UTokyo IPC Announces Follow-on Investment in OptQC Inc.

UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Kosuke Ueda; hereinafter “UTokyo IPC”) announced that its Accelerating Open Innovation 1 Investment Limited Partnership (hereinafter “AOI 1 Fund”) has made a follow-on investment in OptQC Inc. (Headquarters: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Hiroshi Takase; hereinafter “OptQC”), a startup developing and commercializing photonic quantum computers.

 

This investment was conducted as a co-investment together with Global Brain Corporation (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Yasuhiko Yurimoto), Delight Ventures, Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representatives: Tomoko Namba and Dai Watanabe), and investment funds managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST; Headquarters: Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama; President: Kazuhito Hashimoto).

 

 

Accelerating the Commercial Development of Photonic Quantum Computers

 

Quantum computers are attracting worldwide attention as next-generation computing platforms capable of performing calculations that are infeasible for conventional computers. Their applications are expected to have significant social impact across a wide range of fields, including machine learning, drug discovery, financial risk management, and materials design.

 

Globally, research and development efforts utilizing superconducting circuits, cold atoms, and other methods are actively advancing toward industrial applications. However, these conventional approaches face challenges in achieving the large-scale qubit counts required for practical use and require extremely low temperatures and specialized environments, resulting in high energy consumption. These limitations have constrained the supply of quantum computing systems and slowed the expansion of research and industrial applications.

 

To address these challenges, OptQC is pursuing an innovative approach leveraging more than 20 years of photonic quantum technology research from Professor Akira Furusawa’s laboratory at the Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. Through this work, OptQC aims to realize and widely deploy practical quantum computers.

 

Since the previous round, the company has made steady progress across technology development, business expansion, and organizational growth. OptQC has also been selected for two research projects under NEDO’s Post-5G Information and Communication System Infrastructure Enhancement R&D Program (*1), where it is working to enhance scalability and overall performance unique to photonic quantum computing.

 

UTokyo IPC initially supported OptQC prior to its incorporation through its “1stRound” (*2) startup acceleration program, providing business planning support and subsequently executing a seed investment. As the company continues to advance in both product and business development, UTokyo IPC will continue to support OptQC in strengthening its technology and team toward the realization of commercial photonic quantum computers.

 

 

Comments from Naofumi Furukawa, Managing Partner, and Keisuke Furukawa, Partner, UTokyo IPC

 

UTokyo IPC has supported OptQC since its early stage through our “1stRound” program and seed investment. We are honored to continue our partnership in this round as well.

The team has demonstrated remarkable progress in both product and business development. As a leading university spin-out quantum computing startup from The University of Tokyo, we look forward to working together toward building the next generation of the information technology industry.

 

 

About the AOI 1 Fund

 

The Accelerating Open Innovation 1 Investment Limited Partnership (AOI 1 Fund) was established in 2020 with the goal of promoting open innovation around the University of Tokyo. Under the concept of “nurturing and investing in startups through collaboration between corporations and academia,” the fund invests in newly established ventures, spin-outs, and startups that leverage the assets of leading corporations across diverse industries.

 

Through these initiatives, UTokyo IPC aims to create successful open innovation models in emerging sectors and further strengthen Japan’s innovation ecosystem by connecting academia, corporations, venture capital, and government institutions to foster world-class startups.

 

(*1)

NEDO “Post-5G Information and Communication System Infrastructure Enhancement R&D Program”
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000012.000148901.html

 

(*2)

“1stRound” – Japan’s largest academia-wide startup growth support program jointly hosted by over 27 universities and research institutions.
https://www.1stround.jp/

 

 

About OptQC Inc.

 

Company Name: OptQC Inc.
CEO: Hiroshi Takase
Headquarters: 1-21-7 Nishiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Business: Development and commercialization of photonic quantum computers
Founded: September 2024
Website: https://www.optqc.com/

 

 

Contact:

UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (UTokyo IPC)
Entrepreneur Lab 261, South Research Building, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
TEL: +81-3-3830-0200 / FAX: +81-3-3830-0183
Email: info2@utokyo-ipc.co.jp
Attn: Keisuke Furukawa