IBM joins Series A round of quantum computing company Qedma. Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.
Qedma, an Israel-based company specialising in solutions for quantum computing errors, has secured $26m (NIS87bn) in Series A funding, with IBM among the new investors.
The investment round was led by Glilot Capital Partners, alongside Korean Investment Partners and existing supporters including TPY Capital.
Qedma was founded in 2020 following collaborative discussions among Technion physicist Netanel Lindner, Asif Sinay, and Hebrew University professor Dorit Aharonov.
The trio came together over insights into noise patterns in quantum devices and error correction strategies, establishing a firm focused on integrating theoretical and practical solutions to quantum errors.
Qedma aims to tackle the critical issue of quantum noise resilience and plans to demonstrate quantum advantage through collaborations with various companies and research institutions.
According to the start-up, quantum computing faces significant challenges due to errors that arise as systems grow in size and complexity. Existing error correction techniques, though theoretically effective, require substantial overhead, which often involve up to 1,000 qubits to correct errors for a single qubit.
Qedma’s software is engineered to accelerate progress towards practical quantum computing by reducing these errors. It is said to enhance hardware performance and enable larger-scale computations than currently possible.
The company’s solution works by executing a protocol when a user requests a quantum algorithm. This protocol identifies the noise characteristics unique to each device and adjusts the algorithm to suppress specific types of errors.
Remaining errors are mitigated through post-processing methods. As technology advances, Qedma aims to integrate proprietary error correction techniques combined with mitigation strategies for increased reliability.
Qedma CEO and co-founder Sinay said: “While the industry is making massive investments in quantum computing infrastructure and scaling the number of qubits, our platform-agnostic approach allows us to extract maximum value from existing hardware across all quantum computing architectures.
“By accelerating the timeline to practical quantum computing, we’re establishing a fundamental foundation that will become even more crucial as quantum systems scale.”
In September 2024, Qedma joined forces with IBM to offer its Quantum Error Suppression and Error Mitigation (QESEM) software via the latter’s Qiskit Functions platform.
The collaboration with IBM focuses on addressing noise-induced errors in quantum operations. These errors present a major challenge in achieving Quantum Advantage, where quantum computers surpass classical systems in practical applications.
By integrating QESEM, quantum developers, data scientists, and computational scientists are expected to interact with quantum computers as seamlessly as they do with classical systems. This approach allows for the efficient execution of quantum algorithms without the need for extensive qubit overheads, said Qedma.
IBM venture capital global head Emily Fontaine said: “Qedma continues to make meaningful contributions that are progressing the quantum computing space at a pivotal time in the industry.
“We’re excited to see their next chapter as they scale their impact, working towards their mission to advance quantum computation and provide error reduction software solutions to the quantum ecosystem.”
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