Oct. 22, 2019 — IonQ, the leader in universal quantum computing, today announced it has secured $55 million in a funding round led by the Samsung Catalyst Fund and Mubadala Capital. This round of funding brings IonQ’s total amount raised to $77 million. IonQ plans to use the funds announced today to make quantum computing more accessible to businesses and lower the barrier to entry for developers. The company plans on making its quantum computers commercially available via the cloud and developing next-generation systems for programming these machines.

IonQ’s trapped-ion approach offers the most promise for making reliable, scalable quantum computing a reality. Recently, the company built the largest programmable quantum computer to date, demonstrating performance benchmarks that no other quantum computer has been able to match.

“This investment round marks a key milestone in our effort to make quantum computing commercially viable,” said Peter Chapman, CEO of IonQ. “We are building a future where IonQ’s quantum computers will be available to developers in fields from finance to manufacturing to pharmaceuticals. We expect this to inspire a new generation of developers to build applications that will power the next wave of discovery.”

“Foundational and revolutionary technologies — like the transistor, the laser, or the mobile phone — take years to evolve into innovations that transform the way we live,” said Young Sohn, Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer for Samsung Electronics and Chairman of the Board for HARMAN. “Though it’s still early days, we see a similar revolution taking place with quantum computing, which is why we’re excited to work alongside the IonQ team. Together, we can unlock the vast potential of this technology to address new opportunities in drug discovery, artificial intelligence, breakthrough materials, and many other areas that will have a profound impact on our way of life.”

“Mubadala Capital’s ventures strategy seeks transformative technologies with the promise of disrupting traditional industries,” said Alaa Halawa from Mubadala Capital. “As we have developed our understanding of the opportunity and challenges of the technology, we came to believe that trapped ions have the highest potential to deliver on the promise of a scalable general-purpose quantum computer. While we are in the early innings of this industry, we believe that the groundbreaking work of the IonQ team will position the company as the leader in developing commercially viable quantum computers in the near-term and beyond.”

“We view quantum computing as an exciting opportunity to address advanced scientific applications at scale,” said Paul Glaser, head of Hewlett Packard Pathfinder. “IonQ provides industry-leading qubit technology and complements our current architectural direction for Memory-Driven Computing as a service.”

Quantum technology has excited investors because it is particularly well-suited to solve optimization problems — from helping identify the best delivery routes for shipping companies to helping hardware designers produce more energy-efficient materials and batteries. By 2023, 20% of organizations intend to budget for quantum-computing projects, compared to less than 1% in 2018. This rapid growth reflects a growing awareness that quantum computing will transform the way enterprises do business.

Additional investors that participated in this funding round included ACME Capital, Airbus Ventures, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Tao Capital Partners, Correlation Ventures and A&E Investment LLC, as well as previous investors Osage University Partners (OUP), New Enterprise Associates (NEA), GV and Amazon.

About Samsung Catalyst Fund
The Samsung Catalyst Fund is Samsung Electronics’ evergreen multi-stage venture capital fund that invests in the new data economy and strategic ideas for Samsung’s mobile, device solutions and consumer electronics groups. Investment spans across Automotive, Robotics, Digital Health, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Infrastructure, and Device-Level Solutions. Through Samsung Catalyst Fund, entrepreneurs are enabled by Samsung’s global brand, manufacturing and distribution, domain expertise, recruiting network, and world-class Innovation Fellows for advice and mentorship.

About Mubadala Capital
Mubadala Capital was established in 2011 as the financial investment arm of Mubadala, operating six integrated businesses focused on various asset classes and geographies that include private equity, public equities, credit, venture, sovereign investment partnerships and Brazil. The group invests globally across the capital structure in both public and private securities, whether directly or through third-party managed funds.

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Source: IonQ