Press release
Quebec’s first venture capital fund dedicated to quantum technologies
Sherbrooke, Friday November 24th, 2023 – Quantacet, a new venture capital fund based in Quebec and dedicated to quantum technology startups, has announced a first closing of $20 million.
Quantacet is an eagerly-awaited new player within Quebec’s innovation ecosystem, bringing an added dimension to the range of resources available for creating, supporting, developing, and attracting quantum startups in Quebec. This fund will play a key role in the growth of the quantum industry in Quebec, which has already benefited from numerous private and public investments in recent years. By joining a select group of quantum funds based around the world, Quantacet confirms Quebec’s international leadership in this field.
Quantacet has an initial envelope of 20 million dollars, the result of contributions from a number of public and private sponsors who share a vision of solid industrial development in Quebec, seeing quantum technology as a sector of the future for the Quebec economy. These contributors include the Quebec government, through its agent Investissement Québec which has invested $10 million in the fund, as well as some 20 private individuals and institutional investors.
Quantacet will invest in ambitious young companies at the pre-seed or seed stage throughout Quebec. It may also make strategic investments in foreign companies, particularly if they are considering setting up operations in Quebec. The fund focuses on technologies with the potential to address the most critical challenges of our time, including those related to quantum computing, communications, sensors, and materials, as well as technologies critical to the quantum industry supply chain. By supporting the best companies in Quebec, Quantacet will actively contribute to building the quantum economy of tomorrow and positioning Quebec as a hub for the global quantum industry. The aim is to invest in about 20 companies over the next 5 years.
Quantacet is co-managed by Martin Laforest and Chloé Archambault, two well-established specialists in the quantum industry, and Ghyslain Goulet, CEO of the Accélérateur de création d’entreprises technologiques (ACET) and Manager of ACET Capital funds. Quantacet intends to leverage its international network and its understanding of commercialization issues in this cutting-edge sector to actively support its portfolio companies.
Quantacet finds an important strategic partner in ACET. ACET is a leader in business coaching for growing startups and in recent years has developed an expertise in supporting quantum startups. For ACET and its young quantum companies, Quantacet represents a source of capital that fills an important gap in the financing chain. Quantacet is also a co-founding partner of QV Studio, a Sherbrooke-based startup studio dedicated to creating and nurturing new quantum technology companies.
“Quantum technologies have the potential to transform a number of industries and thereby have an impact on the technological and societal landscape of the 21st century. Quebec is in the process of putting in place all the required ingredients to catalyze a quantum industry of international stature, and Quantacet will be there to support the most disruptive young quantum companies by giving them the means to achieve their ambitions. Quantacet’s aim is to accelerate the development cycle of quantum technologies so that we can all benefit from them more quickly,” explains Martin Laforest, a Quantacet Manager and a well-established expert in the quantum community.
“Quantacet is bringing together a number of private investors from across Quebec and the Estrie region with the aim of boosting Quebec’s young quantum companies, many of which are active in the Sherbrooke region and incubated at ACET,” adds Ghyslain Goulet, Manager at Quantacet and President and CEO of ACET.
“With this major investment in the DistriQ Quantum Innovation Zone, we are contributing to the creation and establishment of new businesses within a strategic sector for the future. The benefits stemming from this project will ensure that the talent and expertise are available. It is with such initiatives that we will make Quebec a world leader in quantum science”, stated Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Minister Responsible for Regional Economic development, and Minister Responsible for the Metropolis and the Montreal Region.
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About Quantacet
Quantacet is the first Quebec-based venture capital fund dedicated to early-stage companies working in the field of quantum technologies. Located at the heart of DistriQ, Sherbrooke’s Quantum Innovation Zone, Quantacet invests in the most promising young quantum companies that will have a major transformative impact on a wide range of applications in healthcare, cybersecurity, energy, transportation, and many other areas of society. By being an active player in Quebec’s venture capital ecosystem, notably through its presence at Espace CDPQ, the largest community dedicated to venture capital in Canada, Quantacet aims to facilitate access to venture capital for quantum startups in order to support their growth. https://quantacet.com
About ACET
The mission of the Accélérateur de création d’entreprises technologiques (ACET) is to identify innovative and daring technological projects, to support entrepreneurs in their development, and to propel new innovative companies having a positive societal impact. Supported by a committed business community, ACET offers personalized support from seed to internationalization, access to different sources of financing including its own investment funds, the expertise of its market intelligence service, and the power of its networks so that entrepreneurs can transform their passion, vision, and innovations into a successful business. https://acet.ca
Media contact:
Zone Franche
Simon Faucher
sfaucher@zonefrancherp.com
514-402-3873
