Rigetti Computing, a Berkely, California-based company and one of the larger players in the Quantum Computing world, builds quantum computers and sells its services through their Quantum Cloud Services platform. Although competing with larger competitors such as IBM and Google, Chad Rigetti, founder and namesake, says that his company is “pursuing this long-term objective with the urgency and product clarity of a startup” which “large corporations aren’t culturally matched to do.” Chad Rigetti isn’t the only one who thinks that he might have an edge over the big corporations—Rigetti Computing keeps pulling in investment money. Rigetti Computing obtained $71 million in their latest funding round, and earlier this year also obtained an $8.6 million grant from DARPA.
Long-term, however, Rigetti Computing would need a massive stroke of luck to overcome the giants in this field. While Google and IBM have deep pockets, Rigetti Computing needs to give away equity in order to secure these gigantic funding rounds. If Chad Rigetti gives away too much equity without making his breakthrough, he may start looking to sell the company to one of his larger competitors. Perhaps Google will look to acquire Rigetti Computing to give it an edge over IBM?