It sounds like science fiction, but the quantum revolution is, increasingly, a reality. This branch of physics, which studies matter at infinitely tiny scales ---at atomic and subatomic levels--, is already impacting very diverse fields: from disease detection to the development of new drugs. Also opening the door to an infinity of new functionalities for computer systems and telecommunications. A new field that Catalonia aims to lead through a complex ecosystem formed by institutions such as the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), as well as emerging companies that, in a few years, have managed to stand out and consolidate internationally.
Companies like Qilimanjaro, Quside, or LuxQuanta, a deeptech that has just closed an eight-million-euro financing round. With this capital injection, which will allow the company to accelerate its production and international expansion, the company goes from being considered a startup to a scaleup, a denomination applied to companies that have managed to scale their product and grow rapidly and exponentially.
The round thus demonstrates the rapid growth the company has experienced since its creation just four years ago, in 2021 ---constituting itself as an ICFO spin-off---, in addition to being a symptom of the rapid development that the Catalan quantum ecosystem is experiencing. Another symptom of this growth is the variety of agents and institutions that have participated in this capital injection, led by the Madrid-based venture capital firm Big Sur Ventures ---specialized in new technologies and software---, it also counted on A&G Global Investors as the main investor, in addition to the technology company GMV, Wayra ---Telefónica's investment arm---, and EIC Fund, the investment fund of the European Innovation Council.
For LuxQuanta's CEO, Vanesa Díaz, "the path towards secure quantum networks is crucial, and it starts right now." Because although quantum technology opens the door to new possibilities in sectors as diverse as telecommunications or health, it also entails risks, especially in terms of cybersecurity. Quantum computers, unlike traditional computers, do not function or process information through bits, but through qubits, a fact that allows them to work much faster and carry out operations previously unthinkable.
A characteristic that, however, also makes these operations resistant to current cybersecurity and data protection systems, opening the door to increasingly complex and sophisticated cyberattacks. LuxQuanta was born precisely to provide a solution to these new risks, combating quantum with more quantum. Thus, the Catalan deeptech has developed NOVA LQ, a product that guarantees secure and robust communications through a quantum encryption system that, in addition, is capable of integrating directly into existing optical networks.
After developing and maturing this technology at ICFO, at the beginning of this year the scaleup presented the second generation of this new product. The objective, according to its CEO, is that "quantum security be accessible and reliable for organizations and companies around the world."
Especially in a global context that makes the need to develop a quantum cybersecurity system increasingly imperative. And the quantum revolution is already a reality in Catalonia. This is demonstrated by the fact that the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) launched Spain's first 100% European technology quantum computer, integrated into the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer at the Barcelona center. A new element of the BSC that is part of the national quantum technologies strategy on which the Government is now working, with the aim of bringing quantum closer to companies, industries, and academic institutions. In parallel, the Catalan capital is also committed to what is known as the Barcelona Quantum Ring, a quantum communication ring for the metropolitan area.
However, LuxQuanta's scope of application goes beyond the Catalan ecosystem, as the scaleup aims to consolidate itself as the great cybersecurity ally for companies, public administrations, data centers, and critical infrastructures around the world. An objective that, in fact, the Catalan company is already approaching, having completed the sale of its technology in more than a dozen European countries, in addition to beginning to deploy in Asia, Latin America, and the United States.
A process of internationalization that they also plan to intensify and scale with the injection of eight million euros that the company has closed. It will do so led by a team made up of professionals from more than 12 nationalities and, for now, from its facilities in the Parc Mediterrani de la Tecnologia in Castelldefels, a space where ICFO is also located, in addition to a commercial office in Madrid.
Facilities that, however, are already becoming too small for the company, which is why one of its short-term plans is to move to a new space that also allows them to increase their production capacity to accompany, thus, the already unstoppable global quantum revolution.