Rigetti Computing’s Valuation, Did it Take a Hit Because Quantum Computing is Too Hard?
Rigetti Computing took a $71 million down round, because quantum computing is hard
Excerpts and salient points ~
+ The $71 million in financing that quantum computing technology developer Rigetti Computing recently raised came at a significant cut to the company’s valuation, according to several sources with knowledge of the company.
The lack of available, non-dilutive capital for companies like Rigetti may be a problem going forward, if the U.S. wants to provide a broad base of support for the pursuit of quantum technology innovations, according to some industry observers.
+ Rigetti is one of a handful of startups attempting to make quantum computing commercially viable. It’s a vitally important emerging technology with implications for national security and a broad swath of industries that depend on better data analysis and more powerful computing to continue innovating around materials science, genetics and … well… pretty much anything else.
+ That said, financing a company that can achieve a quantum breakthrough is one of those moonshot investments where the return on a successful investment is basically unlimited. There’s so much potential in the technology, and so little viable commercial business, that the first to break through the noise could be a real win.
+ [Further], investors are gambling more on the middleware layer of a quantum computing stack. These are companies like Zapata, Q-CTRL, Quantum Machines and Aliro, which improve the performance of quantum computers and create an easier user experience.
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