Quantum News Nexus

Photonic, Inc., a Canadian company that recently was selected for government quantum computing benchmarking programs in both the US and Canada, has raised $180 million CAD (about $130 million USD) in the first close of its latest investment round, led by Planet First Partners, with participation from new investors Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Canadian telecom giant TELUS, and others, including existing investor Microsoft and Canadian pension fund investment manager BCI.

The Vancouver, British Columbia company, one of a handful of firms working on photonics-based quantum computers, has now raised a total of $375 million CAD (around $271M USD) to back the development of its Entanglement First Architecture. That approach combines silicon‑based qubits and native photonic connectivity, “enabling seamless scaling across existing global telecom infrastructure,” according to a statement from Photonic, which continued, “With this new funding, the company will continue advancing key product milestones toward commercialization, expanding its technical and business teams, and deepening customer and partner engagements.”

This news comes just a few weeks after Photonic was one of the first four companies to be chosen for the first phase of the Canadian Quantum Champions Program, which also comes with a funding pledge. That program looks a bit like the US government’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, for which Photonic was announced as a Stage B participant back in November.

This announcement also continues the growing trend of very large companies from other sectors investing in quantum firms for the first time, evidenced by the participation of RBC and TELUS in this round.

Photonic CEO Paul Terry noted, “This funding round attracted not only new financial investors but also partners from sectors poised to be transformed by quantum technology—including sustainability, telecommunications, finance, and security.”  

Barrie Laver, Managing Director, Head of Venture Capital & Private Equity with Royal Bank of Canada, added, “This marks our first direct equity investment in a quantum computing company, and we’re proud to support Photonic as they pioneer the next era of distributed quantum technologies. We believe Photonic’s scalable quantum architecture has the potential to unlock key applications in the financial sector, ranging from security through to portfolio optimization and risk modelling. In our view, Photonic’s team and technology helps position them as a leader in bringing practical quantum capabilities to market.” 

Terry Doyle, Managing Partner at TELUS Global Ventures, chimed in, “At TELUS Global Ventures, we invest in breakthrough technologies that create tangible value today and for the future and believe quantum computing represents a transformational technology that will fundamentally reshape secure telecommunications infrastructure. Photonic’s approach to distributed quantum computing and networking is exactly the kind of game-changing innovation we seek. Together, we’re not just investing in technology, we’re building Canada’s quantum future and delivering solutions that will transform industries worldwide.” 

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Quantum News Nexus is a 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.