Despite the daunting technical and competitive obstacles at play, a startup called Rigetti Computing Inc. is emerging as a serious contender in the race to build a large-scale quantum computer.

Its efforts are supported by $64 million in funding raised over two rounds that were officially announced on Tuesday. The first investment was led by Andreessen Horowitz last March and netted Rigetti $24 million, while the remaining $40 million came in November. The startup is using the capital to finance the development of its quantum computing platform, which aims to take on rival systems being built at IBM Corp. and other large tech firms.

Founder Chad Rigetti (pictured) provided a glimpse into his team’s efforts during an interview with MIT Technology Review last February. Among other things, the entrepreneur revealed that their work has already produced a prototype quantum chip made of aluminum circuits set on a silicon wafer.

Rigetti divulged that the processor incorporates three qubits, the quantum equivalent of bits, which can not only represent zeroes and ones but also a third state that superimposes the two values at the same time. As a result, the technology gives programs more computational power to work with that adds up quickly across multiple qubits. Researchers believe that a machine with as few as 50 qubits could carry out certain tasks faster than a supercomputer.

One of the most promising applications for the technology is performing scientific research, which is the area where Rigetti intends to focus its commercialization efforts. The startup plans to make its quantum chips accessible in the form of a cloud service that will let organizations harness their power to tackle difficult scientific problems. Much like IBM’s system, the offering is set to provide an application programming interface and various other development resources aimed at easing the task.

During last year’s interview, Rigetti said that his team expects to produce a 40-qubit chip this year and a version with 100 qubits as early as 2018. This fast progress can be credited partly to a homegrown design tool that the startup has created to reduce the number of physical prototypes required for the development process. 

Image: Y Combinator via YouTube