Quantum start-up breaks records with blockbuster funding round

Quantum computing start-up Q-CTRL has set multiple records with its latest funding round, with rugby legend John Eales joining heavyweight global investors in tipping more than $100 million into the futuristic Sydney-based technology company.

Quantum computing is still in its early stages, and no one has yet built a scalable quantum computer, but the technology promises to revolutionise a wide range of sectors over the next decade with computing power that wasn’t before possible, including pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, defence and finance.

A quantum computer can, in theory, calculate in mere seconds what would take the world’s current, most advanced supercomputers half a century to process.

At the forefront is Q-CTRL, which spun out of the University of Sydney and is not building its own quantum computers but instead building the software to make quantum computers more stable. It has raised $US113m ($167m) in funding to ramp up its research and engineering and grow its sales, marketing and operational functions.

Michael Biercuk’s Q-CTRL is building software to make quantum computing hardware more stable.Credit: Jessica Hromas

“This funding raise, which sets multiple global records, says that Australia has something exceptionally special built right here at home,” Q-CTRL chief executive Michael Biercuk told this masthead.

“We leverage our special expertise in quantum control and solve the problems no one else can. We have great local peer companies and collaborators like Diraq and Quantum Brilliance also operating at global scale, and we are excited for this reality to sink in with the local investor community and government.”

New investors backing Q-CTRL in the round include GP Bullhound, Alpha Edison, Lockheed Martin Ventures, NTT Finance, Salus Group, and TISI, who join existing repeat investors Alumni Ventures, DCVC, ICM Allectus, Main Sequence Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and rugby legend John Eales.

“I met John Eales through the investor community,” Biercuk said. “He was an inspiring leader who gave no-BS views on what it takes to succeed at a global level.”

“After inviting him to speak at a company event in 2022, he became engaged with the team, and we are pleased he has become a shareholder with deep connections to the Australian community. ”

Biercuk would not reveal Q-CTRL’s current valuation but said it had increased significantly since its last funding round.

Eales, who currently serves on the boards of funds giant Magellan and Fujifilm Data Management Solutions, called Q-CTRL a fascinating investment.

“As an investor, you seek both validation and challenge to your rationale, and seeing many large global enterprises and government departments partner with Q-CTRL to unlock the potential of quantum innovation reinforces that validation,” Eales said in a statement.

Former Wallabies captain John Eales sits on the boards of Flight Centre, Magellan Asset Management and Loreto Kirribilli.Credit: Kate Geraghty

“Over the years, my journey in business has led me to back advanced technologies that have the potential to transform industries, and I’m excited to help guide Q-CTRL toward sustainable growth, profit, and global impact.”

Q-CTRL is now expanding internationally and Biercuk has flagged that Q-CTRL, which has around 140 employees most of whom are in Australia, may have to relocate in the absence of greater support from the Australian government.

“Our biggest challenge is the lack of government purchasing investment into the local sector,” he said.

“Internationally, our peer companies and competitors receive tens of millions of dollars of grants, subsidies, and forward procurement of emerging tech to encourage them to build domestic industries. Australia has an opportunity to own the most important quantum technology globally – technology that goes everywhere that quantum goes.

“Achieving this requires leaning in to buy from the local sector. We know from review after review that sovereign procurement is a major issue across all sectors, and quantum is high on the list due to its early stage and the competitive global landscape.”

The local quantum computing sector has also been the subject of controversy over the past year after the federal government invested $470 million into PsiQuantum, a company that is headquartered in California but working towards building a commercially useful quantum computer in Brisbane by 2027. The Liberal Party, led by shadow science spokesman Paul Fletcher, has criticised the government’s decision as lacking in due diligence and transparency.

Australian PsiQuantum co-founders Jeremy O’Brien and Terry Rudolph.Credit: Jamila Toderas

“It was great to see the government express real ambition to do something big,” Biercuk said of that investment.

“As a next step, now it needs to do something locally that benefits the Australian industry. The government has made clear that PsiQuantum was part of a broader plan captured in the national quantum strategy. We are excited about the next phase of investment with a focus on scaling the businesses that invested in Australia from day one and promise sovereign capabilities that are globally unique.”

Quantum computing has also been overshadowed this year in terms of hype, and in some cases, investment, by generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, but Biercuk said he’d seen multiple ‘bubbles’ come and go since founding Q-CTRL in November 2017.

“Quantum computing has always been a long-term investment with outsized rewards for patient capital and early adopters,” Biercuk said.

“We have seen hype bubbles around Web3, crypto, and now AI. Value will be captured by those who think hard about the opportunity and have the patience to see through the bubbles that rise and fall.”

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