Q.ANT receives double-digit million amount

The Stuttgart-based start-up is thus entering the development of quantum chips in full, with the first prototype expected to be available as early as 2022. The money comes from the parent company Trumpf.

Start-up Q.Ant is moving into the development of quantum chips, receiving a double-digit million sum from its parent company Trumpf. "The developers of Q.ANT have succeeded in connecting the optical world of quanta to the electronic world," explains Trumpf CTO Peter Leibinger. "Our renewed investment is therefore the logical next step in paving the way for the development and production of quantum computer chips made in Germany."

The start-up, based in Stuttgart-Vahingen, has developed the photonic chip process by which special light channels can be applied to silicon chips. This process should allow today's established electronic mainframe computers to be enhanced with quantum technology processors to significantly increase their computing power. The company expects quantum technology to enter "the world's data centers" considerably earlier than expected, Leibinger says.

Q.ant plans to develop chip components for quantum computers by June 2022, with the first prototype available shortly thereafter. "We are currently in talks with strategic partners from various industries to put applications into practice as quickly as possible," says Michael Förtsch, CEO of Q.ant. To achieve this, the team is also set to increase from 20 today to 120 employees by the end of 2022. The Stuttgart-based company spun off from the family-owned company Trumpf in 2018.

Large corporations such as Google or IBM rely on a different technology in their quantum research in contrast to the Stuttgart-based start-up, but Q.ant does not see this as a disadvantage. "We were able to prove in various test scenarios that quantum computer chips can also be used in ordinary data centers in the future with our technology, because they require neither particularly complex cooling nor a vibration-free environment," explains Förtsch. He adds, "Our manufacturing process is simple compared to other quantum computing platforms," and sees this as "a major competitive advantage." Q.ant aims to have developed a functional quantum chip in five years at the latest, with production to take place in Ulm at Trumpf Photonic Components, which also belongs to Trumpf.