• Quantum networking technology developer Qunnect has attracted additional Series A round funding
• Its technology has already been successfully tested by Deutsche Telekom
• Cisco, which recently unveiled its Quantum Network Entanglement Chip, is among its new investors

Quantum networking technology developer Qunnect, which is on a “mission to revolutionise communications and networking”, has raised $10m in a Series A funding round extension led by Airbus Ventures with additional participation from Cisco Investments and venture capital firm Quantonation.

Airbus Ventures and Quantonation were among the investors involved in the initial $8m Series A round in 2022, but Cisco’s involvement is new. According to Crunchbase, Qunnect has now raised a total of $22.5m in investments and grants over the past five years.

Brooklyn, New York-based Qunnect has developed technology that, in its own words, “creates, buffers and preserves high-quality entangled photons – the basis for quantum communications – at unprecedented rates, enabling breakthroughs in cybersecurity and distributed quantum computing and sensing.” 

What’s key about its technology is that it operates at room temperature, rather than just in very cold lab conditions. As a result, it can be deployed in existing networking facilities and enables next-generation quantum devices to be interconnected and capable of exchanging information and sharing entanglement via commercial fibre connections. 

That scenario has already been successfully tested. In April, Deutsche Telekom’s Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs) announced it had, in partnership with Qunnect, enabled sustained quantum networking (or quantum internet) connectivity with 99% fidelity for a period of 17 days over a 30km stretch of commercially deployed fibre in Berlin. The telco claimed the trial’s success “represents a decisive step on the way to the quantum internet and demonstrates how existing telecommunications infrastructure can support the quantum technologies of tomorrow” – see DT boasts quantum networking breakthrough.

The company’s technology, including its Carina product suite, is being tried out with other customers in the telecom, financial services, energy infrastructure, and defence/intelligence sectors, according to Qunnect, which says its solutions have been deployed in a quantum testbed in New York as well as in Germany with T-Labs.

“This new round of investment was driven by the response we received from industry following the performance of Qunnect products deployed on city-scale quantum networking testbeds,” stated the company’s CEO Noel Goddard. “Because our quantum networking products have a standard server rack form factor and are designed to operate at room temperature, we are seeing customers innovate with our Carina product suite on existing telecommunications fibre, paving the way for further breakthroughs in security, sensing and information transmission.”

The addition of Cisco as an investor is notable. In May, the networking giant unveiled its Quantum Network Entanglement Chip, which is being touted as the answer to the knotty problem of how to build and scale the foundational infrastructure of the quantum internet and to quickly advance distributed quantum computing. That development is part of Cisco’s quantum datacentre vision, which is also now supported by the recently opened Cisco Quantum Labs in Santa Monica, California.

“Cisco is advancing the quantum technologies that will secure and define the quantum internet and datacentres of the future,” stated Aleem Rizvon, a VP at Cisco Investments. “Qunnect is placing quantum networking technologies into the hands of innovators today, poised to revolutionise security and communications.”

Mehdi Namazi, chief scientist and co-founder of Qunnect, added: “From day one, our mission was to invent and develop hardware that will become the infrastructure for the future quantum internet. Now, after proving our unparalleled quantum network capabilities in New York and Berlin, and thanks to partners like Cisco, we are pushing the industry towards the era of quantum network utility.”

And in this blog post, Vijoy Pandey, general manager and senior VP of Outshift by Cisco, the vendor’s internal incubation engine, added:  “Qunnect understands that quantum networking has to work in the real world, not just in pristine lab conditions. Their room-temperature approach aligns with our quantum datacentre vision.”

Advantages in utilising quantum physics as the foundation for the future network lie in the high level of security it offers, higher processing power and enhanced sensing. Qunnect’s Carina product suite creates, buffers and preserves high-quality entangled photons – the basis for quantum communications – at unprecedented rates, enabling breakthroughs in cybersecurity and distributed quantum computing and sensing.

“Qunnect has successfully delivered on the foundational promise of quantum communication,” remarked Airbus Ventures partner Nicole Conner. “We are thrilled to have Cisco Investments join alongside us, gaining their invaluable expertise as we support Qunnect’s acceleration of next-generation hardware tools that enable secure and reliable communication built on quantum entanglement communication protocols.”

For the latest developments in quantum networking, check out TelecomTV’s dedicated quantum technology section.

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV