Quantum software developer Q-CTRL has topped up its Series B for a fourth time with an extra $88 million (US$59m) with the Sydney startup’s valuation jumping dramatically in the process. The raise takes the Series B, spanning three years, to $166 million (US$113m) in total and was led by UK late-stage venture firm GP Bullhound.… Read more »
The German government has faith in Australia’s quantum sector to build the world’s first mobile mobile quantum computer, with the nation’s cybersecurity agency, Cyberagentur, awarding a record $58 million (€35 million) contract to Canberra startup Quantum Brilliance and two others. Quantum Brilliance (QB), founded in 2019, is the world’s leading developer of room-temperature miniaturised quantum… Read more »
Quantum sensors startup QuantX Labs has bagged a $2.7 million deal with the Australian government for optical atomic clocks for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Two contracts will enable partners in the defence pact AUKUS between Australia, the US and UK, to develop position navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities in precision navigation and timing in… Read more »
The Australian quantum sector will now face harsh criminal penalties if it shares information or technology, even accidentally, with individuals from overseas after quantum technology was brought under the export control scheme. The Department of Defence unveiled the first changes to the Defence and Strategic Goods List in three years, with quantum computers officially added.… Read more »
Last week, quantum computers were added to Australia’s Defence and Strategic Goods List of controlled items facing export restrictions. That’s because quantum technologies – which may soon provide huge advances in computing, communication and sensing – are rapidly growing in strategic importance. The AUKUS partnership between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom includes… Read more »
Australia may get the world’s first quantum computer by 2027, but within 12 months, PsiQuantum plans to build a second one in Chicago after scoring another massive government funding deal. The California startup’s latest cash injection of US$500 million (A$760m) over 30 years, funded by the Illinois government, Cook County, and the City of Chicago… Read more »
The United Nations has proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. The goal is to recognise “the importance of quantum science and the need for wider awareness of its past and future impact”. But why quantum? Why now? Quantum science is both complex and weird. It’s not easy to wrap your… Read more »
The national watchdog will investigate the federal government’s contract with a major law firm to provide legal advice on its near-$1 billion PsiQuantum deal after it increased by more than 10 times in just nine months. The federal and Queensland governments earlier this year announced a $940 million investment in US firm PsiQuantum that will… Read more »
The federal and Queensland governments have officially signed the near-$1 billion contract with US firm PsiQuantum, as newly released documents shed some light on the process leading up to the major deal. It was announced earlier this year that the federal and Queensland governments would be inking a $940 million deal with PsiQuantum for the American firm… Read more »
Sydney quantum startup Diraq has topped up its Series A2 top up with another US$7 million (A$10.5m) for its Series A-2. The fresh funds come just four months after Diraq bolstered its Series A in February with an extra A$23 million. That first tranche of the A2 follows US$20 million in a Series A in… Read more »
Sydney quantum startup Diraq is teaming up with a European R&D consortium to build a computer chip that combines the power of qubits with traditional transistors. The plan comes as Diraq, which was spun out of UNSW two years ago and focused on being able to incorporate millions of quantum bits (qubits) on a standard… Read more »
Applications for a $36 million federal government program enlisting quantum have opened as part of its flagship Future Made in Australia policy. The Critical Technologies Challenge Program (CTCP) offers funding for quantum tech companies to work with researchers and end-users to develop solutions to market-led challenges that accelerate the path to commercialisation for quantum. The funding… Read more »
The federal and Queensland governments have put the house on a US quantum startup over local rivals in a financial package worth $940 million (US$620m) to build a quantum computer in Brisbane. PsiQuantum was founded in Palo Alto, California in 2015 by expat Australian professors Jeremy O’Brien, Terry Rudolph, Mark Thompson and Dr Pete Shadbolt.… Read more »
The University of Sydney as won an $18.368 million grant to build a national industry hub, Quantum Australia, for the quantum computing sector. The federal funding over four years for up to 75% of the cost of the centre, which is charged with raising awareness of quantum technology, fostering collaboration between industry and universities, encouraging… Read more »
For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or –273.15°C). That’s because the quantum phenomena that grant quantum computers their unique computational abilities can only be harnessed by isolating them from the warmth of the familiar classical… Read more »
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