Uniseed was established in October 2000 as a $20 million joint venture between the University of Melbourne (UM) and the University of Queensland (UQ).  This proof of concept fund (Fund-1) operated with significant input and support from the commercialization offices of the two universities (UniQuest and Melbourne Ventures Limited), with staff of these organizations making up the majority of the Investment Committee and leading due diligence and management of most investment opportunities.  Over 20 investments, typically of $250,000 - $500,000 were made from this fund.  A new $40 million venture fund (Fund-2) ran from 2005-15, with the addition of a third leading university, the University of New South Wales, and a major private institutional investor, the Westscheme superannuation fund.   The founding universities (UQ & UM) also committed further funds. Australian Super took over Westscheme's essets and commitments in July 2011.  With the start of Fund-2, an independent management team was established, consisting of the CEO and three Investment Managers; one at each university catchment. The Investment Committee was restructured, with dedicated committees established for biotechnology or other technologies. The nominal investment limit was increased to $2.5 million to allow participation in follow-on funding rounds so as to preserve Uniseed's equity position.  On 1 November 2015, Uniseed started its third and largest fund (Fund-3) with the addition of the University of Sydney and the CSIRO to the Universities of Queensland, Melbourne and NSW. This followed three high profile exits in the preceding 14 months (Fibrotech; Spinifex & Hatchtech). Each of the five partners committed $10 million over 10 years to the new fund (total fund $50 million).  Uniseed’s partner research organisations spent nearly $4 billion on research, making up over 40% of the total research spend at 67 research organisations in Australia. Together, these organisations accounted for nearly 500 invention disclosures (34% of total) and 500 new registered IP rights filed (45% of total) over the same period(2013 National Survey of Research Commercialisation).    Unlike private venture capital funds, Uniseed is dedicated to the needs of its research partners, and committed to servicing them consistently over the long term, irrespective of the short term conditions in external capital markets.  It works in very close partnership with the research partner commercialisation companies and staff, providing a valuable adjunct to the capabilities these companies and staff provide.  They in turn provide a best-practice commercialisation service tailored to their respective organisations. These companies are able to leverage to great effect the scale of operation and expertise of the Uniseed network.  The fund is run with commercial discipline, ensuring independence and financial rigor in its investment decision-making processes.  Success is measured by a balance of return on investment (including the flow of funds for research to further the commercialisation of intellectual property generated within the research partner catchments), the establishment of viable start-up companies, the generation of research income for research partners and the improvement of partner commercialisation processes.

Uniseed

Analog Quantum Circuits

Analog Quantum Circuits manufactures analog elements for solid-state quantum computers.

Analog Quantum Circuits specializes in the development of analog components for solid-state quantum computers. The company designs and fabricates advanced superconducting devices for quantum computing. The company develops miniaturized core microwave components such as amplifiers, attenuators, circulators, and other components. These components can be integrated on-chip to help enable the scale-up of superconducting quantum processors

Quantum information processing is slowly becoming a reality, ushering in a new technological era.

Quantum Computing

Analog Quantum Circuits specializes in the development of analog components for solid-state quantum computers. The company designs and fabricates advanced superconducting devices for quantum computing. The company develops miniaturized core microwave components such as amplifiers, attenuators, circulators, and other components. These components can be integrated on-chip to help enable the scale-up of superconducting quantum processorsBeing the first superconducting quantum technology startup in Australia, the company is building on the founders’ research at the University of Queensland (UQ), and is developing fundamental microwave electronics to enable the scale-up of superconducting quantum computers.The primary objective of Analog Quantum Circuits is to develop fundamental microwave electronics that will enable the scale-up of superconducting quantum computers.&nbsp;

The UK-based Quantum Motion Technologies is engaged in developing quantum computer architectures based on silicon technology, which are compatible with standard silicon processing (CMOS process). The company believes this approach will enable it to create scalable quantum computers with thousands to millions of qubits. The company is working on a technology platform that is not just a qubit, but a scalable array of qubits based on the ubiquitous silicon technology already used in smartphones and computers.Quantum Motion’s goal is to fast-track the development of true fault-tolerant quantum computers and reach a million qubits and beyond by leveraging existing knowledge in device fabrication within the trillion-dollar silicon industry.Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2024, Quantum Motion entered into a project with the <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26533">National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) </a>to build the UK’s first silicon-based quantum processor test bed in its Oxfordshire site. In November 2023, Quantum Motion partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to further develop its silicon quantum computer chip technology.Funding and financialsThe company raised GBP 42 million (USD 50.5 million) in a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16504">Series B </a>funding round in February 2023 led by Bosch Ventures (RBVC). The proceeds were allocated for the development of the company’s quantum processors based on silicon technology.

