We are excited to announce our investment in Q-CTRL’s $15M Series A round.Q-CTRL is a Sydney, Australia based startup working to improve and mainstream quantum computing. They have developed machine learning (ML) software that reduces the noise in quantum computers (QCs) that causes hardware error and instability - which is the headlining issue when it comes to scaling a quantum processor.We’re excited about this investment for several reasons:
- As we near the end of Moore’s Law, quantum is the next (and necessary) evolution of computing.
- The current state of QC is analogous to traditional computers in the 70s. While the performance of hardware has improved dramatically in the last 2 years, quantum computers are still unstable and difficult to program. Q-CTRL’s error correction technology further improves performance and increases stability, in addition to providing visualization tools to make it much easier to understand for non-quantum physicists.
- Q-CTRL’s solution works with any type of hardware, which is important as there is no current consensus on the “best” hardware implementation for QC.
- We are big believers in Q-CTRL’s world-class team, led by Michael Biercuk - one of the leaders in quantum control.
Though quantum computing is in a stage of infancy, it fits our strategy and track record of investing early in deep tech and creating category leaders like Teradata, Intuitive Surgical, InvenSense, and many others. We believe that quantum computing will have groundbreaking impact across many industries in the future. We’ve enjoyed partnering with Square Peg Capital, one of the leading VC’s in Australia, on this deal. This marks Sierra Ventures’ first investment into both QC and the Australian ecosystem. We are excited to join and support Q-CTRL on this journey!
