Chattanooga's CO.LAB picks four quantum start-ups for its accelerator

[Nebula Lottie]

Chattanooga is building a quantum start up scene. The Quantum Insider reports that the CO.LAB accelerator has selected four quantum companies for its 12 month CO.LAB Q commercialisation programme, starting in November

The four start ups are Ridge Quantum, which licenses encryption technology from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Superquantum, which develops fault tolerant computing software, Esoteriq, which makes a tool called Rune for estimating data encoding costs, and Kottackal, which works on sensing and AI for industrial monitoring

The programme's founding partners are local utility EPB, Quantinuum, Davidson Technologies and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, with Oak Ridge National Laboratory as an additional partner. Each team will receive a readiness score and present to a review board

CO.LAB chief executive Tasia Malakasis said quantum companies do not fail for lack of science. Managing director Bryan Barringer and Chattanooga mayor Tim Kelly were also involved. No funding amounts were given, and the article draws on reporting by Teknovation

Malakasis is right that science is rarely the problem for quantum start ups, while business skills and customers often are. Chattanooga already has EPB's quantum network and close ties with Oak Ridge, which gives these companies a strong base. Accelerators like this help turn research into businesses

Can smaller cities build successful quantum clusters? And what do quantum start ups need most besides good science?

Chattanooga Accelerator Selects Four Quantum Startups For Commercialization Programthequantuminsider.com