Quantum Motion Technologies

SeeQC is a quantum hardware startup spun out from Hypres, a leading developer of superconductor integrated circuits. SeeQC was developing a digital system-on-a-chip design that integrates classical and quantum circuits into a hybrid system in order to overcome quantum computers’ current challenges. This also reduces noise and interference, maintaining high-fidelity quantum operations at scale. The company owns and operates superconducting flux quantum (SFQ) processors, a chip fabrication facility that enables the creation of multi-chip quantum computing systems and provides foundry services for superconducting devices. It also has facilities in London, UK, and Naples, Italy.Through the hybrid approach, SeeQC believes it can reduce the cost of quantum computers by 1/400th, provide greater control, and reduce energy requirements significantly.Key customers and partnershipsIn September 2023, the company entered into a collaboration with NVIDIA to develop the first all-digital chip-to-chip link between quantum computers and graphics processing units (GPU). SeeQC has also partnered with multinational chemical company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16298">BASF </a>in February 2023 to explore quantum computing in simulating chemical reactions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

SeeQC

<div>
 
 IonQ develops general-purpose quantum computers using trapped-ion technology. Although the company calls itself a full-stack player, its focus has been on developing hardware. In December 2020, it revealed its quantum roadmap that introduced its new metric, &ldquo;algorithmic qubits (AQ),&rdquo; which represents the largest number of qubits that can be deployed while maintaining high performance and considering error correction. Its latest system IonQ Aria achieved 20 AQ, as of May 2023. In terms of physical qubits, IonQ&rsquo;s latest hardware had 32 qubits, which were expected to hold 22 AQs. In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23125">
 October 2023
 </a>
 , the company achieved 29 algorithmic qubits (AQ) using barium qubits for the first time.
 
 
 Founded in 2015, IonQ&rsquo;s main competitive advantage stems from its approach to designing qubits that allow computers to be operated at room temperature with lower error rates.&nbsp;
 
 
 IonQ unveiled the industry&rsquo;s first glass-based trapped ion computing chip called the Reconfigurable Multicore Quantum Architecture (RMQA) technology, in August 2021, which the company believes will significantly expand the longevity of qubits and enable at least triple-digit scalability.&nbsp;
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31824">
 July 2024
 </a>
 , the company unveiled an accelerated roadmap with expanded 2025 technical milestones, focused on improving native two-qubit gate performance to over 99.9% (three 9s) in 2025, with further gains expected in 2026 from the transition to barium qubits.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 IonQ has entered several strategic partnership including with&nbsp;
 
 
 1) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25925">
 Rescale
 </a>
 (January 2024) to combine their cloud computing and quantum computing capabilities
 
 
 2) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22265">
 Air Force Research Lab
 </a>
 (September 2023) to deploy two barium-based trapped ion quantum computing systems for quantum networking research and application development in a deal valued at USD 25.5 million
 
 
 3) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21158">
 BearingPoint
 </a>
 (August 2023) to offer its quantum systems and related professional services to the European market
 
 
 4) SoftBank Investment Advisers (June 2021) to provide support in deploying the company&rsquo;s quantum systems globally
 
 
 5) Accenture (September 2021) to accelerate the industrial application of IonQ&rsquo;s quantum systems
 
 
 The company offers access to its quantum computer via all major quantum cloud computing platforms including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Marketplace (GCM). It is also integrated with major software development kits (SDK) including IBM Qiskit and Google Cirq. In May 2023, IonQ began offering its IonQ Aria system on Amazon Braket.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker &ldquo;IONQ,&rdquo; in October 2021 via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. The IPO raised more than USD 650 million and made IonQ the first publicly traded pure-play quantum computing company.&nbsp;It earned a revenue of USD 22 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
 
 
 The company secured Samsung&rsquo;s first-ever quantum computing investment (co-led by a UAE wealth fund) of USD 55 million in 2019. IonQ believes it can tap into Samsung&rsquo;s expertise in miniaturization to shrink quantum computing components.
 
</div>

IonQ

<div>
 
 Rigetti is an end-to-end provider of general-purpose quantum computers. The company&rsquo;s approach to developing computers is based on superconducting qubit technology, similar to Google and IBM. Since 2017, the company has operated a cloud-based quantum platform that allows developers to either create applications or use Rigetti&rsquo;s virtual machine.&nbsp;
 
 
 Rigetti is well-positioned to compete with incumbents as well as startups because of its advancements in hardware, which is currently used by 14 other companies (mostly other quantum software startups). Rigetti introduced the world&rsquo;s first multi-chip quantum processor, in June 2021, that physically connects multiple chips with their own qubits in a single functional processor, which is expected to improve scalability. It also launched its first commercially available 80-qubit quantum system in February 2022, which exceeds the qubit count of any other startup, but is lower than that of IBM.&nbsp;
 
