(WSJ) Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc., which aims to commercialize quantum computing using particles of light, has raised $100 million in new funding.
Xanadu announced today a Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest such firms. Funding to date for the five-year-old company now totals $145 million, said Christian Weedbrook, founder and chief executive of Xanadu.
Xanadu designs its chips in-house and then sends the designs to foundries to be manufactured with existing silicon components, Mr. Weedbrook said. The company’s qubits are created by using lasers that get injected into specialized chips that then create light fields that represent its qubits. Specialized hardware called detectors can count the number of photons that come out of a chip, which ultimately reveals the answer to a calculation, he said. The detectors do need to be supercooled.
Xanadu is already generating millions of dollars in revenue from researchers and companies experimenting with its early-stage quantum-computing service over its cloud, Mr. Weedbrook said. The company has 70 employees and is aiming to grow to 100 by the end of the year, he said. Its customers include Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and several Canadian banks.
Xanadu Lands $100 Million with Series B Funding Led by Bessemer Venture Partners
