We’re still years away from physical quantum computers coming to market with any scale and reliability, but don’t give up on deep technology. The market for high-level quantum computer science — which applies quantum principles to manage complex calculations in fields such as finance and artificial intelligence — appears to be gathering pace.
In the latest development, a San Sebastian, Spain-based startup called Multiverse Computing is announcing that it has raised €25 million (or $27 million) in an equity funding round led by Columbus Venture Partners. The funds, which the startup values at 100 million euros ($108 million), will be used in two main areas. The startup plans to continue growing its existing business by working with startups in verticals such as manufacturing and finance; and wants to make new efforts to work more closely with AI companies that build and manage large language models.
In both cases, the goal is the same, CEO Enrique Lizaso-Olmos: “optimization.”
In other words, as computing becomes more advanced, it can become more expensive and in some cases too complex to execute consistently. Multiverse’s point is that its Singularity software platform — designed for applications in a wide range of industries such as finance, manufacturing, energy, cybersecurity and defense — can be used to more efficiently run and optimize complicated modeling and predictive applications.
In artificial intelligence, the focus is more directly on applying the platform to compress large language models, with a new product called CompactifAI that refines the calculations that are constantly performed when building and querying LLM, to reduce additional noise and speed up performance (and thus reliability ) when achieving results.
The company claims the software can compress LLMs “with quantum-inspired tensor networks” by more than 80% while still producing accurate results. If true, this could have major implications for the way companies buy and use processors, solving one of the industry’s big bottlenecks to date.
Lizaso-Olmos is a polymath, he started his career more than 30 years ago by first qualifying as a doctor of medicine, then a second degree in mathematics, and then a third in computer engineering with a doctorate that somewhat connected these things, a doctorate in biostatistics. He then enrolled in an MBA, he said. During all this, he picked up like-minded people and friends, and some of them – namely Roman Orus and Samuel Mugel – were interested in the concept of quantum software and were already making a name for themselves through academic work on the subject.
“Multiverse started in a WhatsApp group,” he jokes. The year was 2017, and for a thought experiment a few of them thought it “would be fun” to write a research paper on what you can do with quantum in finance.
The paper was eventually accepted for a conference held at the University of Toronto, so they agreed to it. Arriving, Lizaso-Olmos saw the work being shared around and discussed, and suddenly it looked like people could use it as inspiration for entrepreneurial ambitions. That’s when Lizaso-Olmos’ MBA-radar kicked in and he gathered his two friends for a serious IRL chat.
And so, together with Alfonso Rubio, they started Multiverse Computing.
That initial quantum and financial technology research that was the subject of that paper became the company’s first commercial application and where it got its first push. It has since expanded into other sectors and counts among its clients Moody’s Analytics, Bosch, BASF, Iberdrola, Credit Agricole and BBVA, and Lizaso-Olmos says that together, industrial and energy clients, who like the greener aspects of more efficient computing, actually make up a bigger part of the company’s operations than finance.
In addition to Columbus, previous backer Quantonation Ventures also participated along with new backers such as the European Innovation Council Fund, Redstone QAI Quantum Fund and Indi Partners.
“Multiverse’s exceptional team will soon apply its unparalleled ability to deliver quantum and quantum-inspired software solutions also within the life sciences and biotechnology markets, where Columbus Venture Partners will help identify unmet market needs and high-profile industry partners,” Javier Garcia, Partner at Columbus Venture Partners, in a statement.
While the focus on verticals seems to have connected with customers, what remains to be seen is how its ambition to go one level higher, to target the deep tech and AI companies themselves, might play out for Multiverse. Others competing in the same space include Alphabet spinout Sandbox AQ, Quantum Motion and Classiq.