The NRFC has made a $20 million equity investment in Diraq, which the company will use for research, product development, and commercialisation as it works to deliver a quantum computer capable of genuine quantum advantage by 2029. Diraq’s quantum computers use silicon-based quantum bits, known as “qubits”, and the company’s ambition is to scale to millions of qubits – a crucial milestone for enabling practical large-scale applications – by 2031.
The NRFC’s investment will further establish Australia’s reputation as a global leader in quantum computing, commercialise research that was spun out conducted at UNSW Sydney, and create new highly skilled jobs in research, development, and commercialisation.
About Diraq
Diraq is a Sydney-based quantum technology startup that is a global leader in the development of utility-scale quantum computing. Diraq’s technology is built on a Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) based architecture, allowing it to leverage existing semiconductor manufacturing to deliver quantum computers at a fraction of the cost and size of competing approaches.
Diraq is one of only 11 companies around the world that have successfully advanced to stage B of the U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) exceptionally rigorous Quantum Benchmarking Initiative(Opens in a new tab/window).
Investment impact
Building sovereign capability
Australia is widely recognised as a global leader in quantum computing technology. The NRFC’s investment is in line with the Australian Government’s national strategy to grow the quantum industry in Australia and reflects the world-class quantum ecosystem that is being cultivated in the country.
Commercialising Australian innovation
Diraq was founded in 2022 and spun out of research conducted at UNSW Sydney. The NRFC’s investment is helping Diraq to move this breakthrough research out of the lab and into the market to provide a cost-efficient path to delivering utility-scale quantum computers.
Creating jobs
Diraq currently employs over 70 staff and PhD students in Sydney. The NRFC’s investment is expected to significantly grow the team with new Australian-based jobs in research, development, and commercialisation.
Transforming and diversifying Australia’s economy
Quantum computing has the potential to dramatically transform computing as we know it, performing calculations in minutes that would take the world’s current, most advanced supercomputers millions of years to process. The NRFC’s investment is enabling Diraq to deliver quantum computers at a fraction of the cost and size of competing approaches, allowing them to solve valuable and world-changing problems, such as new drug discovery, materials science, and advanced AI.