Tel Aviv startup pulls in $110 million to become the ‘Microsoft of quantum computing’
Classiq has built a software platform to facilitate programming for quantum computers, which have the massive computational horsepower needed to address complex real-world problems
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel
Israeli quantum software startup Classiq Technologies has secured $110 million from investors, as the global race to develop practical and useful software to make quantum computing more workable and accessible heats up.
The financing round was led by global venture capital fund Entrée Capital, with participation from Norwest, NightDragon, Hamilton Lane, Clal, Neva SGR, Phoenix, Team8, IN Venture, Wing, HSBC, Samsung Next and QBeat. To date, Classiq has raised a total of $173 million in capital from investors.
Founded in 2020 by CEO Nir Minerbi, CTO Yehuda Naveh and his son CPO Amir Naveh, Classiq has developed a software operating platform that works across all major types of quantum hardware. The platform is tailored to help data scientists, computational scientists, and engineers work on quantum algorithms and build programs and applications with high-performance computational power that hold the promise of speeding up solutions to today’s most complex real-world problems.
“We are building the Microsoft of quantum computing – a software layer that powers the next generation of quantum applications, just as Microsoft did for classical computing,” said Classiq’s Minerbi. “Microsoft’s Windows made computers easier to use and allowed millions of people to build software without worrying about the machine underneath.”
“Quantum computing is at a similar point today as personal computing was back then: It’s powerful but hard to use… and we are delivering the essential software stack to empower the development of real-world quantum applications,” he added.
The platform simplifies the creation and design of complex quantum circuits and is geared to allow businesses and organizations without in-house quantum experts to build quantum applications that can resolve complex calculations in areas such as the automotive industry, automation, finance, and drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry.
Quantum computing harnesses quantum mechanics and abstract physics to perform numerous calculations at once to rapidly solve problems that are too complex for the most powerful classical computers to handle. Quantum computers process exponentially more data compared to classical computers, using quantum bits, or qubits, the basic unit of quantum information.
Minerbi said that the newly raised funds will be used to advance the startup’s global expansion across Europe, Asia, and North America, as it seeks to become the “standard development platform for quantum applications across industry, government, and academia.” Classiq, which employs 65 people, plans to double its workforce over the coming year.
Its customers include BMW, Rolls-Royce, Citi, Deloitte, Toshiba, HSBC, and Sumitomo. Classiq has inked partnerships with cloud providers Microsoft Azure Quantum, AWS Braket, Nvidia, and Google Quantum Cloud. In addition, the startup’s platform is integrated into the curriculum of top-tier universities and academic institutions that offer quantum computing courses and research, including MIT in the US and UCL in the UK.
Classiq was selected last year to be part of the country’s first quantum computing center (IQCC), funded by the Israel Innovation Authority. The center was established in June to help Israel compete in the global race to develop practical quantum computing capabilities.
The launch of the IQCC comes as countries like China, the United States, Germany, India, and Japan are pouring huge funds into developing their exclusive quantum abilities, vying for supremacy in what promises to be the new age of computing.
Israel is home to 22 quantum computing startups, according to Startup Nation Central data. Quantum computing startups this year raised about $289 million in fresh capital, including Classiq’s financing round and the $170 million in funding secured by Quantum Machines. In 2024, investments in quantum computing startups in Israel reached $82 million, up from about $42 million a year earlier.
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