The QC startup ecosystem is getting bigger by the month, though still microscopic compared to other disruptive technologies
A Growing Industry
At TQD we always like to see new startups rise up and show us what they are capable of achieving. Now, although the quantum computing startup scene is tiny compared to AI, VR and other disruptive technologies, with time this metric is sure to change.
As of September 2020, according to TQD’s extensive dataset, there are circa 200 companies actively doing business yet to get that magical IPO, ranging from newly-formed startups to ones with a much longer history (as far as QC goes, anyway), like D-Wave Systems and M-Squared Lasers; whereas, in contrast, AI startups number in the thousands.
And it’s no surprise, really — for the craze for deep learning, big data and artificial general intelligence, alive and kicking since Alan Turing’s theory of computation, never seems to wain. We’ve already lived through several AI winters, as well as a few other seasonal variations, and this has made little impact on the industry as there are still AI startups appearing all the time.
The story with QC’s rise is more snail-like in tempo, but there are no surprises there, for, we are, in reality, in the very early stages, like AI was some five or six decades ago.
That is why, when a new one begins its corporate life, it fills TQD with joy. Because it is here, in these moments of bringing new life to fruition, that make our efforts so worthwhile.
Qoherent, an early-stage QC startup founded in Toronto, Canada is grafting overtime to build coherence in QC.
Qoherent
With assistance from the University of Toronto and York University, Qoherent’s founder, Ashkan Beigi, has something special up his sleeve. As a startup that is just finding its feet, he is not under pressure to disclose what that ‘special’ something is at present.
And why would he?
Proverbs 11:13 states: “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.”
Beigi must’ve read the above quote, for the best course of action these days for QC startups is to keep your hand very close to your chest, lest IP rights disappear in a puff of smoke.
Accelerating the development of advanced wireless technologies and making quantum computing a reality.
— Qoherent
Although I address the IP problem humorously, as time goes by — and QC becomes a more prominent technology — things like this will happen.
A lot.
Or maybe Qoherent’s bluffing. Maybe Beigi and his team have nothing to offer.
But I doubt it: the startup wouldn’t have been accepted on the Creative Destruction Lab Quantum Stream program 2019–2020 otherwise, and is still part of the current cohorts of NEXT Founders and LaunchYU.
No bullshit there, then.
Beigi, Qoherent’s founder, has a degree in engineering physics from McMaster University and an MBA in strategic management, entrepreneurial studies and marketing from the Schulich School of Business, York University. This combination of science and business education will surely be an advantage to him as Qoherent begins life in the competitive and demanding world of QC. With s small team of physics and project management specialists, Qoherent’s target of ‘accelerating the development of advanced wireless technologies and making quantum computing a reality’ may one day become a reality.
