Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures invests in Pasqal’s $109m funding round

Pasqal

France-based quantum computer startup Pasqal has secured a €100 million ($108.93 million) equity Series B raise led by new investor Singapore’s investment firm Temasek, European Innovation Council Fund, Saudi Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures and Bpifrance.

The company will use the funding to further develop its neutral atoms quantum computing platform, which it believes will deliver major commercial advantages over classical computers by 2024.

In addition, Pasqal plans to open offices in the Middle East and Asia this year and grow its existing operations in Europe and North America.

“Pasqal’s engineers have transformed world-class fundamental research into a system that is easy to use and is expected to deliver a tremendous benefit to the world,” said co-founder Alain Aspect. 

With the new funding, the startup plans to accelerate the company’s research and development efforts to build a 1,000-qubit quantum computer in the short term and fault-tolerant architectures in the long term.

Furthermore, Pasqal plans to increase the production of its quantum systems for on-premise installations as well as expand the development of proprietary algorithms for customers across key verticals, including energy, chemistry, automotive, mobility, healthcare, enterprise technology, finance and government.

“We are on a clear path to deliver a quantum computer capable of unlocking commercial advantage for our customers, and this latest investment round will help us reach this goal by 2024,” said Georges-Olivier Reymond, CEO and founder of Pasqal.

In 2022, the startup announced the company is working with the world’s leading energy players, this included the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Aramco and a collaboration for fast-tracking industrial applications with Italian energy firm Eni.

According to BCG research, quantum computing will unlock opportunities across many industries, creating up to $850 billion in annual value by 2040.