France-based, Welinq is a quantum computer startup, specifically focused on “quantum memory” [Quick primer: quantum memory is the quantum-mechanical version of ordinary memory; it can store – in quantum superposition – the quantum state of a qubit; the trick here is to avoid destroying the volatile info contained therein/ increasing coherence time. Quantum memory is an essential piece of technology, which synchronizes the operations of several quantum processors (aka entanglement) – to increase computing power (by increasing the number of qubits that can be integrated with one another) – & makes it possible to create quantum repeaters – components ensuring the reliable transfer of qubits/ info over long-distance networks, i.e. foundational for the advent of the quantum internet]. Welinq’s quantum memory interconnects facilitate the storage & on-demand release of quantum info. They work by leveraging laser-cooled neutral atom technology that has demonstrated 90% efficiency in storage & retrieval. This enables to scale-up quantum computers (by entangling physically separated quantum processing units), short-cutting error correction (by redundantly encoding quantum info on many physical qubits), the deployment of QPUs on premise, in the cloud & quantum information networks. (Ps: another Paris-headquartered startup betting on neutral atoms is Pasqal, which we covered here). Welinq was founded in 2022 by Tom Darras (CEO), Jean Lautier-Gaud (CCO), Julien Laurant (Scientific Advisor) & Eleni Diamanti (Scientific Advisor). The scientific underpinning of Welinq was developed in partnership with the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel (Welinq as well as SATT Lutech have already entered into an exclusive license agreement for different patent families developed by the said) & LIP6 (the computer science laboratory of Sorbonne University). The engineering work is carried out in collaboration with the company Exail (which is the result of the merger in 2022 of iXblue with ECA Group). In this endeavor, the founders have been accompanied by Deeptech Founders, the CNRS innovation RISE program, Agoranov & the Creative Destruction Lab. The startup has also won the Grand Prix by the i-Lab, Tech Tour France Transfer Invest 2022 & selected as a finalist of the Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge 2023. With the new funding, the team hopes to “commercialize the world’s most efficient quantum memories at an industrial standard” (which will be “integrated, transportable & deployable in quantum computing & communication infrastructures”). <Source: sciencebusiness.net, tech.eu, opg.optica.org, siliconangle.com, crnsinnovation.com, photonics.com, eu-startups.com>
