Qunnect Raises $8M in Series A Funding, Led by Airbus Ventures

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Oct 05, 2022, 09:00 ET

The quantum communications company also announces the launch of its groundbreaking metropolitan quantum network, being built to demonstrate the company's integrated product suite to support entanglement-based communication protocols over existing telecom infrastructure in New York City.

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Oct. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Qunnect, the leader in quantum internet technologies, today announces its Series A financing of over $8M, led by Airbus Ventures, with additional participation from Quantonation, SandboxAQ, NY Ventures, Impact Science Ventures, and Motus Ventures. Spearheaded by CEO Dr. Noel Goddard and founders Dr. Mehdi Namazi and Mael Flament, Qunnect is developing quantum-secure networking technology designed for scalable deployment on existing telecom fiber infrastructure. These new funds will be used to further develop their product suite, scale manufacturing, and launch a multi-node R&D quantum network testbed to demonstrate entanglement distribution protocols. This network, connected to existing fiber optic cable in New York City, will be the first of its kind in the US.

Qunnect’s Qu-Mem is the first commercial quantum memory on the market and sits in a standard server rack without the need for extreme cooling or vacuum infrastructure support. (Source: Qunnect)

"We are very proud to announce the establishment of our state-of-the-art testbed in the US, especially significant news, given the announcement of the Nobel Prize for the elegant physics enabling quantum communication. This testbed will open the door for customers in financial services, critical infrastructure, and telecom to test our technologies in the New York metropolitan area," explains CEO Dr. Noel Goddard. "This project allows us to showcase our first-of-their-kind quantum memory and entanglement sources, as well as our quantum network support hardware for precise timing and qubit stabilization. On this journey, we are thrilled to have the support of Airbus Ventures, a leading quantum investor who shares our vision of developing quantum technologies to lead the next wave of ultra-secure communications."

Qunnect's products, including an entangled photon source with unrivaled compatibility to atomic-based devices and a high fidelity quantum memory, are key enablers for applications in quantum sensing and computing. Qunnect's true value will be in the integration of these technologies, into a holistic suite to realize long distance quantum communication protocols. These protocols eliminate the vulnerabilities of first-generation Quantum Key Distribution systems, which are fundamentally limited in distance and require relay nodes to scale, resulting in security risks.

"At Airbus Ventures, we are particularly interested in investing in enabling technologies that make quantum practically usable, out of the lab environment and into the real world, where these portfolio companies can aid in tangibly addressing major security challenges being faced today," notes Airbus Ventures Partner Nicole Conner. "We were immediately drawn to Noel and her leadership, quickly paving the way as the leading voice in quantum internet technology, and we are confident that the team's breakthrough testbed at Brooklyn Navy Yard is just the beginning of a sequence of transformative work. We are proud to back such an exceptional team and to be joined by such an incredible investor syndicate."

The majority of quantum networking technologies seen in the research community require extreme cooling and/or high vacuum support infrastructure. In contrast, Qunnect's first-in-class solutions support real-world deployment and scalability, designed to be operational at room temperature - rather than fragile, climate-controlled laboratory settings.

"We have spent the last several years tailoring every one of our quantum devices to meet the requirements of large-scale, telecom-integrated quantum networking. Now that we have the team and the support, with special thanks to the Airbus Ventures team, we are now ready to start our next phase with a concentrated focus on scalability and field-deployment," remarks Mehdi Namazi, Qunnect Co-Founder and CSO.

In September 2021, the company commercialized the world's first Quantum Memory, a critical component in enabling long-distance quantum-secure communication protocols. Building on this achievement, once its first generation product suite is complete in mid-2023, Qunnect will be poised to provide the first distributed entanglement network on the commercial market.

About Qunnect

Qunnect innovates and commercializes the core technologies needed for scalable quantum-safe communication. In 2021, the company commercialized the world's first quantum memory. The memory serves as the cornerstone to Qunnect's Quantum Repeater product suite, an integrated solution for long distance distribution of entanglement across existing telecommunications infrastructure. The company is Headquartered in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. Qunnect is grateful for research support from the US Department of Energy, the US Air Force and the National Science Foundation.

About Airbus Ventures

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices in Toulouse and Tokyo, Airbus Ventures is a fast-moving, early-stage venture capital company that independently funds and supports startups set to shift both the aerospace industry and our planetary system to a sustainable future. Airbus Ventures has helped aspiring innovators reach new dimensions of achievement since 2015.

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SOURCE Qunnect