SQC among six Australian startups sharing A$12.3m in quantum grants

[Dragon95]

Six Australian quantum startups are sharing 12.3 million Australian dollars in federal grants from the second round of the Critical Technologies Challenge Program, Startup Daily reports. The biggest award, 3.6 million dollars, goes to Silicon Quantum Computing, the UNSW spin-out founded by Professor Michelle Simmons. It will expand SQC's work with Schneider Electric and UNSW using quantum enhanced AI to improve energy forecasting and renewable electricity use

We covered that SQC and Schneider Electric project last week. Initial testing of next day energy forecasts using 12 months of data delivered "an average 20% improvement in accuracy against a conventional computing benchmark, with gains reaching 41%." The grant should help move it towards a real world trial. SQC also received 60 million dollars from the National Reconstruction Fund earlier this year

The other recipients cover a range of uses. QuantX Labs in Adelaide receives 2.2 million dollars for quantum clocks to synchronise electricity networks, and FeBI Technologies in Victoria also receives 2.2 million. Avicena Systems in Western Australia gets 2 million, iQ Sense in Queensland 1.2 million and Q Factorial 1.1 million. Their projects span healthcare, biosecurity and logistics

Grants of this size are small compared with the huge sums flowing into the biggest quantum companies. But for startups at this stage, a couple of million dollars can fund a working prototype and attract private investment. Spreading the money across several states and several applications also builds a broader national base. Australia seems to be thinking about quantum as an ecosystem rather than a single bet

Are small grants like these a better use of public money than big bets on single companies? And which of these projects sounds most promising to you?

SQC among 6 startups sharing $12.3 million in quantum grantswww.startupdaily.net

[Saka20]

Michelle Simmons has been building SQC for decades. The atomic precision approach is unique

Good to see it getting practical applications alongside the long term computing goal. She was Australian of the Year in 2018 for this work, if I remember rightly

[Mbappe]

Sensing and timing keep coming up as the near term winners. Computing gets the headlines, but these are the products people will use first. Most people will use quantum technology without knowing it, inside a phone network or a power grid

[TopTier88]

Twelve million dollars across six companies is modest, but Australia's quantum sector seems to stretch money further than most. Smart use of public funds

[Arrow56]

Small grants spread widely are a good way to find the winners. Most startups fail, so backing several gives better odds than one big bet. The successful ones then attract private money

Venture capitalists like to see public money backing a company first. It lowers their risk

[Tel75]

A 20 percent improvement in energy forecasting would be huge for grid operators. Better forecasts mean less wasted renewable power and fewer expensive backup generators. I hope the trial confirms it