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Sydney-based quantum computing architecture startup Iceberg Quantum has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding as the company strikes its first major partnership with PsiQuantum, a US group developing a silicon photonic quantum computer in Brisbane.
The pre-seed round was led by Australian venture capitalist Blackbird and supported by UK-based LocalGlobe as Iceberg Quantum tackles a critical challenge in realising useful quantum computing - the enormous hardware overhead required for quantum error correction.
The Australian startup - which was founded by University of Sydney PhD alumni Felix Thomsen, Larry Cohen and Sam Smith - plans to apply its fault-tolerant architectures to PsiQuantum’s photonic platform.
Iceberg Quantum sees the next generation of fault-tolerant quantum architectures as essential to accelerate the advent of useful quantum computing.
The company says that because qubits (quantum bits) are inherently noisier than transistors, useful quantum computers need fault-tolerant architectures that continuously detect and correct errors.
“Current approaches demand vast numbers of qubits to achieve this, but by leveraging breakthroughs in a new class of quantum error-correcting codes, Iceberg Quantum aims to cut that overhead by over an order of magnitude, accelerating the path to practical quantum computing,” says the company.
The Iceberg Quantum technology was developed while the founders were pursuing their PhD at University of Sydney under the supervision of Professor Stephen Bartlett, a world leader in quantum error correction and who has since joined the company as an advisor.
During his research, Cohen developed the first general-purpose scheme for performing logic gates with quantum LDPC (Low-Density Parity-Check) codes, revealing a dramatically more efficient path to fault-tolerant quantum computing.
“We are fast approaching the useful quantum computing era and are proud to see Australians leading the charge,” says Michael Tolo, partner at Blackbird.
“Since the announcement that Brisbane will host the world’s first useful quantum computer, we have seen the next generation of local research talent emerge with the ambition to leave their mark.
“The technical progress that Felix, Larry and Sam have made over the last six months shows us that their approach could accelerate the timeline to useful quantum computing and push these systems to perform more valuable tasks, sooner.”
Tolo notes that the team has grown since participating in Blackbird’s flagship deep and biotech founder program known as Foundry last year, before the company had even been incorporated.
“We invest behind unique insights and velocity of progress, and this team has both in spades,” he says.
The partnership with PsiQuantum, a leader in photonic quantum computing that is aiming to build the first utility-scale quantum computer in Brisbane by 2027, is a major coup for Iceberg Quantum. The Silicon Valley-based PsiQuantum last year secured a pledge of about $940 million from the federal government for the quantum computer project.
"Australia has long been a global leader in fault-tolerant quantum architectures, setting the direction for the field,” says Professor Terry Rudolph, co-founder and chief architect at PsiQuantum.
“Its next generation of talent will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of quantum computing.
“PsiQuantum is proud to partner with Iceberg Quantum, emerging from the world-leading group at the University of Sydney, to advance quantum theory and fault tolerance.
“Bridging cutting-edge research with real-world quantum systems is critical, and we look forward to seeing how this collaboration drives the next generation of fault-tolerant quantum architectures, including at our Brisbane facility."
Iceberg Quantum will use its $2 million in pre-seed funding to build a team of quantum architects, fully dedicated to designing LDPC-based architectures that make fault-tolerant quantum computing possible with far less overhead.
The company says that by focusing entirely on this challenge, Iceberg aims to drive rapid progress and shorten the timeline for commercially useful quantum applications by years.
"Quantum computing has seen some exciting progress recently, but there’s still a lot of work to do to realise the potential of this technology,” says Thomsen, the CEO of Iceberg Quantum.
“We believe these LDPC-based fault-tolerant architectures are the key to making useful quantum computing practical with far less overhead and much sooner than otherwise possible. We're thrilled to take the first step toward realising that with this round and our partnership with PsiQuantum."
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