Quantum Computing News: IonQ's Satellite Push, Rigetti's Chip Milestone, and $100M+ in Deep Tech Funding

Business Insider

18-07-2025

Quantum computing is shaping up to be the most dynamic industry of 2025, with larger funds and new breakthroughs emerging almost every week. As Ferris Bueller so eloquently put it: 'Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.' Blink, and another milestone has been reached. This week brought another wave of momentum, including strategic acquisitions, hardware performance gains, deep tech funding rounds, and ambitious global expansion plans.
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Investors tracking stocks like IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti Computing (RGTI), and companies aligned with AI infrastructure and quantum cybersecurity may want to keep these updates on their radar.
IonQ Completes Capella Space Acquisition
IonQ, one of the more prominent pure-quantum plays, has finalized its acquisition of Capella Space, setting the stage for a space-based quantum key distribution (QKD) network that merges IonQ's quantum systems with Capella's synthetic aperture radar satellites. The platform will enable quantum-secure global communications and quantum-enhanced Earth observation. Capella customers will gain access to secure, real-time sensing, while IonQ expands its foothold in quantum networking. This follows IonQ's collaborations with ID Quantique, the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. IONQ stock rose 5% in yesterday's trading.
Rigetti Hits 99.5% Fidelity on 36-Qubit Modular Chip
Rigetti Computing reported that it has reached a 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on a new modular 36-qubit chiplet system, meeting its mid-year technical milestone. On the back of this milestone, RGTI stock soared 30% in one trading session!
The system utilizes four 9-qubit chiplets, reducing gate error rates by half compared to the company's earlier 84-qubit Ankaa-3 platform. Rigetti will launch the new system on August 15 and remains on schedule to deliver a 100+ qubit chiplet system by year-end. The modular approach is designed to support scaling while preserving performance.
Q.ANT Raises €62 Million for Photonic AI Chips
Q.ANT, a Stuttgart-based start-up, secured €62 million in Series A funding to accelerate the rollout of its photonic processors built on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate. The chips offer up to 30× energy savings and 50× performance gains over traditional silicon, targeting artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Backers include Cherry Ventures, UVC Partners, and imec.xpand. The company plans to expand to the United States and scale production of its Native Processing Server, which integrates with current data centers as a co-processor.
QpiAI Closes $32 Million Round for Utility-Scale Quantum Systems
India-based QpiAI raised $32 million in Series A funding from Avataar Ventures and the National Quantum Mission. The company builds full-stack quantum computers for enterprise applications in materials science and drug discovery. QpiAI operates in India, Finland, and the United States, and is focused on delivering logical-qubit systems to complement its current NISQ solutions. The company's leadership includes over two dozen Ph.D.s from global research institutions, and the new capital will support international growth.
SandboxAQ Adds $95 Million to Expand Quantitative AI
SandboxAQ, Google's (GOOG) AI-quantum spinoff, has secured $95 million through a secondary funding round led by Rizvi Traverse, bringing its total funding to nearly $1 billion since its 2022 spinout from Alphabet. The company is developing large quantitative models designed to simulate physical systems across various industries, including biopharma, energy, and aerospace. Products include AQBioSim for drug discovery and AQtive Guard for quantum-secure cybersecurity. Investors in prior rounds include Google, NVIDIA (NVDA), and Bridgewater's Ray Dalio.
Using TipRanks' Comparison Too l, we've brought together some of the most prominent stocks in the quantum space to see how they stack up. It's a quick way for investors to get a clearer view of each company's position, and a better sense of where the industry is headed overall.