The funding round was spearheaded by Planet First Partners, a European growth equity platform focused on sustainable investments. Additional contributions came from ETF Partners, EDBI, and existing investors such as Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Amadeus Capital Partners, the UK's National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), and HPC leader Altair.

Over the past year, the demand for quantum error correction technology has surged, propelled by technical advancements, improvements in qubit quality, and a global push towards developing error-corrected quantum systems. The quantum computing industry is now poised to move beyond the limitations of today's small, error-prone machines, aiming for a new era of 'fault-tolerant' quantum computers integrated with advanced QEC technology.

Riverlane’s Founder & CEO, Steve Brierley, said: “Quantum error correction is the critical enabler for the industry’s next huge wave of progress, from today’s small error-prone machines to large and reliable quantum computers that will start a new age of human progress as significant as the digital revolution. Our partners recognise the value in working with Riverlane to deliver a solution that fits their needs - we are building the right product at the right time to seize this opportunity.”

Riverlane has assembled the world’s largest team dedicated to quantum error correction (QEC), with nearly one hundred interdisciplinary experts focusing on their flagship product, Deltaflow. This comprehensive solution, compatible with all major qubit types, integrates proprietary QEC chips, hardware, and software to correct billions of errors per second.

Currently, even the best quantum computers can only manage a few hundred operations before encountering errors. Deltaflow aims to extend this capability to millions, and eventually trillions, of error-free quantum operations. This advancement promises to revolutionise industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, material science, and transportation by unlocking previously unattainable applications.

Nathan Medlock, Managing Partner at Planet First Partners, said: “We invest in companies with the potential to have a transformative impact on society and the environment. Riverlane’s focus on quantum error correction, coupled with its collaboration with quantum computer makers worldwide, can accelerate the global market and enable new quantum computing applications that can substantially contribute to solving social and environmental issues.”

Hermann Hauser, Co-founder and Venture Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners, said: “The creation of a common chip architecture solved the defining technology challenge of a new computing paradigm. Riverlane is doing the same in quantum computing. Its QEC chip and stack technology can accelerate the whole industry.”

The Series C funding will enable Riverlane to deliver its groundbreaking quantum error correction (QEC) roadmap. Published earlier this month, Riverlane’s roadmap lays out a development path to one million (Mega) error-free quantum computer operations (QuOps) as early as the end of 2026. The roadmap details a series of product releases, each incorporating significant scientific and technical breakthroughs toward this goal.

The ‘MegaQuOp’ milestone represents an important technological inflection point whereby a quantum computer can run operations that are impossible for a supercomputer to simulate. Reaching this threshold will enable the exploration of new use cases associated with simulating complex chemical processes. The simulation and design of better chemical catalysts could, for example, enable the production of new battery materials for more efficient clean energy storage and new processes for cleaner fertiliser production.

John Martinis, Professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara and former Quantum Computing Lead at Google Quantum AI, said: “When I led the world’s first successful quantum supremacy experiment in 2019, it helped unlock a collective optimism for what quantum computers can achieve. Five years on, I'm even more optimistic. Building the next generation of devices that live up to the technology’s incredible promise requires a massive step change in scale and reliability, and that requires reliable error correction schemes in quantum hardware.”

Riverlane partners with leading quantum computing companies and government bodies, including Rigetti Computing, Alice & Bob, QuEra Computing, Infleqtion, Atlantic Quantum and national labs such as Oakridge National Lab in the US and the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NǪCC). With this investment, Riverlane plans to expand its operations to meet growing demand from other hardware companies and governments worldwide.

Bharath Kannan, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Atlantic Quantum said: “Quantum error correction (QEC) is the only way to enable sustained quantum computation for long-depth algorithms, which is foundational to all useful applications. We are excited to collaborate with the QEC experts at Riverlane to maximise the potential of our world-class hardware as we scale to larger systems.”

Subodh Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer at Rigetti Computing, said: “Addressing qubit errors is one of the most important challenges facing the quantum computing ecosystem. Rigetti and Riverlane are longtime collaborators, and being able to leverage their leading error correction expertise continues to be a great asset as we advance our work towards building useful quantum computers.”