Israeli quantum computing firm Classiq raises $110 million in private funding

JERUSALEM, May 12 (Reuters) - Israeli quantum computing startup Classiq has raised $110 million in a mid-stage private funding round, it said on Monday, bringing its total fundraising to $173 million.

Quantum computing holds the promise of carrying out calculations that would take today’s systems millions of years, and could unlock discoveries in medicine, chemistry and many other fields.

Classiq's latest funding round was led by Entree Capital, with participation from Norwest, NightDragon, Hamilton Lane, Clal, Neva SGR, Phoenix, Team8, IN Venture, Wing, HSBC, Samsung Next and QBeat, as well as other new and existing investors, it said.

The company, founded in 2020, said it has tripled its customer base and revenue annually and is used by many large companies such as BMW, Citi, Deloitte, Mizuho and Toshiba, while collaborating with Microsoft, Nvidia, AWS and many universities.

"We are building the Microsoft of quantum computing," said Nir Minerbi, CEO and co-founder of Classiq, adding that the group is "delivering the essential software stack" for the development of real-world quantum applications.

Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, Cisco and Amazon have all announced quantum computing chips in recent months, and Nvidia plans to open its own quantum computing lab. Startups such as PsiQuantum are also raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build systems.