More information on the quarter is available in the document below.
