Qedma’s team (minus remote team members) | Image Credits:Eyal Toueg for Qedma <\/p>\n
Despite their imposing presence, quantum computers are delicate beasts, and their errors are among the main bottlenecks that the quantum computing community is actively working to address. Failing this, promising applications in finance, drug discovery, and materials science may never become real.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the reason why Google touted the error correction capacities of its latest quantum computing chip, Willow<\/a>. And IBM is both working on delivering its own \u201cfault-tolerant\u201d quantum computer<\/a> by 2029 and collaborating with partners like Qedma<\/a>, an Israeli startup in which it also invested, as TechCrunch learned exclusively.<\/p>\n Invest in Gold <\/p>\n Powered by Money.com – Yahoo may earn commission from the links above. <\/p>\n While most efforts focus on hardware<\/a>, Qedma specializes in error mitigation software. Its main piece of software, QESEM, or quantum error suppression and error mitigation, analyzes noise patterns to suppress some classes of errors while the algorithm is running and mitigate others in post-processing.<\/p>\n Qedma\u2019s co-founder and chief scientific officer, Professor Dorit Aharonov, once described as a member of \u201cquantum royalty\u201d<\/a> for her and her father\u2019s contributions to the field, said this enables quantum circuits up to 1,000 times larger<\/a> to run accurately on today\u2019s hardware, without waiting for further advancements on error correction at the computer level.<\/p>\n IBM itself does both quantum hardware and software, and some of its partners, like French startup Pasqal<\/a>, also develop their own hardware. But it sees value as well in partnering with companies more narrowly focusing on the software layer, like Qedma and Tiger Global-backed Finnish startup Algorithmiq<\/a>, its VP of Quantum, Jay Gambetta, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because IBM thinks driving quantum further requires a community effort. \u201cIf we all work together, I do think it\u2019s possible that we will get scientific accepted definitions of quantum advantage in the near future, and I hope that we can then turn them into more applied use cases that will grow the industry,\u201d Gambetta said.<\/p>\n \u201cQuantum advantage\u201d usually refers to demonstrating the usefulness of quantum over classical computers. \u201cBut useful is a very subjective term,\u201d Gambetta said. In all likelihood, it will first apply to an academic problem, not a practical one. In this context, it may take more than one attempt to build consensus that it\u2019s not just another artificial or overly constrained scenario.<\/p>\n Still, having a quantum computer execute a program that a classical computer can\u2019t simulate with the same accuracy would be an important step for the industry \u2014 and Qedma claims it is getting closer. \u201cIt\u2019s possible that already within this year, we\u2019ll be able to demonstrate with confidence that the quantum advantage is here,\u201d CEO and co-founder Asif Sinay said.<\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n With a doctorate in physics, Sinay previously worked as a physicist at Magic Leap<\/a>, then a multi-billion-worth AR company with a large R&D center in Israel. Like the founders of several Israeli startups, from Metacafe<\/a> to Wiz<\/a>, he is also a Talpion \u2014 an alum from Israel\u2019s elite military program Talpiot<\/a>, where one of his classmates was Lior Litwak.<\/p>\n Litwak is now a managing partner at Israeli VC firm Glilot Capital Partners<\/a>, which led Qedma\u2019s $26 million Series A through its early growth fund, Glilot+, which he heads. The round included participation from existing investors such as TPY Capital, which backed Qedma\u2019s $4.7 million seed round in 2020, as well as new investors including Korean Investment Partners \u2014 and IBM.<\/p>\n Since last September, Qedma has been available through IBM\u2019s Qiskit Functions Catalog<\/a>, which makes quantum more accessible to end users. Sinay noted the synergies between the two companies, but emphasized that Qedma\u2019s plans are hardware-agnostic.<\/p>\n The startup has already conducted a demo on the Aria computer from IonQ<\/a>, a publicly listed U.S. company focused on trapped ion quantum computing. In addition, Qedma has an evaluation agreement with an unnamed partner Sinay described as \u201cthe largest company in the market.\u201d Recently, it also presented<\/a> its collaboration with Japan\u2019s RIKEN on how to combine quantum with supercomputers.<\/p>\n