US start-up PsiQuantum raising US$750 million in quantum computing race, sources say

Start-ups and major tech firms are chasing quantum computing, with Google, Microsoft and Amazon having unveiled new quantum chips

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PsiQuantum, a US start-up, is raising at least US$750 million in a funding round led by BlackRock. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 11:15am, 25 Mar 2025

Quantum computing start-up PsiQuantum is raising at least US$750 million at a US$6 billion pre-money valuation, according to two people familiar with the matter.

BlackRock was leading the fundraising effort, which had not yet been completed, one of the people said. Unlike some quantum computing start-ups using exotic materials, PsiQuantum is aiming to modify traditional manufacturing techniques from the semiconductor industry.

The company uses existing photonics technology – the same kind of chipmaking used to make the fibre-optic connections for internet communications – at a factory run by GlobalFoundries in New York, saying it plans to make millions of quantum chips.

Scaling up those plans to make a high volume of quantum computing processors was a costly, complex endeavour and required fundraising, one of the people said.

Start-ups and major tech firms alike are chasing quantum computing, which can solve complex problems that would take conventional computers thousands or millions of years, such as predicting how atoms and molecules will interact. Scientists hope to use quantum machines to develop new materials for batteries and new drugs.

In recent months, Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com have all unveiled new quantum computing chips. Last week, Nvidia, the world’s biggest chip firm, said that it would establish a quantum computing research centre in Boston.