Broomfield-based quantum-computing company Quantinuum LLC and Atom Computing Inc., a California-headquartered quantum firm that hosts the lion’s share of its workforce and research and development efforts in Boulder, have both moved to the second-stage Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, a program that aims to support and validate the scalability of operations.
At the end of the three-stage competition — “the ultimate objective: a useful quantum computer by 2033,” according to DARPA — qualified companies could receive as much as $300 million in federal funding.
“QBI is not a competition to narrow the field to a few ‘winners.’ Rather, the aim is to evaluate each company’s approach on its own merits. Multiple, single, or even no participants will ultimately demonstrate a path to an industrially useful quantum computer within the next eight years,” DARPA said. “Thorough evaluation is crucial to understanding the true potential of the technology.”
Atom, which is working on scalable arrays of neutral atoms, and Quantinuum, which is focused on trapped-ion quantum charged coupled device architecture, are among 11 teams to advance to Stage B of QBI.
“Companies selected for Stage B have described compelling technical concepts,” according to DARPA” … A significant challenge in evaluating quantum computing development plans lies in the diversity of technological approaches. Unlike classical computing, no single dominant architecture exists. The Stage B teams employ a wide range of quantum bit (qubit) technologies – the fundamental building blocks of a quantum computer – each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and technical hurdles.”
Quantum theory attempts to explain the behavior of matter at atomic and subatomic levels. Because quantum computers take advantage of special properties of quantum systems such as superposition, their computing power and speed are exponentially greater than a traditional computer.
Applications of quantum science could revolutionize the way that humans discover new drug therapies, map the cosmos, protect sensitive data, combat climate change and maybe even discover new forms of life in deep space.
The Boulder Valley — with the University of Colorado physics department, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and JILA (formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics) — has become, over the past three decades or so, the epicenter of quantum research.
A group of partners that includes Elevate Quantum, the University of Colorado, Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines began in early 2025 building a startup incubator for quantum technology companies in Boulder.
Quantinuum, which employs more than 550 people, including more than 370 scientists and engineers, is developing quantum-computing software applicable to industries such as pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, materials science, specialty chemicals and agrochemicals. The company was formed in 2021 with the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions, formerly a division within the parent company, with U.K.-based Cambridge Quantum Computing.
Founded in 2018 in Berkeley, California, where its global headquarters remains, Atom Computing opened its Boulder research and development operations in 2022.
About a year later, Atom’s Boulder team made history when it built the first commercial quantum computer to exceed 1,000 qubits.
