Qunnect Raises $10M in Quantum Push Backed by Cisco, Others

Qunnect, a quantum networking developer, has recently announced the closing of an oversubscribed Series A extended financing round of $10 million as quantum technologies begin to heat up.

Airbus Ventures leads investors in Series A round to bolster networking and communications

Led by Airbus Ventures and additional participation from Cisco Investments and Quantonation, the investment is meant for “accelerating the company’s mission to revolutionize communications and networking.

“From day one, our mission was to invent and develop hardware that will become the infrastructure for the future quantum internet,” said Mehdi Namazi, chief scientist and co-founder of Qunnect. “Now, after proving our unparalleled quantum network capabilities in New York and Berlin, and thanks to partners like Cisco, we are pushing the industry towards the era of quantum network utility.”

Qunnect has deployed two metropolitan quantum networks in New York City and Berlin, and features products that include its Carina product suite, which supports the real-world deployment of scalable data networks based on quantum physics.

“This new investment was driven by the response we received from industry following the performance of Qunnect products deployed on city-scale quantum networking testbeds,” said Noel Goddard, CEO of Qunnect. “Because our quantum networking products have a standard server rack from factor and are designed  to operate at room temperature, we are seeing customers innovate with our Carina product suite on existing telecommunications fiber, paving the way for further breakthroughs in security, sensing, and information transmission.”

Qunnect aims to grow customer base in regulated industries including defense and energy

Cisco is among the latest investors in this round through Cisco Investments, its corporate venture capital arm.

“Cisco is advancing the quantum technologies that will secure and define the quantum internet and data centers of the future,” said Aleem Rizvon, vice president of Cisco Investments. “Qunnect is placing quantum networking technologies into the hands of innovators today, poised to revolutionize security and communications.”

Following its initial Series A round, Qunnect has brought its quantum networking products to customers in the financial services, telecommunications, energy infrastructure, defense, and intelligence sectors.

“Qunnect has successfully delivered on the foundational promise of quantum communication,” said Airbus Ventures Partner Nicole Conner. “We are thrilled to have Cisco Investments join alongside us, gaining their invaluable expertise as we support Qunnect’s acceleration of next-generation hardware tools that enable secure and reliable communication built on quantum entanglement communication protocols.”

Organizations in the channel have been making investments in quantum computing as data volumes increase. Learn more about Carahsoft’s partnership with QuSecure to advance quantum-resilient cybersecurity.