Welcome to this edition of Qubit/TIDBIT from GooglyTech!

This has been the week of big money flowing into the Quantum Computing marketplace. We write about the following stories in this issue -

• German Aerospace Center DLR Awarding €208.5 million in One of the Largest Contracts to Date. 
• ColdQuanta Raising a Whopping $110 Million in Series B Funding
• Qandela and EDF Partnering on Energy Use-Case

November 2022 - Issue 4

The DLR is the research center of the Federal Republic of Germany for aerospace. With funding from Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), DLR has created its Quantum Computing Initiative to help develop hardware, software, applications in the Quantum space.

One of the Largest Spending on Quantum

This week DLR has awarded €208.5 million (one of the largest to date) to a consortium of partners for further development in the Quantum Computing space as part of its Initiative.

Here are some of the highlights of the contract and deliverables –

• “DLR is awarding contracts with the aim of creating qubits based on ion traps. This technology is considered highly promising and brings us one step closer to a programmable, fault-tolerant quantum computer,” says Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Chair of the DLR Executive Board.

• By 2026, “quantum computers based on ion trap technology with at least 50 qubits” will be available as part of this contract. At the same time, modular systems will be built that can be expanded to thousands of qubits, says Dr. Robert Axmann, Head of the DLR Quantum Computing Initiative.

• eleQtron, NXP Semiconductors Germany, Parity Quantum Computing Germany, QUDORA Technologies and Universal Quantum Germany are the participating organizations who have been awarded this contract. ...   

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ColdQuanta, the global quantum ecosystem company has raised a $110 million Series B round. Investors in this round include LCP Quantum, In-Q-Tel, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, Breakthrough Victoria, BOKA Group Holdings I LP.

“ColdQuanta’s core technology has a wide range of applications on the quantum technology spectrum,” says Christopher Galvin, former Motorola chairman and CEO. He is also an investor and has joined the company’s Board of Directors. “Customers are already adopting ColdQuanta for quantum RF sensors, quantum atomic clocks, and quantum software,” adds ColdQuanta CEO Scott Faris. ColdQuanta’s ‘quantum everywhere’ approach to create a breadth of impact in the quantum systems and application space will see further advances with the money raised. ... 

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QuEra is offering its quantum computer, Aquila, through Amazon Braket. While there are five other quantum computers on Braket (Rigetti Computing, IonQ, D-Wave, Xanadu Quantum Technologies and Oxford Quantum Circuits), what makes Aquila unique ...

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Qandela, a photonic quantum computing start-up is partnering with EDF, a large integrated energy management company in Europe to run simulations of hydroelectric dam deformations. The goal is to improve performance and accuracy of simulations and reduce energy consumption and in the long run, use photonic calculation in Machine Learning to address consumption forecasting models.

Qandela founded in 2017 by Valérian Giesz, Niccolo Somaschi, Prof. Pascale Senellart, has raised over €15M from the investment fund Omnes, Fonds Innovation Défense and the quantum technology fund Quantonation. With a 40-person+ R&D team, Qandela has brought to market ...

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A Quantum Start-up Pitch Competition organized by Quantum World Congress will award $25,000 to the winner. The focus of the competition is on innovative solutions using quantum science and technology to solve problems in life sciences, biotech, and healthcare sector space. Deadline for the application is November 9, 2022, 11.59 pm EST.

Five to seven startups will be selected by a committee from Duality, Quantum Startup Foundry, and Potomac Quantum Innovation Center ... 

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