Quantum computing startup Diraq has raised $15 million in a Series 2-A funding round.
The round was led by specialist investor Quantonation, a venture capital fund dedicated to quantum technologies, with participation from Higgins Family Investments and the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Sydney, Diraq builds quantum processors using silicon quantum dot technology.
Quantum dots, also known as semiconductor nanocrystals, have differing optical and electronic properties from larger semiconductor particles which gives them the ability to transport electrons and emit light of various colors when exposed to UV light.
The technology has a number of potential applications, including use in solar cells, fluorescent biological labeling, displays, lighting, and medical imaging.
Diraq is aiming to build a full-stack quantum computer that moves the industry away from what it describes as "large, error-ridden systems" and towards fault-tolerant computing.
The company said its spin-based technology in silicon has already demonstrated qubit control with sufficient fidelity to allow for scalable error correction.
“This new funding will be used to expand our talented team in Australia and launch in the US, as well as capitalize on our existing international partnerships,” said Andrew Dzurak, CEO and founder of Diraq. “To see useful quantum computing deployed cost-efficiently in a commercial timeframe will require billions of qubits. We are working closely with our foundry partners to drive qubit development based on tried and tested CMOS techniques coupled with our proprietary designs.”
He added: “We are focused on delivering energy-efficient processors with billions of qubits on one chip contained in one refrigerator, rather than thousands of chips and refrigerators requiring hundreds of square meters of space in a warehouse.”
This latest funding round extends the previously announced Series A funding round of $20 million led by Allectus Capital.
To date, Diraq has raised $120 million, including research funding from Australian and US government programs.
