Quantum networking solutions startup memQ Inc. today announced it has raised $10 million in early-stage funding to advance scalable distributed networking for quantum computing.

Quantonation and Ocean Azul Partners co-led the Series A round, with participation from both existing and new investors.

Quantum computing represents a major shift in computing technology, allowing massively parallel exploration of solution solving for logistical and complex problem sets that greatly exceed the capabilities of even the most powerful supercomputers available today. The industry is forecast to reach a $100 billion market by 2035, according to McKinsey & Co.

Connecting quantum computers, locally and at a distance, can greatly increase their computational capabilities, making them even more effective at solving unbreakable problems. Quantum computers can be tasked with simulating molecular structures, optimizing large-scale logistics and enhancing cryptography. 

“MemQ’s breakthrough technology addresses a key issue facing today’s quantum computers: the inability to work together over classical networks; this blocks them from leveraging the type of modular scale-out configurations that are key to today’s high-performance and supercomputer systems,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Foley.

Founded in 2021 as a technology spinout from the University of Chicago, memQ provides components for scalable networking through standards-based connectivity between quantum machines.

The company builds a portfolio of quantum network interface controllers that allow various types of quantum computers to join a network without collapsing the quantum state and quantum memory modules that permit entanglement to remain centralized between nodes. Quantum entanglement is fundamental to quantum communication, as it communicates quantum properties between distant quantum particles. It’s a phenomenon where two particles become linked so that they share a unified quantum state irrespective of distance.

MemQ’s components use standardized semiconductor processes to connect to optical networking, which allows companies to turn fiber optic networks into “quantum-aware” networks. The distances can be from extremely short, such as centimeters and meters, to campus-wide or even metropolitan areas. MemQ has demonstrated subnanosecond clock synchronization over a 132-kilometer link in the Chicago Quantum Network using entangled photon pairs.

At the core of quantum computing are qubits, which are similar to bits in classical computers. Unlike classical computers, where bits represent 1s or 0s, qubits can be 1, 0 or in superposition, where a quantum qubit exists as a 1 and a 0 until it’s measured. This property allows quantum computers to process complex computations in parallel by holding simultaneous states until a final computation occurs.

“MemQ’s approach to developing an extensible quantum network architecture based upon commercial fab processes and platforms is a leading approach to delivering quantum networking at scale,” said Andre Konig, CEO of market research firm Global Quantum Intelligence.

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