Photonic Inc.
Silicon-spin-qubit quantum computing company building a distributed, fault-tolerant architecture around the T centre — a colour centre in silicon that emits telecom-band (1326 nm) photons natively, making each qubit its own repeater node. The pitch is "Entanglement First": scale by photonically linking many modest-size modules over standard telecom fibre rather than chasing a monolithic cryogenic interconnect. Founded in 2016 as a Simon Fraser University spin-out by Stephanie Simmons and Paul Terry. Closed a >USD 200M financing round in May 2026 at a ~USD 2B valuation; Microsoft has been a strategic partner since 2023.
Timeline
Current flagship
T-centre silicon networked-module platform — distributed silicon-spin QC, telecom-band photonic interconnect (Entanglement First architecture)
Milestones
- 2026-05Closed >$200M USD ($275M CAD) financing round at ~$2B valuation — BCE/Bell Ventures, BDC, Export Development Canada, InBC, Royal Bank of Canada, and Telus join existing investors
- 2026-02Photonic + TELUS demonstrate quantum teleportation over 30 km of installed commercial fibre on TELUS's production network, announced as a first for installed commercial fibre — validates T-centre repeaters running on today's telecom infrastructure
- 2026-02UK's new £250M specialist quantum fund (Quantum Innovation Fund) invests in Photonic Inc. as part of the company's international expansion
- 2024-05Optically-entangled silicon spin qubits demonstrated across two separate modules — teleported CNOT gate between remote T-centres over telecom fibre
- 2023-11$100M USD round closed and strategic partnership with Microsoft announced — co-development of T-centre-based networked QC and Azure integration; investors include Microsoft, BCI, UK NSSIF, Inovia Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners ($140M USD total funding)
- 2023-11Microsoft strategic collaboration agreement announced — Photonic hardware to be integrated into Azure Quantum as it matures
- 2020Nature paper — silicon T-centre identified as a telecom-band optical interface to silicon spin qubits (Simmons group, Simon Fraser University); scientific basis for the company
- 2016Company founded out of Simon Fraser University by Stephanie Simmons (Chief Quantum Officer) and Paul Terry (CEO)
Roadmap
Capability details
Quantum computing
- Qubit type
- spin-si
- Physical qubits
- —
- Logical qubits
- 0
- 1Q gate fidelity
- —
- 2Q gate fidelity
- —
- T₁
- —
- T₂
- —
- EC code
- —
- Connectivity
- photonic-link
Quantum memory
- Platform
- t-centre-silicon
- Storage time
- —
- Retrieval efficiency
- —
- Fidelity
- —
- Wavelength
- 1326 nm
- Mode capacity
- —
Networking
- Role
- repeater
- Products
- silicon T-centre repeater module
11 unverified fields
-
modalities.qc.physical_qubits_current -
modalities.qc.one_q_fidelity -
modalities.qc.two_q_fidelity -
modalities.qc.coherence_t1_ms -
modalities.qc.coherence_t2_ms -
modalities.qc.ec_code -
modalities.memory.storage_time_ms -
modalities.memory.retrieval_efficiency -
modalities.memory.fidelity -
modalities.memory.mode_capacity -
partner-BT— User brief mentioned a BT (British Telecom) partnership; primary sources only confirm a TELUS commercial-fibre partnership (since 2024, demonstrated Feb 2026). UK government NSSIF backing is present but no BT-specific deal surfaces in vendor press or coverage
People
References
- blog https://photonic.com/ Photonic technology landing page — Distributed Quantum Computing at Scale
- press https://photonic.com/news/accelerating-quantum-computing-benefits-with-new-architecture/ Entanglement First architecture white paper / announcement
- press https://photonic.com/news/photonic-raises-100m-for-quantum-technology/ $100M USD round + Microsoft partnership (Nov 2023)
- press https://photonic.com/news/photonic-inc-partners-with-telus-demonstrates-quantum-teleportation/ Photonic + TELUS commercial-fibre quantum teleportation (Feb 2026)
- press https://thequantuminsider.com/2023/11/08/microsoft-announces-sweeping-partnership-investment-in-photonic/ Quantum Insider coverage of Microsoft partnership