55North's Helmut Katzgraber: materials simulation, not optimisation, is quantum's best near term bet

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The Quantum Insider has an interview with Helmut Katzgraber, a general partner at 55North, a Danish venture fund focused on quantum technology. Katzgraber has an interesting background. He was born in Peru, studied physics in Switzerland, and previously led quantum science teams at AWS and worked at Microsoft. So he brings theory, computing and cloud experience to investing

His main argument is clear. He thinks materials simulation is the most promising near to medium term application for quantum computers, especially strongly correlated systems like battery materials, organic LEDs and medicines involving metal organic complexes. Those are areas where classical computers struggle and where quantum technologies hopefully will bring value down the road. On optimisation, he is sceptical, saying classical technologies will outperform any quantum device for the foreseeable future

That is a notable position, because optimisation has been one of the most heavily marketed quantum use cases. Logistics, scheduling and portfolio optimisation feature in countless press releases. We even covered Rigetti's Gurobi speed up recently. Katzgraber's view lines up with the BCG report and the Kondo effect research we discussed, which both point to chemistry and materials as the natural fit

55North itself had a first close of 134 million euros and could grow to 300 million, investing from pre seed to Series B across all quantum technologies, including sensing and networking. The partners include Owen Lozman, formerly of Merck Ventures, and Kai Hudek, an early IonQ employee. Katzgraber says Europe has fantastic talent and education, but struggles with turning lab research into products and finding growth funding compared with the US. He also wants more product managers trained in both physics and business

On deployment, he expects most users to access quantum through the cloud, since the machines need a lot more babysitting, while supercomputing centres and national security users keep some on premises. Do you agree that optimisation is oversold? And is Europe's funding gap the main thing holding back its quantum startups?. Fund size matters, because quantum hardware companies burn through cash quickly

Helmut Katzgraber (55North): Why materials simulation beats optimization for near-term quantumthequantuminsider.com