Photonic, a Vancouver-based firm developing a scalable and fault-tolerant platform, said it raised the funds from Microsoft, Inovia Capital, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and others. Photonic also announced a partnership with Microsoft to combine expertise to advance quantum computing. (The Logic)
Talking point: The company, which has more than 120 staff and recently opened offices in the U.K. and U.S., has raised US$140 million to date. Canadian physicists Stephanie Simmons and Michael Thewalt co-founded Photonic in 2016. Simmons, who is chief quantum officer at Photonic, also co-chairs the advisory council for Canada’s National Quantum Strategy, which launched earlier this year and is looking to support quantum research, talent development and commercialization in the country. Photonic is one of a handful of quantum-computing firms in Canada working to commercialize advances in the disruptive field, including Burnaby, B.C.-based D-Wave, Toronto’s Xanadu and Vancouver’s 1QBit.