D-Wave Systems Inc. has become the latest quantum computer developer to pursue a public listing through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company .
The proposed transaction would see D-Wave access US$300-million in gross proceeds held by Miami-based DPCM – “assuming no redemptions” by the SPAC’s public shareholders, the Canadian company said in a release. D-Wave has also secured a commitment for a $40-million private placement from investors including existing backers PSP Investments – the Canadian pension fund, which is its largest shareholder – NEC Corp.
The SPAC moves are further evidence the market for quantum machines is heating up, and represent an opportunity for D-Wave to rebound after a recent challenging period. Classic computer systems are made of bits, or tiny circuits on a microchip that are either open or closed – representing ones and zeros in conventional software.
To build such a machine, D-Wave had to generate temperatures colder than those in deep space inside the machine in order to slow the atoms inside D-Wave’s processors and harness their quantum effects. Mr. Rose called it “the hardest engineering project that has ever been attempted in the history of man.”