UCD quantum computing spin-out secures €10m in EIC Accelerator funding

Posted 22 December 2021

University College Dublin quantum computing spin-out (opens in a new window)Equal1 Laboratories (Equal1) has secured €10 million in funding from the (opens in a new window)European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme.

The company, spun out of the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, was among 99 innovative start-ups and SMEs awarded a total of €627 million through this Horizon Europe programme to help them bring their technologies to the market.

Equal1 is addressing a major challenge for the quantum computing industry, to scale the technology so that it can tackle useful, real-world problems.

The company’s quantum technology is particularly suited to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning; and will enable vastly better performance at a fraction of the current energy required for quantum computing.

“We are delighted to have won €10 million in blended funding in the latest EIC accelerator awards. The is a huge validation of our team and our game-changing plans for silicon quantum-enhanced machine learning,” said Jason Lynch, Equal1 COO.

"This investment will enable the company to expand the R&D team in Ireland very significantly over the next 12 -18 months. We will be hiring engineers in areas of AI, silicon, software and quantum computing. We are very appreciative of the support from EIC and our other investors.”

Equal1 was founded by Dr Dirk Leipold, Mike Asker and (opens in a new window)Professor R. Bogdan Staszewski, and its research and development teams are based in NovaUCD and in Silicon Valley, California.

Last October the company announced that it has closed a multi-million-euro funding round led by btov Industrial Technologies with Atlantic Bridge and other Equal1 investors, including 808 Ventures and Enterprise Ireland, bringing to over €10 million the funding secured by the company.

By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Micéal Whelan, UCD Research and Innovation)