Quantum computing startup Riverlane more than doubled its spending on research and development (R&D) in 2023 amid a flurry of investment in the sector.
The UK-based company — which is building technology that helps quantum computers make fewer errors — saw R&D costs rise from £2.7m in 2022 to £7m in 2023, according to its latest company accounts. Losses before tax rose from £6.2m to £8.3m, while administrative expenses fell from £7m to £5.4m.
Quantum has already hit record funding levels in 2024 as investor confidence has surged over the past few years, driven by research breakthroughs and increasing commercial interest. Globally, startups in the sector have raised $1.8bn since the start of the year, according to Dealroom, an increase from $1.3bn in 2021.
Riverlane raised a $75m Series C in August led by Planet First Partners, featuring participation from Amadeus Capital Partners and the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF). The company previously got backing from Molten Ventures and has raised $125m since being founded in 2016.
Commercialising quantum tech
Scientists expect that quantum computers will unleash unprecedented computational power once fully developed. But scaling them to the point of commercial use has been difficult because qubits — the quantum equivalent of bits in a normal computer — are prone to errors.
Riverlane is building a chip that sits inside quantum computers and runs software to carry out quantum error correction. Currently, its chip can support up to 1,000 qubits — which aligns with the latest generation of quantum computers unveiled by manufacturers like IBM or French startup Pasqal.
The startup plans to release a new chip by the end of 2026, which will be 10 times larger and could support up to 10k qubits, CEO Steve Brierley told Sifted in August. He added that most of Riverlane’s Series C funds would go towards product development.
While Riverlane’s revenue dropped slightly from £2.1m 2022 to £2m in 2023, Brierley says the startup has inked partnerships with French quantum computing company Alice & Bob, as well as US startup Atlantic Quantum in 2024.
It previously secured partnerships with a dozen companies building quantum computers, including publicly-listed businesses like California-based Rigetti, private companies including US scaleups Infleqtion and QuEra and national labs such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre.
“We’re seeing a huge increase in demand for error correction, which is why we took the opportunity to raise a round,” Brierley told Sifted in August.
Riverlane’s not the only quantum startup focused on error correction to cash in on investor interest. In 2023, UK-based Phasecraft raised £13m, Ukraine-US startup Haiqu raised $4m and Finland’s Algorithmiq picked up €13.7m.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/riverlane-ramps-up-spending-news/
