QWave Capital invests $5.6million in ID Quantique

Oct 15, 2013

Source:http://www.idquantique.com/qwave-capital

QWave Capital, a new, global venture capital fund focused on physics and materials science, today announced that it has made a $5.6 million investment for a minority stake in Switzerland-based ID Quantique. The investment is the fourth made by QWave Capital, which invests in a wide range of SciTech companies, however this investment marks the fund’s first investment in the rapidly growing quantum technology space.

ID Quantique is active in the $20 billion encrypted communication market, helping to protect both sensitive national security information in the public sector and financial information in the private sector, and leads the way in providing long-term security.

With modern computing quickly becoming sophisticated enough to crack complex encryption, ID Quantique has pioneered the commercial usage of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a method in which one party sends a cryptographic key encoded with photons to another party. Last week, the company announced that, using its products, Ohio-Based R&D giant Battelle had completed the installation of the first commercial QKD protected network in the United States to secure communications between key facilities in the Columbus area.

"ID Quantique and Quantum Key Distribution are the future of communication in industries where security and confidentiality are mission-critical," said Dr. Serguei Kouzmine, Managing Partner at QWave Capital and President of the Russian Quantum Center. "This technology and this company exist because of the tremendous opportunity presented by advancements in quantum mechanics. The academic and scientific advances of the past are becoming the real commercialized technology solutions that will change tomorrow."

Launched in December 2012, QWave is the first fund focused exclusively on companies developing next-generation technologies based on material sciences and physics. QWave is a global fund backed by a team of scientists with proven entrepreneurial records. The fund’s scientific advisory board includes professors and scientists from Harvard, Purdue, and quantum centers around the world.

ID Quantique CEO Grégoire Ribordy said QWave Capital’s investment will help the company do expand its commercial activities and penetrate new markets.

"Serguei and the team at QWave are more than traditional investors," said  Ribordy. "They have a unique combination of business and scientific expertise that makes them an ideal partner for us. While in the future there will be hundreds of companies using quantum mechanics to make technology smarter, faster, and smaller, today there are only a handful. Having investors with strong physics background and multiple connections in quantum research institutions will help us better navigate the uncharted waters of bringing quantum technology to market, and become leaders in quantum innovation."

About ID Quantiqu

ID Quantique is a leader in high-performance multi-protocol network encryption based on conventional and quantum technologies. The company provides network security products and services to banks, governments and other enterprises throughout Switzerland and Europe, and ID Quantique has deployed the world’s first commercial off-the-shelf QKD solutions for long-term data security to these industries. The company also has a global footprint for quantum-based scientific instrumentation products (measuring devices for academic and industrial research laboratories) and random number generators. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

About QWave Capital

QWave Capital is a venture capital firm focused on seeking out early stage private companies with breakthrough physics and materials science-based technology. Our mission is to help these companies capitalize on their opportunities and provide a platform for our investors to participate in the next scientific technology wave. For more information, visit http://qwcap.com/