Classiq, an Israeli quantum computing startup, announced a $10.5 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by Team8 and Wing Venture Capital, with additional participation from Entrée Capital, OurCrowd and IN Venture, the corporate venture arm of Sumitomo Corporation in Israel.

Doing the impossible

Classiq develops a quantum computing platform that allows for new methods of quantum algorithm development. The company is the first to develop a system that is capable of translating human thoughts into quantum circuits and provide the basic elements for quantum algorithms.

According to the Israeli company, the quantum computing realm is on the verge of a major leap forward, with companies such as IBM, Google, Intel and Amazon, among others, already developing quantum computing technology and seeing amazing progress, with the goal of solving complex problems in science, medicine, machine learning and more. “After decades of research, only a tiny number of quantum algorithms have actually been developed. Quantum computing hardware is advancing fast, but there are still major challenges in upgrading the software due to the absence of abstraction - software development’s most basic principle,” stated the company.

CEO Nir Minerbi explained in a conversation with Geektime that despite quantum computing coming back in the 80s, only in recent years has the sector gone through a revolution: “There basic problems that have yet to be solved. One of the main issues that software development for quantum computers is a close to impossible task. Even with the perfect quantum hardware the software would create a bottleneck in the process. This is the issue that Classiq solves, fitting quantum developers with quantum algorithms, revolutionizing the industry for years to come.”

Even though quantum computing is rapidly climbing the corporate focus ladder, it is still a mystery to many who want to get involved. So, what do you do when VCs demand bottom line from an industry just taking its initial steps?

According to Minerbi, “there are investors who only focus on the capital, and not enough on the venture. Nevertheless, despite a multitude of VCs competing to invest in the company, we decided to go with those investors who have vision.”

Minerbi noted that Classiq’s vision is to emerge from a field that’s deemed impossible - with the goal of integrating into a sector that “is going to revolutionize major industry and change the computing world as we know it.” Minerbi added that “If quantum computing explodes -- we are the company leading the quantum software charge…”

Classiq was founded in 2020 by Nir Minerbi, CTO Dr. Yehuda Naveh, and VP R&D Amir Naveh. The company raised Seed from Entrée Capital not long after it was established, and to date has raised $14.5 million.