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Just before the end of the year, a new VC firm called Quantacet announced the close of a $20-million quantum fund. BetaKit didn’t cover at the time because we had our own news.

Quantacet is based in Québec and that’s important because in 2022 the province launched a Quantum Innovation Zone in Sherbrooke with some $435 million in public and private commitments.

“The quantum computer itself, the one that we would classify as sexy … has such a huge disruptive potential that we cannot really comprehend how much of an effect it’s going to have.”

Now, the federal government unveiled a $360-million national quantum strategy in January 2023, but every spear needs a tip. So is Québec our quantum province, with Sherbrooke the nation’s quantum hub?

Also, $20 million sounds like a drop in the bucket compared to some of the numbers mentioned above. How much can Quantacet achieve with a fund of that size, and what is the current state of quantum commercialization and venture returns?

And, frankly, what is quantum technology again?

To answer all of these questions (and a whole lot more) is Martin Laforest, managing partner of Quantacet and a recent board appointment to Qauntum Industry Canada.

This podcast is beefy, but Laforest lays out the state of quantum in Québec (and its level of sexiness relative to other tech) in an accessible way.

So just how sexy is quantum in Québec?

Let’s dig in.

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The BetaKit Podcast is hosted by Douglas Soltys & Rob Kenedi. Produced & edited by Kattie Laur. Feature image courtesy Institut quantique de l’Université de Sherbrooke.