Pasqal, flagship of the French quantum, announced on Tuesday a capital increase of 100 million euros in equity, to invest in its technology based on neutral atoms.
This is the second fundraising for Pasqal, led by new investor Temasek, the European Innovation Council fund, Wa’ed Ventures and Bpifrance’s Large Venture fund, not counting the historical investors (Quantonation, the Defense Innovation Fund, Daphni and Eni Next and the venture capital arm of Eni).
This operation will allow Pasqal to continue the development of its quantum computer with neutral atoms, which promises to serve industrial use cases from 2024.
“Pasqal’s engineers have transformed fundamental research of global significance into an easy-to-use system that can bring significant benefits to the world,” said Alain Aspect, co-founder of Pasqal.
Pasqal plans to devote these investments to R&D and also intends to accelerate its international development, by opening new offices in Asia in particular. Pasqal has a hundred employees and intends to double this number “in the coming months”.
Quantum at the service of concrete issues
Pasqal manufactures neutral atom quantum processors. By merging with Dutch start-up Qu&Co last January, Pasqal set itself the goal of delivering a 1,000-qubit quantum solution.
Pasqal offers algorithms for optimization problems and quantum machine learning, with its Pusler coding platform, which allows to control processors based on neutral atoms at the level of laser pulses.
The company plans to increase the production of its quantum computers and to accelerate the development of proprietary algorithms for key sectors such as energy, chemistry and even the automobile.
The “hype” for quantum has contributed to the emergence of a host of new players in recent years. The French start-ups Pasqal, Alice & Bob, Qubit Pharmaceuticals or even more recently Siquance took the starting line.