Venture Capital News: ColdQuanta Bags $6.75M Seed Investment
2018-07-26
BOULDER, CO, ColdQuanta today announced $6.75M in Seed financing led by Maverick Ventures.
ColdQuanta Inc. today announced $6.75M in Seed financing led by Maverick Ventures, with participation from Global Frontier Investments. The funding will be used to commercialize ColdQuanta's foundational ultracold neutral atom technology in the areas of secure quantum communications, neutral atom quantum computing, and quantum metrology (including timekeeping and navigation). To date, ColdQuanta has been internally financed through contract and product revenue since its founding in 2007. Matthew Kinsella of Maverick and Grant Dollens of Global Frontier have joined the company's board, along with Dr. Timothy Day who has assumed the role of Executive Chairman.
"ColdQuanta was founded upon the vision that quantum technology would someday emerge as a paradigm having significance on par with those of the transistor and the laser," said Dana Anderson, ColdQuanta's CEO. "Having been in the quantum technology manufacturing business since 2007, ColdQuanta is well-poised to enter the emerging quantum era, addressing applications ranging from timekeeping to secure communications, and from navigation to quantum simulation and computation. We are thrilled to embark on this next phase of the company evolution with partners that understand the practical significance of the quantum paradigm and have taken a long-term perspective on the disruptive impact of quantum-enabled technology."
"Quantum Technologies have an extremely bright future in multiple large markets. This partnership between Maverick Ventures, Global Frontier, and the ColdQuanta customers, Board, and employee base, has created a phenomenal world-leading team executing in the neutral atom quantum communications, sensing and computing spaces. We are very pleased and excited to be entering together into the next phase of the company's future," added Timothy Day, ColdQuanta's Executive Chairman.
"Quantum computing is witnessing explosive growth worldwide. Neutral atom based approaches are leading the way in scalable systems for quantum computing, simulation, and communications. The neutral atom technology pioneered by ColdQuanta will be central to transitioning University-based research to commercial systems for real world applications," said Mark Saffman, Professor of Physics at University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member of ColdQuanta's scientific advisory board.
"We believe quantum technologies will be transformative to many industries over the next decade," said Matthew Kinsella, Managing Director, Maverick Ventures. "We were drawn to ColdQuanta due to Dana's background as a pioneer in the space, and the fact that neutral atom systems have shown highly compelling results. We believe ColdQuanta is well positioned to commercialize its significant expertise in ultracold matter enabled technologies, and we are thrilled to be their partners in this journey to become a major provider of quantum technology to the world."
About ColdQuanta
ColdQuanta was founded in 2007 as a spinoff from the JILA Institute and Physics Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Based upon the research of Prof. Dana Anderson, the company focused on developing and commercializing laser-cooled and ultracold atom enabled quantum technologies. It sold its first product in 2008. ColdQuanta has been awarded contracts from numerous federal agencies including DARPA, IARPA, NSF, NASA, NIST and ONR, AFOSR, and ARO to further develop ultracold atom technologies and has sold products to customers in academic, federal, and industrial R&D labs around the world.
ColdQuanta has achieved many "firsts" including the delivery of the first commercial quantum gas (Bose-Einstein Condensate) systems. One such system was delivered to NASA's $70 million Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), which was launched in May 2018 and now resides on the International Space Station.
ColdQuanta's pioneering work will be fundamental to the further development of secure quantum communications networks, quantum inertial sensing and navigation, and quantum information systems.
About Maverick Ventures:
Maverick Ventures is the venture capital arm of Maverick Capital, a global investment firm that has been investing in early stage companies for over 20 years. By working with Maverick Ventures, entrepreneurs get the best of both worlds - a focused, agile team of ventures partners - and the resources, reputation and relationships of a multi-billion dollar fund. Maverick Ventures invests through an evergreen structure that allows it to support entrepreneurs for an indefinite time horizon. Learn more about Maverick Ventures at www.maverickventures.com.
About Global Frontier Investments:
Global Frontier is focused on identifying unique investment opportunities worldwide through its intensive diligence process. GFI seeks to partner with companies at all stages to create long-term value for shareholders.
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