Category: q-ctrl

May 2, 2025

The Gig Guide: ATN appoints new chair

The Australian Technology Network (ATN) of Universities has appointed former chief defence scientist and University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky AO as its new chair. Professor Zelinsky will take the reins from Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne, who has been chair since 2023. He arrives as universities push for a more secure place in…

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April 14, 2025

Q-CTRL claims ‘quantum advantage’ with GPS-free navigation

Quantum technology startup Q-CTRL says it has achieved commercial quantum advantage with a new quantum magnetic navigation system that outperformed the best of conventional GPS back up systems in real-world trials. The Sydney-based Q-CTRL claimed the world-first on Monday, releasing new research that shows the system as reducing positioning uncertainty by up to 50x during…

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April 1, 2025

Local quantum leaders hopeful ‘serious’ govt investment is coming

Australian quantum leaders remain hopeful the federal government will follow its bet on PsiQuantum with future investments in the local quantum scene, arguing “serious money” is needed to build an effective ecosystem. In the wake of a Budget largely devoid of new funding for technology initiatives, local quantum startups that are also vying to build…

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November 19, 2024

ASCA inks $60m in contracts for long-term R&D

The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator has awarded more than $60 million in long-term R&D contracts to local quantum and defence tech companies, universities and the CSIRO. Analog Quantum Circuits, QuantX Labs and Q-CTRL are among the local startups to score contracts under the oversubscribed Emerging and Disruptive Technologies program. A total of 21 projects have…

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October 30, 2024

Q-CTRL founder Michael Biercuk earns Paul Shetler Disruptor Award

Quantum pioneer Professor Michael Biercuk has been named the Paul Shetler Disruptor of the Year at the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence for his work leading Q-CTRL, which is poised to transform countless industries with its quantum computing technology. The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence were presented at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue…

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October 8, 2024

Record $166m Q-CTRL raise shows we’re no ‘quantum kindergarten’

Sydney quantum startup Q-CTRL on Tuesday added an all equity $87 million raise to its multi-year Series B, taking the round past $166 million and bucking fears of a “quantum winter” or ceiling on the local sector. The hardware and software firm will use the money to scale up research and development while growing its…

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September 30, 2024

Creating local ingredients for quantum success

The National Quantum Strategy contains a truly audacious claim: that Australia will build the world’s first error-corrected quantum computer. Is this possible? Australia doesn’t even manufacture conventional computers. Can we really build a quantum computer here? Quantum computers are the technology of tomorrow. By exploiting the strange nature of matter at the smallest scales, quantum machines offer…

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September 10, 2024

Sydney’s Q-CTRL software integrated with quantum hardware giants

Q-CTRL’s software is now part of four leading quantum platforms, including global hardware giant IBM and fellow Sydney challenger Diraq, in another boost for the University of Sydney spinout and the developing local sector. The company’s performance-management software, Fire Opal, will be natively integrated into four platforms, with Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services and Oxford Quantum…

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September 4, 2024

Meet the finalists: Paul Shetler Disrupter of the Year 2024

It is a tremendous pleasure to announce this year’s finalists for the 2024 Paul Shetler Disrupter of the Year category of the InnovationAus Awards for Excellence. Paul Shetler was a former chief executive of the federal agency originally known as the Digital Transformation Office, recruited from the UK to drive the development of digital services…

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August 27, 2024

Awards 2024: Defence, Dual-Use Tech and Space finalists

Australia’s defence industry plays a critical role in the security of the nation amid growing geostrategic and technological challenges, but it is also a powerhouse of innovation and productivity. In the last seven years, the defence industry’s contribution to the Australian economy grew from $6.2 billion to $10.6 billion, significantly outpacing growth in the broader…

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August 21, 2024

New export control regime captures quantum computing

Australia has imposed strict export controls on quantum computing technology for the first time, exposing local industry to onerous new rules and harsh criminal offences that threaten the future viability of R&D. The move, which comes as the AUKUS nations unlock billions of dollars in licence-free defence trade, has prompted an outcry from Australia’s quantum…

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July 29, 2024

Brisbane versus Chicago: Labor’s quantum-sized dilemma

Australia is home to some of the world’s best quantum computing talent. Diraq, Silicon Quantum Computing, Q-Ctrl and Quantum Brilliance are all working at the forefront of this critically important and exciting field of science and technology, helping to foster Australia’s international reputation as a quantum leader. Yet all of these companies were overlooked in…

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July 9, 2024

Industry Papers Sydney: Quantum and semiconductors

The key relationship between the semiconductor industry and Australia’s burgeoning quantum sector will form a key theme at The Industry Papers’ Sydney forum on Advanced Manufacturing and Strategic Industries on July 25.

If you are an entrepreneur, engineer or venture capitalist – or all three – who is watching the over-the-horizon research and commercialisation efforts in quantum, this forum will hold special interest.

This tight-knit room will be full of the people who are right now building technology and building companies in these areas. Seating is limited to just 100. You can reserve your seat here.

