The recent $550 million sale of Yale startup Quantum Circuits Inc. strengthens the quantum tech ecosystem in Connecticut and underscores the value of Yale’s investment in quantum research, campus leaders say.
Connecticut’s quantum sector is having a moment, thanks in part to a Yale startup that has long been viewed as a key element in promoting a flourishing tech ecosystem in New Haven that generates jobs, prosperity, and possibilities.
Quantum Circuits Inc., which builds quantum computers based upon a unique approach developed by Yale researchers over the past 20 years, was recently purchased by tech innovator D-Wave for $550 million. The deal includes a plan for doubling Quantum Circuits’ current 65-person workforce in New Haven and providing additional resources necessary to produce quantum computers using the Yale approach.
“It’s time for us to push down on the accelerator,” said Quantum Circuits co-founder Robert Schoelkopf, a Sterling Professor of Applied Physics in the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science. “This is going to be good for New Haven, the state, Yale, and the entire quantum infrastructure.”
Quantum computing aims to complement traditional, “classical” computers with devices based on emerging knowledge of quantum physics. In theory, quantum computers will be able to do computations that classical computers cannot. At the heart of quantum computing is the qubit — a basic bit of quantum information that can exist in a “superposition” of multiple physical states simultaneously.
In Connecticut, quantum computing is part of a larger wave of ongoing quantum tech research that may lead to advances in hundreds of products across an array of industries, from finance and manufacturing to smartphones and drug discovery — plus the new jobs those advances will create.
“This moment underscores Yale’s long-standing commitment to advancing quantum research and translating it into real-world impact,” said Mike Crair, vice provost for research at Yale. “As quantum stands to influence nearly every aspect of the nation’s economy and scientific discovery, Yale is proud to support cutting-edge faculty research and ensure that breakthroughs developed here improve lives across New Haven, the region, and the country.”
In November, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont pledged a $121 million statewide investment in quantum technology that includes support for QuantumCT, a nonprofit organization co-led by the University of Connecticut (UConn) and Yale University, as well as a first-of-its-kind quantum incubator in New Haven. Two months prior, QuantumCT was named one of 15 finalists for a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant administered through the Regional Innovation Engines program.
QuantumCT is a public-private initiative that focuses on quantum research, innovation, and workforce development in Connecticut — with plans to expand the state’s research capacity and apply cutting-edge quantum technologies to aerospace, defense, pharmaceuticals, and other pillars of the state’s economy.
Josh Geballe, managing director of Yale Ventures (a university initiative that supports Yale’s innovation and entrepreneurship efforts) and Yale’s senior associate provost for entrepreneurship and innovation, said the expansion of Quantum Circuits in New Haven is a clear example of the impact the quantum tech sector can have locally.
“Yale research generates real economic value for Connecticut, creating high-skill jobs, attracting talent and investment from around the world, and strengthening the state’s innovation ecosystem,” he said. “D-Wave’s planned expansion of the Quantum Circuits team in New Haven will help establish one of the leading centers of quantum R&D and help define Connecticut as a global hub of quantum innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Of course, Quantum Circuits’ origins emerged from a time before the current surge in interest in all things quantum.
Schoelkopf, who also has a secondary appointment in physics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, co-founded the company in 2015 with recent Nobel-laureate Michel Devoret, Yale’s F.W. Beinecke Professor Emeritus of Applied Physics and Physics, and Luigi Frunzio, a senior research scientist in applied physics at Yale Engineering.
Along with fellow Yale physicist Steven Girvin, Sterling Professor of Physics in Yale FAS, and other colleagues, the Yale team pioneered the field of quantum computing with superconducting circuits, beginning in the early 2000s. For example, Yale had the first lab to perform quantum algorithms and quantum error correction in integrated circuits.
But while other quantum computing labs around the world began incorporating aspects of Yale discoveries into their work, Schoelkopf said, no one seemed to embrace the Yale approach entirely. For example, he noted, other approaches to quantum computing have focused on adding more — but less efficient — qubits to their platform, rather than building better qubits for a more robust and less expensive system.
“We weren’t seeing people picking up on our vision, particularly in error correction,” Schoelkopf said. “We finally decided that maybe the only way we could get our work out there was to do the tech transfer ourselves and start a company.”
In 2019 Quantum Circuits opened a 6,000-square-foot New Haven lab and manufacturing facility. The company went on to raise $90 million in venture capital investment prior to its sale to Palo Alto-based D-Wave.
“I am incredibly proud of the Quantum Circuits team and the years of innovation that led to our breakthrough in hardware-integrated error correction,” said Ray Smets, CEO of Quantum Circuits. “By joining forces with D-Wave, we are accelerating the roadmap to commercially viable gate-model quantum computers.”
The deal also underscores that Yale’s ongoing investment in engineering and technology research is working.
“The success of Quantum Circuits testifies powerfully to Yale’s strength in quantum science and engineering, and to the ambition and ingenuity of our faculty,” said Yale Engineering Dean Jeffrey Brock. “It also speaks to Yale’s commitment to the fundamental research that leads to big technological advances. Yale Engineering is investing in this kind of lab-to-impact technology transfer, and Rob Schoelkopf’s triumph proves those investments can be catalytic for New Haven and for society.”
For Schoelkopf’s part, he plans to take a one-year leave from his role on the Yale faculty as D-Wave and Quantum Circuits expands its New Haven operations before returning to his faculty duties. He’ll also be a helpful resource for other researchers with big dreams.
“We need to make it easier for folks with ideas to get launched and build up this economy,” he said.
This story is a duplicate of the Yale News story of January 23, 2026, by Jim Shelton. The link to the original article is below.