Startup aims to advance advance neutral atoms quantum computing
PASQAL raises €100 million Series B funding
PASQAL, a leader in neutral atoms quantum computing, announced it secured a €100 million equity Series B raise led by new investor Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore. Other new investors include the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, Wa’ed Ventures and Bpifrance, through its Large Venture Fund. Continuing investors include Quantonation, the Defense Innovation Fund, Daphni and Eni Next.
“We are proud to invest in a startup we’ve been following for years that is working on a very high-impact technology that will solve some of the world’s most pressing computational challenges across industries,” said Nicklas Bergman, EIC Fund advisor. “PASQAL’s innovation in the quantum computing space has made them an industry leader in Europe and globally. We are excited to be a part of their incredible growth and contribute to their lasting impacts.”
PASQAL’s technology was built upon the Nobel Prize-winning research of company co-founder Alain Aspect. PASQAL will use the funding to further develop its neutral atoms quantum computing platform, which it believes will deliver major commercial advantages over classical computers by 2024.
"PASQAL's engineers have transformed world-class fundamental research into a system that is easy to use and is expected to deliver tremendous benefit to the world," said Professor Aspect. "I am incredibly proud of their accomplishments and impressed by the recognition from the investment community."
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With the new funding, PASQAL plans to accelerate the company’s research and development efforts to build a 1,000-qubit quantum computer in the short term and fault-tolerant architectures in the long term. The company also plans to increase the production of its quantum systems for on-premise installations as well as expand the development of proprietary algorithms for customers across key verticals including energy, chemistry, automotive, mobility, healthcare, enterprise technology, finance and government.
PASQAL will also use the funding to expand its global footprint. The company plans to open offices in the Middle East and Asia this year in addition to growing its existing operations in Europe and North America. PASQAL plans to double its current team of 100 employees this year.
“We are on a clear path to deliver a quantum computer capable of unlocking commercial advantage for our customers, and this latest investment round will help us reach this goal by 2024,” said Georges-Olivier Reymond, CEO and founder of PASQAL. “This funding round validates that neutral atom technology is a premier platform for delivering real-world quantum applications, and we are proud to see its potential recognized by top investors.”
PASQAL is currently engaged with many Global Fortune 500 companies. The company recently released research with Crédit Agricole CIB, the world’s largest cooperative financial institution, that showed PASQAL’s technology could solve complex financial optimization problems as accurately as classical computers. BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, is exploring how PASQAL’s technology can be used to predict weather patterns, while BMW is leveraging PASQAL’s algorithms to simplify complex simulations that can be used for crash testing and development of lighter parts and materials. Other PASQAL customers include Siemens, Airbus, LG Electronics, Johnson & Johnson and Thales, among many others.
In 2022, PASQAL announced the company is working with the world’s leading energy players, including an MoU with Aramco and a collaboration for fast tracking industrial applications with Eni. In addition, PASQAL recently joined forces with EDF, Exaion Inc. and the Quantum Innovation Zone to form QuaTERA (Quantum Technologies Energy Result Accelerator), the first open center of excellence to develop sustainable energy solutions using HPC and quantum computing.
“We are very proud of this new milestone in PASQAL’s development that will make the company a world leader,” said Christophe Jurczak, Managing Partner at Quantonation. “Quantonation has supported the company since its spin-off from Institut d’Optique. It is the first scale-up within Quantonation’s portfolio, and it truly illustrates the excellence of French research and the competitiveness of the French quantum ecosystem.”
Quantum computing aims to overcome the limitations of classical computing and bring unprecedented processing power to solve highly valuable computational problems that could not be addressed previously. According to BCG research, quantum computing will unlock new value across many industries, creating up to $850 billion in annual value by 2040.
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