Quantinuum locked up a fresh $300 million equity fundraise at a pre-money valuation of $5 billion.

The new funding was led by JPMorgan Chase, with additional participation from Mitsui & Co., Amgen and Honeywell, which remains the company’s majority shareholder.

The Broomfield, Colorado-based company was spun out of Honeywell in 2021 and merged with Cambridge Quantum Computing. Quantinuum says it has now raised approximately $625 million.

“Financial services has been identified as one of the first industries that will benefit from quantum technologies,” said Lori Beer, global chief information officer at JPMorgan Chase, in a release. “As such, we have been investing in quantum research and our team of experts … have made groundbreaking discoveries, partnering with quantum computing leaders like Quantinuum.”

Seeing the potential

Investors have started to push more cash into quantum technology and computing — a level of computation much faster and at a level superior to modern computers in that it can perform many calculations at the same time — as its long-held promise seems to be nearing reality.

Last year, funding to quantum computing startups hit nearly $1.2 billion — per Crunchbase data — including quantum computing and networking startup Photonic raising a $100 million round that included an investment from Microsoft just last November.

That number dwarfed the less than $800 million raised in 2022 — making quantum one of the few sectors to see an increase in venture funding in 2023.

While it’s too early to say venture funding will again increase in the sector this year, it is quite evident investors see the potential in both quantum technology and its ability to produce big financial returns.

Related Crunchbase Pro query:

• Quantum Computing Funding

Related reading:

• Quantum Technology Gains Momentum As Computing Gets Closer To Reality
• Quantum Startup Photonic Locks Up $100M From Microsoft, Others

Illustration: Dom Guzman