Startup · $232.8m raised
Sydney, NSW
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Q-CTRL raised.
Investors whose own portfolio pages list Q-CTRL, even though we haven't found any coverage of the round yet.
| Investor | Listed on |
|---|---|
| Salus Ventures | its portfolio page ↗ |
Companies Q-CTRL acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Shih | VP of Product | @AuManufacturing |
| Aravind Ratnam | Chief Strategy Officer | Startup Daily (27 May 2025), Startup Daily (13 Feb 2025) |
| Donna Hacker | Head of Finance | @AuManufacturing |
| Kelly Gurr | Head of Marketing | @AuManufacturing |
| Mick Conroy | Product Manager for Black Opal | Startup Daily, @AuManufacturing |
| Mike Ferrari | Head of Australia (former) | Startup Daily |
| Prof Michael J Biercuk | CEO · Founder | Defence Connect (2 Sep 2026), Defence Connect (1 Sep 2025), Startup Daily (28 Aug 2025), Defence Connect (16 Jul 2025), Startup Daily (27 May 2025), Startup Daily (15 Apr 2025), Startup Daily (13 Feb 2025), SmartCompany (19 Dec 2024), SmartCompany (11 Oct 2024), Forbes Australia, @AuManufacturing (9 Oct 2024), SmartCompany (8 Oct 2024), @AuManufacturing (17 Nov 2023), @AuManufacturing (5 Sep 2023), SmartCompany (28 Jul 2023), @AuManufacturing (28 Jun 2023), ARN (ARNnet), Startup Daily (1 Feb 2023), TechCrunch Venture, Square Peg Capital, @AuManufacturing (10 Feb 2022) |
Stories naming Q-CTRL. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Deep-tech investor Main Sequence is seeking $400 million for a fourth fund, with $75 million already committed by the federal government, after two portfolio companies reached unicorn status this year.
Defence tech firm Q-CTRL reports a first-at-sea trial navigating a vessel with no satellite positioning, using a quantum gravity sensor hardened by software, reaching nautical-mile accuracy and extending its navigation product line.
Q-CTRL has won $38 million of DARPA defence contracts to build GPS-independent quantum navigation technology, working alongside Lockheed Martin on jam-proof sensors.
Also Defence Connect
Quantum firm Q-CTRL ran a shipboard trial of its quantum navigation sensor on a Royal Australian Navy vessel, operating 144 hours unattended and showing GPS-independent positioning, with results validated in a journal.
Sydney quantum software company Q-CTRL has launched free webinars teaching quantum computing basics, built on its Black Opal education platform, with more sessions planned across 2025.
Year-end roundup ranking 2024's twelve largest startup raises, headed by PsiQuantum's $940 million government-backed quantum computing round, plus Guzman y Gomez's ASX listing and Betashares' Temasek investment.
Defence grants totalling over $60 million went to 21 Australian organisations, with quantum software firm Q-CTRL among the recipients of contracts under a federal emerging technologies program.
Canberra is funding 21 quantum and counter-disinformation defence projects, awarding $60 million in grants through ASCA's Emerging and Disruptive Technologies programme to universities and companies nationwide.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing
Weekly roundup detailing six Australian raises: Q-CTRL's Series B extension, plus fresh capital for Mutinex, Atelier, Rosterfy, Build Club and Axify.ai, naming lead investors and founders throughout.
Quantum computing company Q-CTRL has added $87.5 million in fresh equity, expanding its Series B round, with GP Bullhound leading and a group of new and returning backers participating.
Also Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
ExoFlare, cofounded by ex-Data61 chief Adrian Turner, has banked $5.3 million in seed funding led by Salus Ventures to help food producers manage biosecurity risks.
Also SmartCompany
The Australian federal and Queensland governments are investing $940m in PsiQuantum, which will open a Brisbane regional headquarters; $18.4m will fund a national quantum centre at the University of Sydney.
Also Dealroom·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
Diraq has added $23 million to its Series A in a Quantonation-led round, with Higgins Family Investments and UNSW also taking part, on top of the $30.6 million raised earlier.
Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Early VC·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·Startup Daily
Federal grants roundup: 21 Cooperative Research Centres Projects awards worth $51 million in Round 15, with EQ Plastics, Optiscan Imaging and NEXSEN BioTech each receiving $3 million for product development.
Also RenewEconomy
Weekly Australian deals newsletter: Amber Electric's Series C, Saltwater Games' seed round, a Q-CTRL grant, CarbonHQ pre-seed, Preplocal backing, Metcash's triple acquisition plus three other deals, and a new AirTree hire.
Roundup of seven Australian startups landing fresh capital and grants: Gaia EnviroTech's $4.3 million deal with RFM, four medtechs sharing $3.25 million via ANDHealth+, Q-CTRL's UK quantum prize, and CarbonHQ's $600,000 pre-seed.
