- Harvard University’s Quantum Information Science Lab spin-off Aliro Technologies announced that it has raised $2.7 million in seed funding
Aliro Technologies — a software company that is known for commercializes technologies that is making quantum hardware more accessible — announced it has raised $2.7 million in seed funding. Aliro had spun out of Harvard University’s Quantum Information Science Lab called Narang Lab. The leading investors in this seed round include Flybridge Capital Partners, Crosslink Capital, and Samsung NEXT, and several others.
Boston Consulting Group’s research points out that productivity gains by end-users of quantum computing in the form of cost savings and revenue opportunities are expected to surpass $450 billion annually. And Aliro essentially enables software developers using its hardware-independent and cloud-ready to take advantage of the power of quantum computing more efficiently and accurately. And the platform facilitates the composition and verification of quantum programs along with hybrid (classical-quantum) programs. And the platform enables their execution on the best quantum hardware for the specific tasks.
The applications range from molecular simulation (with implications in drug discovery, materials development, and chemistry), financial optimization, quantum machine learning and artificial intelligence, advanced logistics, etc. Aliro’s software also lowers the barrier to entry for businesses that are ready to discover the increased potential that quantum computing offers.
“The quantum computing industry has existed for over a decade, but actual use of quantum computing is still very limited,” said Jim Ricotta, the CEO at Aliro. “By increasing this access to quantum computers, Aliro will empower the coming generation of quantum software developers to drive the quantum revolution.”
Aliro’s software was built with a “write-it-once-run-anywhere” mentality. And now quantum developers will have access to a development and execution platform that abstracts away the hardware-specific software and hardware optimizations — like differing instruction languages and dynamically changing physical noise characteristics for different devices — from the software developer.
Plus Aliro will be providing a suite of technical tools to users up and down the stack like validation schemes, visualizations, benchmarks, error-correcting codes, application-specific interfaces, and general performance improvements all in a unified platform.
“I have been working with the Aliro team for the past year and could not be more excited about the opportunity to help them build a foundational company in quantum computing software,” explained David Aronoff, a General Partner at Flybridge. “Their innovative approach and unique combination of leading quantum researchers and a world-class proven executive team, make Aliro a formidable player in this exciting new sector.”
“We were attracted to Professor Narang and her team by their impressive backgrounds and the depth of their research into quantum computing,” commented Matt Bigge, a Partner at Crosslink Capital. “We believe that Aliro’s unique software products will revolutionize the field, by hastening the inflection point where quantum becomes as accessible as classical computing. This could have implications for drug discovery, materials development, chemistry, machine learning, and logistics.”
Aliro was co-founded by Prineha Narang, an Assistant Professor at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University.
