Qunova Computing, a pioneering developer of quantum algorithms, has announced the successful closing of its Series A funding round, raising $10 million USD (13.5 billion Korean Won) from prominent investors including GS Ventures, Korea Development Bank, GU Equity Partners, Company K, Quantum Ventures Korea, JB Investment, CKD Venture Capital, and Daesung Private Equity.
This influx of capital underscores robust investor confidence in Qunova’s flagship algorithm, HI-VQE (Handover Iteration Variational Quantum Eigensolver). HI-VQE’s hardware-agnostic design has been validated across multiple quantum platforms, notably including IBM’s quantum computers. In a testament to its versatility and performance, IBM added HI-VQE to its Qiskit functions catalog earlier this year, making it readily accessible to a wide range of users worldwide—from Fortune 500 firms to startups and academic research labs.
The core of Qunova’s innovation lies in its hybrid quantum-classical computing approach, which merges the strengths of classical and quantum methods. This enables faster and more accurate calculations, reducing the resource requirements typically associated with quantum computing. The company’s solutions have already demonstrated best-in-class results in quantum chemistry, materials design, and drug discovery, tackling complex computational challenges with qubit counts as high as 68.
Looking ahead, Qunova plans to introduce a new algorithm designed to solve up to 100,000 combinatorial variable optimization problems on current NISQ (Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum) computers. This breakthrough promises substantial benefits for industries reliant on highly complex calculations, offering improved speed, efficiency, and reduced costs in R&D. With this investment, Qunova is poised to accelerate the realization of quantum advantage across multiple industrial sectors.
KEY QUOTES:
“Qunova now moves into the next phase of its evolution. With the backing of these strategic investors, we will deploy additional capital for the expansion of our world-class team of developers, scientists and engineers. This will help make our path to quantum advantage even shorter. We would like to thank these investors for their confidence. We also thank our hardware partners, which have supported Qunova’s development by providing access to their quantum computers. Without them, we would be unable to demonstrate the capabilities of our product and continue our progression towards quantum advantage.”
Kevin June-Koo Rhee, the company’s CEO and Founder
“Qunova is the only company bringing a chemistry focussed quantum applications to market. We believe the impact of this will be significant and wide ranging, affecting everything from materials design to drug discovery. The immense potential of their products is one of many reasons we have given them our backing.”
Dr. Kang Woon Lee, Partner at GU Equity Partners
“The progress Qunova has shown of late has been quite impressive. Unlocking the true potential of quantum computing will require further enhancements on the hardware side. However, the innovative approach Qunova has taken with this algorithm helps to address this issue by circumventing some of the challenges on the hardware side. Thus, bringing quantum advantage closer than ever before. The GS Group is looking forward to identifying value added applications for this technology and deploying them across multiple lines of our business.”
Sukhyun Hong, CEO at GS Ventures
