Multiverse Computing co-founders Enrique Lizaso Olmos, Samuel Mugel, Román Orús, Alfonso Rubio | Image credit: Multiverse Computing
Multiverse Computing, a Spanish startup that provides software for finance companies that want to gain an edge with quantum computing, announced that it will receive €12.5M in a fresh round of funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program.
The investment comes after the company’s €10M Seed round raised less than 2 months ago. This latest financing is primarily an equity investment (€10M) with the remainder (€2.5M) coming in the form of a grant.
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Multiverse Computing was founded with the help of the Basque Government-Spri and the Provincial Council of Guipuzkoa through the Txekintek / Ekintzaile program. The startup also had support from accelerators and technology centres such as the Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC) and international institutions such as Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab (CDL).
About the EIC
The European Innovation Council was launched under the Horizon Europe programme. The programme witnessed success during a pilot between 2018 and 2020 and has a budget of €10.1B. Approx €1.1B of this budget has been made available in 2021 for the EIC Accelerator.
Companies selected for funding under the EIC Accelerator program are assessed by experienced investors and entrepreneurs under a rigorous process for excellence, impact, and risk level.
The EIC programme helps startups and SMEs from early-stage research to proof of concept, technology transfer, as well as in financing and scaleup. €495M of the budget is earmarked for Strategic Health and Digital technologies, and Green Deal solutions. The programme offers both grants and investments to companies – mainly startups and SMEs. The investments are managed by the EIC Fund.
Quantum computing for the financial industry
Multiverse Computing was founded in 2019 by Alfonso Rubio Manzanares, Enrique Lizaso Olmos, Román Orús, and Samuel Mugel. The startup provides software for companies from the financial industry to help them gain an edge with quantum computing. It combines quantum and quantum-inspired solutions to address complex open problems in finance by demonstrating industry use cases to bring value to financial institutions.
The company’s flagship product, Singularity, enables financial professionals to run efficient quantum algorithms on any quantum computer from a simple spreadsheet to address highly complex problems – such as portfolio optimisation and fraud detection – without requiring any knowledge of quantum computers.
Multiverse’s Singularity toolkit for financial institutions is designed to leverage the power of quantum computing to outperform classical approaches to solving many business challenges in finance, including capital allocation, fraud detection, and risk management. With its UX and PC-based interface, Singularity enables financial professionals to harness the capabilities of quantum computing without any special expertise or training.
The startup collaborates with technology partners in quantum computing such as IBM, Microsoft, Xanadu, D-Wave, IonQ, Rigetti, Pasqal, Alpine, Quantum Technologies, Strangeworks, Orca, Amazon AWS, and Fujitsu, among others. It is also collaborating with several large financial institutions to explore the potential of quantum computing.
The company also reports that since its staff have knowledge of financial issues and speak 15 different languages, understanding and solving most of their clients’ problems in their own language comes in handy.
Capital utilisation
Enrique Lizaso, CEO of Multiverse Computing, says that part of the proceeds will be used to further optimise the company’s Monte Carlo asset valuation engine, as well as derivative evaluation capabilities, and stress test tools for financial institutions and central banks.
The funds will also be used to hire fresh talents and expand into additional vertical markets as the company accelerates the commercialisation of its toolkit.
Enrique Lizaso adds, “It is an honour for Multiverse to be recognised by the EIC as among the most innovative and promising startups in Europe. This investment serves as a testament to the incredible potential of our flagship Singularity product, the first quantum-powered computational solution for financial services. This is a pan-European recognition that financial institutions can derive benefit today from quantum technologies that are high performing and easy to use. Singularity is best-in-class on both fronts.”
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