 
 In June 2022, the company expanded its geographical presence with the launch of its 32-qubit, cloud-based 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11308">
 Aspen system in the UK
 </a>
 market. It also strengthened its position in the software segment via the acquisition of QxBranch (a Washington-based quantum computing software company) in 2019. In December 2023, the company launched its first 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24731">
 Quantum Processing Unit (QPU)
 </a>
 , Novera, which is based on its fourth-gen Ankaa-class architecture. The price of the QPU starts from USD 900,000.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In July 2021, the company partnered with Astex Pharmaceuticals to apply quantum technology to drug discovery. This partnership was a stepping stone for Rigetti to commercially apply quantum computing to the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, as part of an InnovateUK grant, the company partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11334">
 Riverlane
 </a>
 in June 2022 to explore and develop error correction solutions. In October 2023, the company was awarded with a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22419">
 (DARPA) 
 </a>
 contract as part of the Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) program to advance quantum algorithms for solving combinatorial optimization problems. In January 2024, the company collaborated with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25242">
 Moody&rsquo;s Analytics
 </a>
 to enhance machine-learning methods for the financial sector using quantum computing abilities. In February 2024, Rigetti Computing and Riverlane joined a project led by the 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27062">
 Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
 </a>
 , a part of the US Department of Energy (DOE), to explore the possibility of integrating a quantum computer and high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Rigetti 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8880">
 went public
 </a>
 on Nasdaq under the ticker &ldquo;RGTI,&rdquo; in March 2022 via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. The IPO raised USD 261.8 million and made Rigetti the second publicly traded pure-play quantum computing company, following IonQ. 
 
</div>

Rigetti Computing

PsiQuantum develops general-purpose quantum computers based on the silicon photonic approach, a relatively new method that is capable of using the existing silicon supply chain of conventional electronics. This will help the company keep production costs low and provide scalability. Its semiconductor roadmap involves interconnecting multiple quantum processor chips with optical fibers and high-performance optical switches to enable teleportation and entanglement of single-photon operations between chips.PsiQuantum's technology uses individual photons, particles of light, as qubits. This approach offers several advantages, including the ability to operate at higher temperatures compared to other qubit technologies, compatibility with fiber-optic networks, and resistance to electromagnetic interference. Additionally, photons can maintain quantum states for relatively long periods, allowing more quantum operations and increased computational power.The company aims to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer with one million physical qubits by the end of 2027, enabling error correction and addressing complex problems across various industries.In <a href="https://www.psiquantum.com/news-import/psiquantum-opens-uk-based-research-facility-to-develop-next-generation-high-power-cryogenic-systems-for-large-scale-quantum-computing">March 2023</a>, PsiQuantum opened an advanced R&amp;D facility at the Daresbury Laboratory in the UK, backed by GBP 9 million from the UK Government's Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology. This facility provides access to one of Europe's largest liquid-helium cryogenic plants, essential for testing PsiQuantum's approach to storing quantum chips at extremely low temperatures.Key customers and partnershipsWorking toward its goal, in May 2021, PsiQuantum entered a partnership with global chip manufacturer <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/2245">GlobalFoundries</a> (GF) to build an integrated, silicon photonics-based quantum system called the “Q1 system” by manufacturing quantum chips in GF’s semiconductor foundry. This partnership also received US federal funding of <a href="https://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-announces-25-million-for-globalfoundries-and-psiquantum-to-develop-the-next-generation-of-quantum-computers-at-rome-air-force-research-lab-and-malta-campus-fed-funding-will-strengthen-national-security-supercharge-us-technological-competitiveness_ensure-upstate-new-york-continues-to-lead-quantum-technology">USD 25 million</a> in April 2022.&nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13868">October 2022</a>, the company secured a USD 22.5 million contract from the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to co-design advanced quantum photonic chips that will be manufactured by GF. The company partnered with Japanese quantum software company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7246">QunaSys</a> in December 2021 to research quantum-based industrial chemistry and material science solutions and partnered with the UK-based Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22518">Hartree Centre</a> in October 2023 to develop Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing (FTQC) applications in the UK. In January 2024, PsiQuantum and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25972">Mitsubishi UFJ </a>Financial Group (MUFG) entered PsiQuantum's Qlimate initiative project with Mitsubishi Chemical to research energy-efficient materials to promote a low-carbon economy.In May 2023, PsiQuantum received a USD 25 million grant from the US Department of Defense, through the Air Force Research Laboratory, for tooling and further development of its photonic quantum computer.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29499">April 2024</a>, the company secured AUD 940 million (USD 620 million) from the Australian Commonwealth and Queensland Governments to establish the first utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer in Australia. Notably, PsiQuantum is one of the highest privately funded startup in the industry.

PsiQuantum

Hardware manufacturers for quantum computers or quantum-adjacent products.

Developers of quantum algorithms and software programs for specific industries such as pharmaceuticals or finance.

Full-stack companies offering hardware and software quantum computing solutions.


Companies developing quantum computing hardware using either gate-based or annealing technology.

Developers of quantum system software such as firmware, operating systems, compilers, qubit control software, etc.

Companies offering access to quantum hardware through either their own hardware or through a third party via the cloud.

Startups in this space offer solutions for building enterprise-specific applications and automations

<div>
 
 <ul>
 <li>Australia-based quantum hardware company Analog Quantum Circuits has raised AUD 3 million (USD 1.9 million) in an early-stage funding round led by Australia's early-stage commercialization funding firm, Uniseed. The funds will be used for the advancement and scaling up of the company's superconducting quantum processors.</li>
 <li>Founded in 2022 at the University of Queensland’s Superconducting Quantum Devices Lab, Analog Quantum Circuits specializes in the creation of miniature-microwave components, such as amplifiers, attenuators, and circulators, which are crucial to quantum processors. These components are designed to be integrated on-chip, facilitating the broad-scale application of superconducting quantum processors.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>

Analog Quantum Circuits

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