Qolab, the first quantum computing startup incubated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) as a corporate partner.
The company, which has obtained millions of dollars in financing and is working now to hire hardware engineers in Madison, aims to build a utility-scale quantum computer by collaborating with industry and academic partners to make higher quality superconducting qubits, a building block of quantum technology.
Part of that project involves a collaboration with another CQE corporate partner, Applied Materials, which develops advanced tooling for the semiconductor industry, to fabricate qubits in new and advanced ways.
Qolab recently secured over $16 million in Series A financing from financial and strategic investors, including a $5 million investment from the Development Bank of Japan Inc. The company plans to grow to 19 employees in 2025.
The CQE is based at the University of Chicago and anchored by the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Northwestern University, and Purdue University. The CQE includes more than 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners.
