Insider Brief
- Photonic Inc. expanded its Board of Directors with a new Executive Chair and four additional directors following the close of a $180 million CAD ($130 million USD) investment round.
- Alex van Someren was appointed Executive Chair, with Don Mattrick serving as Vice Chair, and Nathan Medlock and Ashton Scordo joining as directors, adding experience in technology, venture capital and institutional investment.
- The board changes follow significant investor backing and are intended to support Photonic’s efforts to scale distributed quantum computing and communications technologies.
PRESS RELEASE — Photonic Inc., a leader in distributed quantum computing and communications technologies, today announced the appointment of a new Executive Chair and four new directors to its Board of Directors, following the close of its recent $180 million CAD ($130 million USD) investment round.
Joining Photonic Founder Dr. Stephanie Simmons, Chief Executive Officer Dr. Paul Terry, Dr. Hermann Hauser, and Lorrie Norrington on the Board are Alex van Someren, Don Mattrick, Nathan Medlock and Ashton Scordo.
Alex van Someren FREng is a British computing entrepreneur and venture capitalist best known for founding the hardware encryption company nCipher and later served as Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security to the British government. Mr. van Someren previously led Amadeus Capital Partners’ initial investment in Photonic and served briefly on the Photonic Board in 2021. He now returns as an independent director and will serve as Executive Chair.
Don Mattrick brings extensive executive leadership experience, having previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Zynga, President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, and President of Worldwide Studios at Electronic Arts. He is currently co‑founder and co‑president of MdGB Capital, a private company that manages a group of assets and operating companies across North America. Mr. Mattrick will serve as Vice Chair.
Nathan Medlock is Managing Partner at Planet First Partners, the lead investor in Photonic’s latest financing. With more than 30 years of experience across private equity, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, government advisory, and C‑level operational roles, Mr. Medlock brings deep direct investment and operational expertise to the Photonic Board.
Ashton Scordo is Managing Director, Venture and Growth at British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), which had $295 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2025. BCI is a long‑time investor in Photonic and Mr. Scordo’s unique perspective, earned from a focus on investments in funds and growth‑stage companies with a defined path to long‑term success, is a notable asset.
“These appointments add significant depth across technology, investment, sustainability, and global business leadership,” said Paul Terry, CEO of Photonic. “We are pleased to welcome Nathan, Ashton, Don, and Alex to the Board. We are actively pursuing development, both technical and corporate, to best position Photonic to deliver value through scalable, distributed, quantum technologies.”
“I am delighted to expand my commitment to Photonic, Inc.,” said Alex van Someren, Executive Chair. “Having initially led a significant investment in the company in 2021, I continue to be extremely impressed by their technical prowess and engineering achievement as the company moves ever-closer to delivering data-center scale quantum computing. The unique fundamental proposition of combining spin qubits manufactured using standard silicon wafer fabrication techniques with easily switchable telecoms wavelength photonic interconnects suggests that Photonic, Inc. will be the category winner in delivering fully scalable quantum computing. Continuing investor appetite, even as we have raised almost USD $300m in funding to date, indicates that I am not alone in recognizing our strategically dominant position. We are looking forward to demonstrating the efficacy of the Photonic, Inc. solution at scale in the future.”
Stepping down from the Board are Nanon De Gaspé Beaubien-Mattrick (Beehive Holdings, MdGB Capital) and Gordon Fyfe (BCI), whose leadership and dedication during their tenure played a significant role in the company’s progress.
