Twelve Ontario quantum tech companies are receiving a combined $17.2 million in repayable funding from the federal government.
Spanning from the Greater Toronto Area through the Waterloo Region to Ottawa, the companies received funding amounts ranging from $113,000 to over $3 million. The investments, being made through FedDev Ontario through the Regional Quantum Initiative, are aimed at supporting the commercialization of various quantum products.
The federal government launched its $360-million National Quantum Strategy early last year.
“Southern Ontario is well-positioned for quantum breakthroughs because we are home to world-leading research centres and high-potential quantum companies, like the ones we are celebrating today,” FedDev Ontario minister Filomena Tassi said in a statement.
Canada has been looking to up its quantum game in recent years. The government said these latest investments are part of its $360-million National Quantum Strategy, which launched earlier last year. The strategy aims to support three core pillars of Canada’s quantum sector: research, talent, and commercialization. The new funding for all 12 companies comes in the form of a repayable investment, according to the government.
Toronto-based Xanadu is receiving $3.75 million as part of this investment to help the company advance its PennyLane quantum programming software. Xanadu became a Canadian unicorn in November 2022 when it raised $100 million USD in Series C financing.
Waterloo-based High Q Technologies has also received a $3.75-million repayable investment to support product enhancements as the startup launches its systems into the pharmaceutical sector to aid in the process of discovering new medicine. Founded in 2013, High Q develops quantum-enabled scientific instruments for ultra-high sensitivity biophysical and chemical analysis.
RELATED: Xanadu’s Christian Weedbrook among Quantum Industry Canada’s three new board appointments
Toronto-based biotechnology startup ProteinQure has received $700,000 in federal funding to bring quantum computing into the company’s existing platform, which uses artificial intelligence to discover new medicines. ProteinQure has previously received investments from 8VC, Golden Ventures, Inovia Capital, and Global Founders Capital.
Other funding recipients include Toronto companies AI Incorporated, CogniFrame, Good Labs Studio, and Qoherent; Ottawa companies Crypto4A and Quantropi; and Waterloo Region companies Foqus, ForeQast, and ISARA.
“Businesses in this sector are creating incredible technologies and our government is providing support so they can bring them to market faster, advancing Canada’s role as a world leader in quantum technologies,” Tassi added.
Ottawa’s funding comes a few months after French quantum computing firm PASQAL launched a $90-million initiative within Québec-based DistriQ to conduct quantum computing research, manufacturing and commercialization activities in Sherbrooke, Québec.
Feature image courtesy IBM Research via Flickr.
The post Ontario companies receiving $17.2 million in federal funding to commercialize quantum solutions first appeared on BetaKit.
Originally published on BetaKit : Original article