Success stories for quantum in Australia

Here are some major wins from the growing quantum sector in Australia. 

Q-CTRL 

Q-CTRL, is a quantum technology software company.In July 2023, the company announced Morpheus Ventures as a new investor. This brings their Series B funding round to USD$54 million, a record for quantum software. 

In November 2023, the company announced its quantum infrastructure software as an option on the IBM Quantum Pay-As-You-Go plan. The integration provides user-friendly functionality to address the main challenge facing quantum computing end-users: unreliable results from algorithms in today’s hardware. 

In October 2023, it announced a partnership with the Quad Investors Network for quantum technology training in Australia and the USA. Q-CTRL's Black Opal quantum educational technology software will help provide the training. 

QuantX Labs 

QuantX Labs is a world-leader in high-precision timing and quantum sensor technologies.In June 2023, the company received $3.7 million from the Australian Government’s Moon to Mars Demonstrator Grant. Their project is to develop and demonstrate quantum tech–enabled precision timing reference instruments. These instruments can improve the accuracy of positioning systems such as GPS. They can also improve productivity in critical sectors like agriculture, resources and defence. 

In September 2023, QuantX received the SME of the Year award at the Australian Defence Industry Awards. The company has been developing quantum sensors and clocks to support Australian Defence Forces.

Sydney Quantum Academy

Sydney Quantum Academy is a partnership between Macquarie University, UNSW Sydney, the University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney.

Our department funded Sydney Quantum Academy to manage the National Quantum Collaboration Initiative (NQCI). The NQCI is a core component of theme 3 of Australia’s National Quantum Strategy.

The Academy staged the 2023 Quantum Australia Conference and Careers Fair. It brought together 829 researchers, industry players and government from around the world. Feedback surveys showed 84% found it beneficial and 84% would recommend the event to others.

Silicon Quantum Computing

Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) is a company that manufactures with quantum precision.

In July 2023, SQC closed their Series A capital raising at $50.4 million. SQC is working to manufacture the world’s first scalable, error corrected quantum computer. Among their investors are the Australian Government and some of Australia’s most prominent institutions. These include the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Telstra and the University of New South Wales.

In October 2023, Founder and Director Professor Michelle Simmons, received the 2023 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. The award recognises her for creating the new field of atomic electronics. Her discoveries are powering the transition from the digital to the quantum age. 

Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre 

The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre is a joint venture between CSIRO, Curtin University, Murdoch University, The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University. 

In February 2024, Pawsey announced it will deploy Nvidia's CUDA Quantum computing platform at its National Supercomputing and Quantum Computing Innovation Hub. Researchers at Pawsey will use the platform to study quantum machine learning, chemistry simulations, and image processing for radio astronomy. 

Quantum Brilliance 

Quantum Brilliance specialise in quantum computing platforms, including room‑temperature diamond‑based quantum accelerators. 

In February 2023, Quantum Brilliance raised A$26 million from investors. These include Breakthrough Victoria, Main Sequence, Investible, Ultratech Capital, MA Financial, Jelix Ventures, Rampersand and CM Equity. 

The funding will help the company expand overseas and work with new partners, like Nvidia to develop a hybrid quantum-classical computing platform. 

University of Sydney 

In February 2023, University of Sydney announced a $7.4 million investment to expand its quantum technology facilities to create the Future Qubit Foundry at the Sydney Nanoscience Hub. 

The facility will use the University of Sydney's research experience in advanced quantum technologies and position it to contribute to the next-generation design of qubits. 

Diraq 

In July 2023, start-up Diraq received a $3 million grant from a one-off $7 million fund by the NSW Quantum Computing Commercialisation Fund (QCCF). The grant aims to progress NSW's program to develop a quantum computer. The QCCF is a competitive funding program that Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer administer. 

Other recipients of the $7 million QCCF fund included Q-CTRL ($2.34 million) and Quantum Brilliance ($1.44 million). 

CSIRO 

LandTEM is an Australian technology developed by CSIRO that uses quantum sensors to detect very weak magnetic fields. This makes it ideal for finding deep bodies of particular ores, including nickel sulphide, copper and silver. 

It has helped discover more than $10 billion of ore deposits around the world with $4 billion of these discoveries located in Australia.