Quantum computing has received increasing attention in recent years as its guarantees turn into more tangible. Venture funding in this sector has reached recent heights this 12 months – perhaps thanks in large part to one other hot sector: artificial intelligence.
Quantum computing startups have already raised $1.5 billion in enterprise funding across 50 deals in 2024, according to Crunchbase data. This nearly doubles the $785 million raised last 12 months across 67 deals and surpasses the record amount raised in 2022, which was nearly $963 million across 77 deals.
These totals cover some huge rounds.
In January in Broomfield, Colorado How many – from which it was extricated Honeywell in 2021 and merged with Quantum Computing in Cambridge — blocked a $300 million equity raise at an initial valuation of $5 billion.
Four months later in Palo Alto, California PsiQuantum received a financial package of $620 million from the Commonwealth of Australia and Queensland governments to build a quantum computer near Brisbane Airport in Brisbane, Australia. This round is essentially a combination of equity capital, grants and loans.
Finally based in the UK in August Rzeczna — which specializes in quantum error correction technology — raised $75 million in Series C funding.
AI helping hand
While interest in quantum technology and computing – a level of computation much faster and higher than traditional computers that may perform many complex calculations concurrently – has been growing for many years, the surge in funding can likely be attributed to the technology’s newest darling.
Generative AI seems to be creeping into every industry, and quantum technology could also be no different – especially considering how necessary quantum computing may very well be to AI breakthroughs and advancements.
While many see great promise in generative AI, its enormous computational needs and energy consumption may dash those hopes unless greater efficiency could be found in processing and power and energy consumption.
This is one of the explanation why billions of dollars have been pumped into the data center sector. Big Tech players like Amazon AND Microsoft You cannot build such centers fast enough because more processing power is needed to build large language models, and photonics technology is gaining momentum in an attempt to meet the energy, performance, and scalability challenges of AI data centers.
Quantum computing will likely see a similar tailwind. Theoretically, quantum computing could speed up the development of artificial intelligence because a quantum is much more powerful than any supercomputer.
Additionally, perhaps the biggest advantage could also be energy efficiency. Currently, quantum computing uses enormous amounts of energy to perform calculations, and the computer should be kept at a temperature of absolute zero to function properly.
Some people though studies suggest that quantum computing could be up to 100 times more energy efficient than a typical supercomputer for comparable computation times. So theoretically, a weaker quantum computer could still be higher than a supercomputer while being more energy efficient.
While artificial intelligence is actually not the only driving force behind the current intensified quantum enterprise financing market – quantum technology has many applications, from life sciences to navigation – it could even be unwise to discount its ever-growing impact.