TMTPOST -- Beijing-based Boson Quantum Technology has completed the second phase of its Series A+ round, raising tens of millions of RMB to advance its photonic quantum computing ambitions, the company announced Wednesday.

The latest round marks Boson Quantum's seventh fundraising event since its founding in late 2020 and the second this year. It was led by the Beijing Optoelectronic Integration Industry Investment Fund, a fund backed by key state-linked tech players including BOE Technology Group and NAURA Technology Group.

Founded by Dr. Wen Kai, a Stanford Ph.D. and former Google quantum computing lead, Boson Quantum focuses on building scalable, programmable photonic quantum computing platforms and transitioning quantum technology from lab to industry. Wen was the first to propose the Coherent Ising Machine (CIM) scheme and has founded multiple deep tech companies in China after returning from the U.S.

Boson Quantum has launched a portfolio of products including coherent photonic quantum computers with 100 and 550 computational qubits, the Wuyue cloud platform, the Kaiwu SDK development toolkit, and specialized hardware for measurement, control, and fiber-optic temperature regulation. The company says its technology is being applied in AI, finance, biopharma, logistics, energy, and communications.

In a notable milestone, Boson Quantum in 2024 sold China's first commercial photonic quantum computer and issued the first official tax invoice for such a system. It also partnered with Shenzhen BGI Life Sciences Institute in March to explore "Quantum Computing + Life Sciences" applications.

The company claims its 550-qubit cloud platform has been accessed over 18 million times, serving more than 400 institutions across 830 disciplines, and resulting in 440+ application reports. It has also launched China's first developer community focused on practical quantum computing, attracting thousands of contributors.

Boson Quantum operates a self-built super-clean optical quantum lab spanning thousands of square meters and has rolled out two generations of coherent optical quantum computers. It owns core technology spanning full-system quantum hardware, chips, operating systems, cloud infrastructure, and measurement tools.

Dr. Wen has emphasized the potential of photonic quantum computing in biopharma, claiming its platform can cut drug molecule screening times from days or months to milliseconds, offering thousands-fold acceleration over traditional methods.

With this latest capital injection, Boson Quantum says it will ramp up R&D and small-scale production of coherent optical quantum computers, expand industrial applications under its "Quantum Computing+" strategy, and explore the development of general-purpose optical quantum systems.

The lead investor, the Beijing Optoelectronic Integration Industry Investment Fund, is a vehicle of Electronics Control Investment, a subsidiary of Beijing Electronics Control—one of the city's most prominent tech investment arms. Electronics Control holds a 21% stake in the fund, while the Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Fund—a 30 billion yuan government-led initiative—owns 20%.

As of 2024, the Beijing Innovation Fund has deployed 15.6 billion yuan across 600 projects, targeting 491 emerging tech enterprises.

Boson Quantum stated the new funding, coupled with strategic backing, will help fast-track the commercialization of quantum computing and position China as a major force in the global quantum race.