“May you live in interesting times”, the apocryphal curse warns. Times are certainly interesting right now. The world is becoming a more uncertain place, and it’s harder than it has been in decades to predict what the political map will look like in a few years’ time, and how that might affect us.
Meanwhile, we rely ever more on digital communication and cloud storage to conduct business while state actors and sophisticated criminals are becoming more serious about breaching security to access that data.
We have not yet arrived at the point where quantum computers can break even the toughest standard cryptography methods without effort, but organisations dealing with valuable data must always keep in mind that determined hackers could break their encryption sooner than that.
Delft-based Q*Bird has a solution: devices designed to provide quantum-secured data communications.
“What we offer is communication secured by physics–by the laws of nature–that does not rely on any mathematics or any protocols that can be hacked by a computer, not even by a quantum computer,” explains co-founder Ingrid Romijn.
How it works… and where it’s going
The tech sends qubits between both ends of a secure data connection. The qubits are single particles of light–photons–in the fragile state of quantum superposition. Any attempt to hack the connection would result in that state being disturbed. If that happens, a new quantum key is generated, locking the hackers out.
This tech is targeted at financial institutions, data centers, government institutions, and critical infrastructure, when data loss and downtime can have catastrophic outcomes.
And isn’t merely up and working in a lab. Q*Bird's un-tappable, multi-user quantum network is already being prepared for use by the Port of Rotterdam in the critical field of global logistics. Once it’s up and running, it will connect multiple users simultaneously via a central hub.
But that’s just the beginning Q*Bird’s ambitions. The spinout from QuTech at TU Delft plans to scale the concept to provide the basis of a quantum internet, connecting the quantum computers of the future together across the world.
Co-founder Ingrid Romijn says that the first version of this concept will allow remote use of quantum computers by those without the ability to physically access them.
“Quantum computers are massive instruments, and there won’t be a tabletop model anytime soon. It's likely that only big institutions will have quantum computers, but users will be able to connect with a quantum link to perform their own quantum calculations.
“Our technology will mean a simple client device can connect to a quantum computer. And with this, we will democratise quantum computers.”
While this vision can’t become a reality quite yet–not least because quantum computers themselves aren’t ready to accept such connections–the pace of investment in the field around the world at present suggests that it’s worth preparing. And as Romijn says, quantum communications technology is starting to attract some serious attention.
“Government entities are realising that this is something they need to start connecting the dots around, and ensuring industry is ready.”
Background
Q*Bird’s tech is based on 15 years of quantum cryptography research by co-founder Joshua Slater in his academic career in The Netherlands, Canada, Germany, and Austria.
Slater joined QuTech at TU Delft five years ago where he met Romijn, a program manager there. After collaborating on tests of the underlying technology with companies like Cisco, KPN, Eurofiber, and Juniper Networks, they decided it was mature enough to spin out.
Because she had been involved in managing some of the test phase, Slater and his team asked Romijn, a physicist by background, to join the new startup.
The pair are joined by third co-founder Remon Berrevoets. An optics engineer by specialism, he has been working hands-on with quantum security tech for years at TUDelft, and was keen to move from research to commercial R&D.
Q*Bird is currently a team of 11, with plans to further increase its headcount during the rest of 2023.
Since spinning out, a key source of funding for Q*Bird has been a SAFE note from QDNL Participations.
“The SAFE note was essential for us to bootstrap the company, and enabled us to work on setting up the company while at the same time working on gaining funding from our initial customers,” says Romijn.
“We now have a baseline of funding so we can grow the team and develop our technology. From the start, QDNL Participations supported us with the spin-out process, setting up the finances, and connecting us with legal support. They’ve also helped us sharpen our message and strategy.
“And QDNL in general, and specifically the people from the House of Quantum and Quantum Delft have been incredibly supportive. They’ve connected us to other players in the ecosystem, organise all kinds of events where we can meet with players from around the world, organised joint outreach, conference visits and more.”
Competition
While the wider field of quantum technologies is growing, and there are companies working on various aspects of quantum networking and security, Slater says Q*Bird has a unique edge in its space at this early stage of the market.
“We're one of the only ones who are focusing on a link between quantum computers, and the upgradable concept that we have to work towards connecting quantum computers.”
So, how long do we have to wait until this vision of connected quantum computers–an early ‘quantum internet’–becomes reality?
“We are working as part of a program, the Quantum Internet Alliance, with a timespan of seven years, with the aim to connect quantum computers, via technologies including ours, in that time,” says Slater.
“The first part of the program started in October 2022 and will run for three years, defining how the connectivity should work. Then over the next three to four years we'll be building it out. I believe seven years is a realistic timescale.”
But connecting quantum computers over a short distance is one thing. How about a global quantum internet?
Slater says Q*Bird’s tech can currently achieve reliable connectivity over a distance of 200km.
“If you want to go beyond that and keep the quantum signal intact, you would need a quantum repeater,” he says. “And this is technology that is still inside many different university groups and startups… the technology is still very much in the lab.”
So while lots of different parts of the quantum connectivity puzzle still need to come together to make Q*Bird’s tech work on a global scale, Romijn is optimistic about how this will play out.
“A large push is being made inside Europe to make sure quantum communication works for the EU now that it’s on the brink of breaking through.
“The fact is, quantum communication technology is reaching a tipping point where it's becoming mature enough to start having a life outside the lab.”
