Samsung and Mubadala Capital, a Emirati investment fund, are leading a new $55 Million funding round for IonQ, the startup that uses “trapped ions,” or charged particles suspended in a vacuum, as the basis for its quantum computer hardware. The company is joining other tech giants Amazon and Google parent Alphabet’s venture capital arm, GV, as a backer of IonQ.
IonQ isn’t the only company pursing a strategy based on ions. Industrial conglomerate Honeywell last year said that it is also trying to develop quantum computers using a similar technique.
IonQ has raised a total of $77 million to date. Other investors include ACME Capital, Airbus Ventures, Osage University Partners (OUP), Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Tao Capital Partners, Correlation Ventures, and A&E Investment. (IonQ & Fortune)