Briefs roundup: Main Sequence adds Alison Deans as venture partner; Starpharma hands the CEO role to Cheryl Maley; DroneShield lands a $2.2 million repeat order; Q-CTRL will deliver quantum training with QUIN.
Main Sequence, CSIRO's deep tech venture fund, adds Cochlear chair Alison Deans as a venture partner, extending her investment committee service since 2017; its third fund brought in $450 million in July.
Tom Stace and Arkady Federov launch AQC, a Queensland venture making miniature superconducting components for quantum computers, with Uniseed investing $3 million; the piece also recaps Australia's quantum funding momentum.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany
Weekly roundup covering five Australian startups that announced a combined $58.5 million in new funding, spanning quantum computing, advertising software, mining safety technology and event rental software, alongside government grant programs.
KPMG data shows Australian startup funding fell sharply in early 2023, though AI and climate tech stayed strong, with several large raises listed and a new Main Sequence fund announced.
Also Startup Daily
Deep tech venture firm Main Sequence has reached an initial A$450 million close on its third fund, pushing money under management past A$1 billion; Hostplus, Temasek and CSIRO are among the backers.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·TechCrunch Australia·@AuManufacturing
Weekly roundup of eight Australian startups raising a combined $30.2 million, spanning SME lending, quantum computing grants, proptech, consumer apps and recycling, plus Stylerunner's earlier sale to Accent Group.
Also Startup Daily
OIF Ventures has locked in $55 million from investors for a new Opportunity Fund aimed at later-stage tech companies, and the article recalls its earlier backing of Advanced Navigation and Go1.
A roundup of Australian manufacturing news: a summit keynote, a product launch, a CEO appointment, an acquisition, a quantum HQ, training and supply deals, and a refrigeration deployment.
Quantum control software firm Q-CTRL is opening a purpose-built Sydney headquarters for quantum research, product development and commercialisation, backed by NSW and federal government funding, with opening expected late 2023.
Also @AuManufacturing·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing
Roundup of six Australian startup raises totalling $94 million: Q-CTRL, Hnry, FoodByUs, F4S, STRAAND and Lenexa Medical, backed by investors including Salesforce Ventures, AirTree, Base Capital, Investible, Unilever Ventures and Stoic VC.
Also stoicam.com.au
Sydney quantum software firm Q-CTRL announced a $27.4 million Series B extension with new backers including Salesforce Ventures, following its $25 million Series B led by Airbus Ventures in late 2021.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·Forbes Australia
News roundup: EMVision receives a $2.5 million NSW medical devices grant, ADDE appoints a liquidator, DroneShield wins an order, SciDev and Q-CTRL name executives, and ReNu Energy signs a non-binding term sheet with HESTA.
Also @AuManufacturing
Q-CTRL has released an enterprise version of its quantum computing education platform, Black Opal, with early customers including IonQ, consultancies, a petrochemicals firm and government bodies.
Chief Scientist Cathy Foley's paper examines Australia's quantum technology achievements and draws lessons for scaling other sectors, noting Silicon Quantum Computing's large Series A raise and other local quantum companies.
Square Peg's retrospective of 2019: five new portfolio companies, several large rounds it led or co-led, two acquisitions, two IPOs, new team members, and its capital deployed across new and follow-on deals.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Startup Daily profiles Main Sequence's Bill Bartee on quantum investing, recalling past raises by QuintessenceLabs, Silicon Quantum Computing, Quantum Brilliance and Q-CTRL, plus government support for Australia's quantum sector.
Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing
Ignition Lane's weekly roundup: Zip's deal for Sezzle, Zeller's unicorn raise, several Australian funding rounds, Startmate backing Provvy, a space manufacturing grant, NZVC's first close, and tech's response to Russia.
Canberra is putting $20 million into an Adelaide space manufacturing project, matching the state government's earlier $20 million, with four local spacetech firms among the collaborators.
Canberra is putting $20 million from its Modern Manufacturing Initiative toward a space manufacturing park at Adelaide Airport, adding to state support, while a plant-protein consortium led by Australian Plant Proteins earlier secured $113 million.
Quantum firm Q-CTRL wins a US energy department research grant to automate quantum hardware with AI alongside a national laboratory, and the article recalls its recent Series B led by Airbus Ventures.
Square Peg Capital's year-in-review recaps its 2021 portfolio: raises it led or joined, SPAC listing decisions, Vend's acquisition, new investment-team hires, and its newsletter and podcast output.
Also Cut Through Venture·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Techboard·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·myzeller.com·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia·Dealroom·rswebsols.com
Australia's Main Sequence has pulled in A$250 million for its second deep tech fund, with existing backers returning and a sharpened emphasis on decarbonisation investments.