Oratomic raises $300 million to build a viable quantum computer that only needs 20,000 qubits

A A number of companieswho are betting on different architectural approaches, are trying to build the first commercially viable quantum computer capable of significantly outperforming existing systems.

Oratomywhich entered the race earlier this year with the goal of developing the first large-scale quantum computer by the end of the decade, said this week it had raised $300 million. The massive Series A round was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Bezos Expeditions, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, LowCarbon Capital, Bain Capital, and others.

Oratomic, founded by physicists from the California Institute of Technology, uses lasers, which act as optical tweezers, to hold individual atoms in place as the basis of its quantum computer.

The startup was launched after its researchers discovered that their approach could correct errors using far fewer qubits – the basic unit of quantum computing – than previously thought. Since quantum computers are sensitive to noise, efficient error correction is key to turning them into truly useful tools.

“Previously you wouldn’t have been able to convince any of us to start a quantum computing company, because we thought it was too far away,” Dolev Blufstein, co-founder and CEO of Oratomic, told TechCrunch. “Only when we made this final breakthrough did we all change our minds at once.”

While most other quantum companies provide prototypes to scientists and research companies, Oratomic has no plans to develop or sell these systems, known as noisy intermediate-scale quantum, or NISQ.

Blufstein noted that Oratomic should not be compared to PsiQuantum, an undervalued startup 7 billion dollars last September, which also passed the NISQ stage and aims to deliver a viable million-qubit quantum computer by the end of next year.

Oratomic’s approach is fundamentally simpler and less expensive, Blufstein said. “The difference is that we need approximately 10,000 to 20,000 qubits to build a useful computer, and we have already experimentally demonstrated all the basic components required for such a computer on a slightly smaller scale,” he said.

A large-scale quantum computer could facilitate breakthroughs in any field that requires complex calculations, from biotechnology, chemistry and logistics to artificial intelligence and cryptography.

Companies that are building these machines and developing software to use them have seen a wave of enthusiasm from investors recently. Several startups in this space, including Infleqtion and Quantanium, went public this year. Meanwhile, established public companies like Rigetti and IonQ have seen their stock prices rise over the past 18 months.

However, investor Vinod Khosla is so confident that Oratomic will build the first fault-tolerant quantum computer that he Written on X It was his company’s “largest seed investment to date.”