Zapata Computing’s quantum workflow management platform

Boston, Massachusetts-based Zapata Computing is developing industrial and commercial software for use in quantum computing.

The company operates a workflow management platform for quantum computers known as Orquestra, as well as researching quantum hardware optimisation, benchmarking and quantum machine learning.

Since being founded in 2017, the company has raised over $64mn across six funding rounds. Its latest Series B round, announced yesterday, saw the company raise $38mn from lead investors Prelude Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital and Comcast Ventures, alongside The Engine, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Ahren Innovation Capital, ITOCHU corporation, Honeywell Ventures Capital, BASF Venture Capital and Alumni Ventures Group.

In a press release, Gil Beyda, Managing Director, Comcast Ventures, said: “We’re proud to continue our investment in Zapata. With this funding, we aim to empower the team to deliver quantum-inspired business impact for the enterprise today, as well as enable quantum readiness for tomorrow. Zapata is positioned to play a central role in quantum computing’s rapid evolution.”

The company said funds would be used to scale its team, apply quantum computing to business use cases such as machine learning, and drive adoption of its Orquestra platform for quantum-enabled data analytics.

“Zapata’s Orquestra makes quantum computing tangible and compatible with leading enterprises’ data analytics architectures. At ITOCHU, we look forward to developing the quantum computing ecosystem both in Japan and globally with Zapata,” said Hiroshi Kajiwara, Chief Operation Officer, ICT Division, ITOCHU.

Quantum computing has come on leaps and bounds in recent years, with Google having claimed to achieve quantum supremacy - referring to a quantum computer performing a task beyond the means of its conventional brethren.

“We’ve been intrigued by Zapata’s advances in the quantum algorithm space. Together with this strong group, we are excited to support Zapata to apply their Orquestra platform to accelerate progress toward disruptive quantum advantage,” said Alice Newcombe-Ellis, Founding & Managing Partner, Ahren Innovation Capital.