Insider Brief
- Firgun Ventures, a new $250 million London-based quantum fund, has made its first investment in Canada’s Photonic Inc., a company selected by DARPA as having a credible path to utility-scale quantum systems.
- Photonic, co-founded by Dr. Stephanie Simmons and backed by investors including Microsoft and BCI, is developing fault-tolerant quantum systems using a silicon-based, photonics-integrated architecture.
- The investment underscores growing cross-border collaboration between UK and Canadian quantum ecosystems and supports Photonic’s efforts to scale commercial quantum computing and networking platforms.
PRESS RELEASE — Firgun Ventures, a new, London-based, $250 million Quantum fund, announces its first investment, backing Photonic Inc., a Canadian-based leader in distributed quantum computing and communications. Photonic is one of the quantum computing companies globally selected for Stage B of the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, which seeks to validate approaches to utility-scale quantum computing. The company was co-founded by Dr Stephanie Simmons, who was named among the UNESCO 2025 International Year of Quantum 100 last year.
Firgun’s investment adds to the strategic cross-border collaborations between the UK and Canadian quantum ecosystems and reflects Firgun’s conviction that the most transformative quantum companies will be built through international partnerships. Photonic’s announcement of a £25M investment in a UK R&D Centre last year reflects its interest in international cooperation with like-minded partners.
Photonic is advancing commercial-scale fault-tolerant quantum systems using its Entanglement First™ architecture, based on silicon-spin qubits with native photonic connectivity to support scalable, modular quantum computing and networking. The company is backed by leading institutional and corporate investors. Planet First Partners is leading the current round, which includes new investors such as RBC and TELUS. Returning investors include Microsoft and BCI, among others. Firgun Ventures is thrilled to join this stellar group of investors.
“Photonic represents the kind of company we set out to support,” said Dr Kris Naudts, Co-Founder of Firgun Ventures. “Scaling quantum computers is critical to unlocking exponential speed-ups that will provide the power to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Photonic Inc.’s architecture tackles the scaling challenge head-on, and the strength of their scientific foundations and team gives us strong confidence in their long-term potential to redefine what is possible in quantum computing. We appreciate the opportunity to increase our involvement with the Canadian quantum ecosystem”.
“As an investor who is truly dedicated to advancing quantum technologies, we appreciate Firgun’s support for Photonic” said Paul Terry, CEO of Photonic. “Their conviction in the transformative potential of this field aligns strongly with our mission, and we value their partnership as we build a quantum-enabled future.” Designed to accelerate the development of commercial-scale quantum computers and quantum networks by integrating telecom photonics at the architectural level, Photonic Inc. aims to unlock practical quantum advantage across applications including materials discovery, drug development, optimisation and national security.
“Firgun backs quantum founders at the point where technical breakthroughs must translate into scalable, commercial businesses,” said Zeynep Koruturk, Co-Founder of Firgun Ventures. “Photonic’s architecture has the potential to unlock meaningful applications across sectors, while enabling new approaches to complex problem-solving that could help strengthen and safeguard the global economy”.
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