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We’re still years away from seeing physical quantum computers storm the 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 accelerating.
In the latest developments, a startup from San Sebastian, Spain, called Multiverse computing announces that it has raised €25 million (or $27 million) in an equity financing round led by Columbus Venture Partners. The funding, which values the startup at €100 million ($108 million), will be used in two main areas. The startup plans to continue building its existing business by working with startups in sectors such as manufacturing and finance; It wants to make new efforts to work more closely with AI companies that build and run large language models.
Either way, the pitch is the same, CEO Enrique Lizaso Olmos: “Optimization.”
In other words, as computing becomes more advanced, it may become more expensive and in some cases too complex to be implemented consistently. The Multiverse offering is its software platform Uniqueness – Designed for application across a wide range of industries such as finance, manufacturing, energy, cybersecurity and defense – and can be used to run and improve complex modeling and predictive applications more efficiently.
In AI, the focus is more directly on applying the platform to compressing large language models, with a new product called CompactifAI that focuses on the computations performed continuously when creating and querying an LLM, to eliminate more noise and speed up the work (and thus reliability). When results are achieved.
The company claims it can compress LLMs “using quantum-inspired tensor networks” by more than 80% using the software, while still producing accurate results. If true, it could have major implications for how companies buy and use processors, addressing one of the industry’s biggest bottlenecks to date.
A polymath, Lizaso Olmos began his career over 30 years ago by first qualifying as a doctor, then a second degree in mathematics, then a third in computer engineering with a PhD that somewhat tied these things together, a PhD in biostatistics. He said he later earned a master’s degree in business administration. Throughout it all, he was able to meet like-minded thinkers and friends, some of whom – namely Roman Oros and Samuel Mogil – were interested in the concept of quantum software and were already making names for themselves through academic work on the subject.
“The multiverse started in a WhatsApp group,” he joked. The year was 2017, and for a thought experiment, a few of them thought it “would be fun” to write a scientific paper about what you could do with quantum in finance.
The paper ended up being accepted at a conference held at the University of Toronto, and they agreed to do so. Upon her arrival, Lizaso Olmos saw the paper being circulated and discussed, and suddenly it looked as if people might use it as inspiration for adventurous ambitions. That’s when Lizaso-Olmos’ MBA radar kicked in and he got his two friends together for a serious conversation IRL.
This is how they, along with Alfonso Rubio, began creating multiverse computing.
This initial exploration of quantum and financial technology that was the subject of that paper became the company’s first commercial application, and where it gained its first interest. Since then, the company has expanded into other sectors, and its clients include Moody’s Analytics, Bosch, BASF, Iberdrola, Credit Agricole and BBVA. Clients in industry and energy, who like the greener aspects of more efficient computing, say that Today it actually represents more of a company’s business than finance.
Alongside Columbus, previous backer Quantonation Ventures also participated alongside new backers such as the European Innovation Council Fund, Redstone QAI Quantum Fund and Indi Partners.
“The exceptional Multiverse team will soon apply its unparalleled ability to deliver quantum and quantum-inspired software solutions also in the life sciences and biotechnology markets, where it will help Columbus Venture Partners identify unmet market needs and outstanding industry partners,” said Javier Garcia, Partner at Columbus Venture Partners, in a statement.
While the verticalization seems to have caught on with customers, what remains to be seen is how its ambition to go higher, to target deep tech and AI companies themselves, might impact the multiverse. Others competing in the same space include Alphabet Spinout Sandbox AQ, Quantum Motion, and Classiq.
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