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May 12, 2024

Tests before big bets: Aussie quantum leaders speak out after $1bn deal

Australia’s almost $1 billion bet on a single quantum company is out of step with the yardstick set by other leading quantum nations, according to two local quantum startups, who have backed a national testbed to propel the sector forward. But the companies remain hopeful the historic investment to lure US-based PsiQuantum to Australian shores…

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February 6, 2024

Q-CTRL lands UK funding to solve transport bottlenecks

Australian quantum startup Q-CTRL has won close to $2 million in funding from the UK government to help its public transport agencies optimise routes and timetables using quantum algorithms, building on work that is already underway with Transport for NSW. The London arm of the Sydney-based company was awarded the funding as part of the…

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January 12, 2024

Gig Guide: Biercuk leaves USyd quantum lab

Q-CTRL founder and chief executive Professor Michael Biercuk is stepping away from his role at the University of Sydney to fully commit to the global growth of his business. Professor Biercuk has spent nearly 14 years as a Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum Technology at the University of Sydney and founded Q-CTRL at the…

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December 3, 2023

Q-CTRL teams with IBM in time for ‘quantum utility’ era

Q-CTRL’s software has been integrated into IBM’s quantum computing service, pairing the Australian startup’s technology with some of the world’s best hardware as the “era of quantum utility” approaches. It is the first time the US tech giant has integrated third-party software into its system in this manner, and it will be made available to…

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October 25, 2023

Aussie quantum training rolled out to US students

Australian quantum technology will be used to train students at TAFE and at American colleges after local firm Q-CTRL struck a deal with investors looking to take advantage of changes in geopolitics. Q-CTRL announced its partnership with the Quad Investors Network (QUIN) on Wednesday evening (AEDT) as its founder and chief executive Professor Michael Biercuk…

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July 18, 2023

Quantum startups land $7m funding from NSW government

The New South Wales government will pour nearly $7 million into three local quantum spinouts to help commercialise their hardware and software. Sydney-based firms Diraq, Q-CTRL and Quantum Brilliance secured the funding this week, beating out a dozen other applicants. Diraq was awarded the largest grant of $3 million from the state’s one-off Quantum Computing…

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July 11, 2023

Quantum startup to develop sensors for AUKUS forces

Local quantum firm Q-CTRL is developing quantum sensors for Australia and its AUKUS partners in one of the first tests of the defence force’s new approach to capability acquisition and asymmetric advantage. The Sydney University spinout led by Professor Michael Biercuk has signed a $1 million contract with the Department of Defence to develop sensors…

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July 4, 2023

Australian Space Park backers exited before SA govt pivot

Two of the four companies behind plans to build Australian Space Park in Adelaide had already withdrawn their support for the dedicated space manufacturing hub when the South Australian government pulled its funding last month. Quantum startup Q-CTRL and local launch company ATSpace both dropped out of the industry consortium led by Fleet Space Technologies…

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June 21, 2023

Industry told of space park U-turn only hours before

Industry players bidding to operate part of the Australian Space Park in Adelaide were notified of sweeping changes to the project on the same day that the South Australian government advertised it was pulling funding from the $66 million proposal. In a letter sent to applicants as the Budget was handed down last week, the…

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June 19, 2023

Australian Space Park in doubt after SA pulls funding

Plans to build the country’s first dedicated space manufacturing hub have hit a setback after the South Australian government pulled its share of funding from the $66 million project to establish a separate facility that is “more responsive” to industry’s needs. A further $20 million set aside for the purpose-built facility, dubbed Australian Space Park,…

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January 31, 2023

Local quantum leader Q-CTRL lands Salesforce backing

Australian quantum startup Q-CTRL plans to add 40 more staff this year after securing an additional A$38.5 million funding in an expanded series B announced Wednesday that includes Salesforce Ventures as the largest single investor. The Salesforce backing of the Sydney based Q-Ctrl is from its global fund operated from San Francisco. It comes just…

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October 28, 2022

Vic govt’s ‘surprising’ $29m bet on foreign quantum

The Victorian government’s $29 million investment in a foreign quantum company has surprised the local sector and was made without consulting the federal agencies in charge of the national quantum plan. Announced on Friday as a way of securing Australia’s “quantum sovereignty”, the investment will see US company ColdQuanta expand to Australia for the first…

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March 31, 2022

Budget Insider: The volume gets turned up on innovation policy

In the shadow of an imminent election, this year’s federal budget included some welcome investments for Australian innovation ecosystem, but didn’t go far enough, according to a panel of experts at InnovationAus’s sixth annual Budget Insider event. The panelists broadly welcomed a number of tech-focused budget inclusions but said the government needed to adopt a…

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March 30, 2022

Q-CTRL partners with Swiss quantum research institute

Quantum computing firm Q-CTRL has formed a partnership with a Swiss research institute to upscale quantum computing and pursue joint funding opportunities. The Sydney-based company on Wednesday announced a partnership with The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), which is primarily funded by the Swiss government. Q-CTRL will provide an automated error-suppressing software which helps to alleviate…

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March 8, 2022

Q-CTRL takes ‘enormous step’ toward achieving quantum advantage

Australian tech company Q-CTRL has demonstrated that its software tools can deliver up to a 9000 times increase in quantum algorithmic success, marking an “enormous step” towards achieving quantum advantage. At this year’s APS March Meeting – the world’s largest physics conference – in Chicago next week Q-CTRL will unveil new research showing that its…

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January 11, 2022

Q-CTRL lands US grant for automated quantum tech

Sydney quantum pioneer Q-CTRL will significantly expand its presence in America thanks to a US government Small Business Innovation Research grant. Q-CTRL was this week awarded $230,000 in funding through the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) for a project looking at “automated calibration, characterisation and optimisation of near-term quantum processors”. The Australian company will…

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December 2, 2021

Awards 2021: Perth startup Nuheara takes the Wildcard

Perth-based startup Nuheara has taken out the inaugural Wildcard award at the InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence overnight. From tech to support self-driving vehicles, to quantum computing, to wearables, the wildcard category this year really showed the breadth and diversity of Australian ingenuity. Nuheara took out the prize with a tech that is designed to…

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