Quantum Catalyzer (Q-Cat) Launches with a Mission to Create and Nurture New Quantum Startups

Sometimes there are technologies that are brewing in an academic lab somewhere and the researchers are unaware that these technologies could be applied to real world problems for commercial benefit. What Quantum Catalyzer (Q-Cat) does is to search for these technologies and to create and support new startups that will commercialize the technology. Borrowing a term from the chemistry world, they see themselves as the "catalyst" that will find a quantum related technology, find the applications and users that need it, and mix the two together to create the new company that will bring the new solution to market.

Q-Cat emphasizes that their approach is different from that of a technology incubator. One clear difference is that budding entrepreneurs cannot apply to join Q-Cat. Rather, Q-Cat will search out technologies in the lab and work to convince the researcher that a new company can be formed to commercialize it. As a result, Q-Cat gets involved with the companies at the very earliest stages. Q-Cat will provide a lot of support in the areas of company formation, legal, banking, IP protection, business development, networking, lab space, identification of talent, and other things important for a successful business that a researcher may not be familiar with. The goal is to let the researcher continue what they are doing best, which is developing the technology, and have Q-Cat help with many of the other things needed for a commercial company. For providing these services, Q-Cat will take a 10% equity position upon a company's founding.

A key founder of Q-Cat is Professor Ronald Walsworth at the University of Maryland. Professor Walsworth and the rest of the Q-Cat team have vast experience with quantum technology, business operations, and startups. They also bring a strong network of technical and business advisors they can leverage and introduce to the new companies to help them on their journey. Q-Cat operations are being supported by venture capital firms Quantonation and TDF Ventures. These venture firms will also have the opportunity to take a close look at the new startup firms and make an investment, but they are not compelled to do so. One advantage to these or other potential investors is that Q-Cat's involvement can significantly de-risk a potential investment because a good portion of the technical and market due diligence of the technology has already been performed by Q-Cat when they decided to work with the researcher to create the company.

Q-Cat has already created four quantum companies that work in areas including quantum imaging, quantum instrumentation, quantum sensors, and quantum machine learning. These initial companies are all local to the College Park, Maryland location where Q-Cat is located. As Q-Cat gains more experience they will start working with companies in other geographic areas.

For more information about Q-Cat, you can view a press release announcing their company here and you can visit their web page which you can see here.

May 27, 2022