Quantum News Nexus

Ready for a big funding move to start your day?

Quantum software company Classiq, which has worked with Nvidia, BMW, Microsoft, and others has announced a “strategic up-round” with participation from AMD Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and IonQ, as well as Korean finance giant Mirae Asset Capital, LeumiTech77 by Bank Leumi, and Quantum Eretz.

No exact figure was given for the funding, but Classiq said in a press release the round totaled “tens of millions of dollars,” and brings Classiq’s cumulative funding to more than $200 million.

However, the amount of money involved is not nearly as intriguing as some of the names involved. AMD is having a moment in quantum. After several years of not talking much about quantum at all, the semiconductor giant recently aligned with IBM on a quantum partnership, and now its venture arm is taking a financial interest in one of the pioneers of the quantum software movement as AMD’s very first quantum investment. Now, AMD has got me wondering when and where it will strike next. It lost a lot of ground in AI to Nvidia, though it has started to make that up. It doesn’t want to go through the same thing all over again with quantum.

“Our investment in Classiq underscores our focus on advancing the future of heterogeneous computing,” said Sagi Paz, Head of AMD Ventures. “We believe that high-level quantum software will play a key role in enabling the seamless integration of quantum and classical HPC systems, and we look forward to collaborating with Classiq to further strengthen the software ecosystem supporting this convergence.”

Meanwhile, Qualcomm does have at least one other quantum computing investment. It invested in Quantum Machines four years ago, although this did not turn out to be the first in a series of chess moves. It has participated in some notable quantum AI research, and this investment by Qualcomm Ventures comes as the company has really been ramping up its AI strategy at the same time that AI and quantum are converging.

“As quantum technologies evolve, the software layer becomes essential to scale innovation across industries,” said Boaz Peer, Senior Investment Director, Qualcomm Israel Ltd. and Managing Director of Qualcomm Ventures Israel and Europe. “Classiq’s platform aligns with our vision of enabling intelligent edge and cloud systems, and we’re excited to support their efforts in making quantum development more accessible, portable, and optimized for diverse workloads.”

And then there’s IonQ. We have not seen a lot of pure-play quantum companies investing directly in fellow quantum start-ups, but IonQ does have quite a bit of cash to play with. IonQ and Classiq also are longtime partners. More than any other pure-play quantum company, Ion is mimicking what Nvidia did to build a vertically integrated ecosystem around itself (IonQ CEO Niccolo de Masi just talked about it this week on CNBC.) IonQ’s acquisitions have helped it down that path, and this investment is another move with that theme in mind.

“As IonQ’s quantum computers continue to lead the industry with each successive generation, the role of quantum software in building breakthrough applications is increasingly paramount," said Jordan Shapiro, President and General Manager of Quantum Networking, Sensing, and Security at IonQ. “IonQ’s investment in and partnership with Classiq allows us to build cutting-edge applications with customers together, simplifying complex quantum algorithms into practical, enterprise-ready solutions that maximize the impact of our world-record-breaking hardware.”

As Shapiro noted, making quantum computing more “enterprise-ready” is a big theme here as IonQ and others are trying to commercialize quantum applications, and show that the young industry is here to stay.

“This investment represents the trust we are seeing from the companies shaping the future of computing,” said Nir Minerbi, CEO and co-founder of Classiq. “As quantum hardware continues to mature, the need for scalable, efficient software becomes even more critical. Our new AI coding feature is another example of how we are making quantum software more approachable than ever. These new strategic investors share our vision of making quantum computing practical, accessible, and enterprise-ready.”

By the way, a “strategic up-round” can mean that a company has new investors being in at a higher value than previous financing rounds, but can also allude to the investors bring strategic value of their own to match with Classiq’s. It will be very interesting to see how AMD, Qualcomm, and IonQ in particular continue to work with Classiq.

Quantum News Nexus is a new site from freelance writer and editor Dan O’Shea that covers quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum networking, quantum-safe security, and more. You can find him on X @QuantumNewsGuy and doshea14@gmail.com.