Quantum computer maker eleQtron raises +€50 million in funding

Siegen, Germany-based developer of quantum computers eleQtron has raised over €50 million in new funds, including venture capital from Earlybird and Siegerlandfonds. 

A spin-off from the Department of Quantum Optics at the University of Siegen, eleQtron develops, produces, operates, and sells computing time on ion trap-based quantum computers.

Ion-what? Right, me too. Directly from the German Aerospace Center: "Charged atoms cannot escape from an ion trap, as they are confined by an electromagnetic field. A laser, radio waves or microwaves can then change the state of the charged atoms (ions) in a targeted way so that they become qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers"

Or better yet:

"Efficient and scalable quantum computers are the future for industry and science. And our technology shows a clear way to get there," commented eleQtron CTO and co-founder Dr. Michael Johanning.

EleQtron is a part of five sub-projects (eleQtron, NXP Semiconductors Germany, Parity Quantum Computing Germany - QUDORA Technologies and Universal Quantum Deutschland are the remaining two) awarded by DLR at a total of €208.5 million for development of ion trap processors over the next four years. The goal will be to have quantum processors that have at least 50 qubits along with the creation of modular technology that can be scaled up modular systems to thousands of qubits.

The first project is being performed by a consortium including NXP Semiconductors Germany, eleQtron, and Parity Quantum Computing Germany which will be to develop a 10-qubit demonstration processor by the end of 2023. A second project is for Universal Quantum Deutschland to build a processor with 50 fully functioning qubits on a chip. A third project is with Qudora Technologies and NXP Semiconductors Germany which are also developing a 50 qubit processor while also researching error correction on the chip. And two additional projects with Universal Quantum Deutschland and NXP Semiconductors Germany / eleQtron / Parity Quantum Computing Germany will study how to network individual chips to create a universal quantum computing architecture.

"We are very excited to be part of eleQtron and to support this fantastic example of transferring excellent knowledge into relevant core technologies. The goal is to bring high-quality qubits from the lab to real-world applications," added Earlybird UNI-X’s Dr. Frédéric du Bois-Reymond.

This announcement is made as part of the German Aerospace Center's (DLR) awarding of €208.5 million in contracts for ion trap based quantum computer development.