Qubitcore raises $9.6M to advance ion-trap quantum computing

Qubitcore, an ion-trap quantum computing startup spun out of Japan’s Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), has announced that it has completed a JPY 1.53 billion (approximately USD 9.6 million) seed round through a third-party allotment of preferred shares.

The round was led by SBI Investment, with participation from 12 investors. Participating investors include SBI Investment as lead investor, Abies Ventures, Nissay Capital, Lifetime Ventures, Dual Bridge Capital, Daiwa House Ventures, Yanmar Ventures, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Blue Lab, SMBC Venture Capital, Bank of the Ryukyus, and Canal Ventures, according to a media release.

With this latest round, the company will accelerate the R&D and commercialization of a quantum optical interconnect interface based on micro-optical cavities and a distributed ion-trap quantum computing architecture, building on research outcomes from OIST.

Qubitcore aims to develop fault-tolerant universal quantum computers, or FTQC, for computational challenges that are difficult for conventional computers, including drug discovery, materials and energy materials design, climate-related simulation, and high-speed, energy-efficient AI model training, the media release said.

“We see this seed round as a strong vote of confidence from a diverse group of investors,” said Ryuta Watanuki, Founder & CEO of Qubitcore. “Together with the R&D team led by Co-Founder & CSO Hiroki Takahashi, we will accelerate research and development, business development, and hiring as we work to build a quantum computing company from Japan.”

“It is deeply meaningful to see our research on ion-trap quantum optical interconnects at OIST evolve, through Qubitcore, into concrete initiatives toward an actual quantum computer system,” said Hiroki Takahashi, Co-Founder & CSO of Qubitcore and Assistant Professor at OIST.  

“Realizing quantum computing in society requires not only advancing theory and standalone devices, but also overcoming the extremely difficult challenge of connecting quantum processors with high fidelity and scaling them,” said Takaki Suzuki, Assistant Manager, Investment Department, SBI Investment. “We see Qubitcore’s distributed architecture as a rational approach to this scalability challenge, and the company’s foundation in research led by Assistant Professor Hiroki Takahashi at OIST is a major strength.”