Yokohama Quantum Startup Qubitcore Wins NEDO Grant to Develop Optical Links for Distributed Quantum Computers

Qubitcore selected for national quantum project to develop micro-optical resonator technology connecting multiple quantum processors, 2026–2028.

YOKOHAMA — Qubitcore, an OIST-spinout quantum computing startup won selection for a national quantum computing project run by NEDO to develop scalable micro-optical resonator technology for linking multiple quantum processors via optical connections, the company announced July 23. The three-year project runs through fiscal 2028 and will be conducted at Qubitcore’s Okinawa R&D center.

The project addresses a core constraint in fault-tolerant quantum computing: physical limits on the number of qubits a single quantum processing unit can hold. Qubitcore will develop technology to integrate multiple micro-optical resonators on a single substrate using semiconductor fabrication, then couple them with ion-trap quantum processors. The goal is to enable quantum information transfer across multiple QPUs operating in parallel, forming a distributed quantum computing architecture.

Core Technical Objectives

• High-efficiency coupling of qubits to photons via optical resonators
• Multiple parallel optical channels between QPUs
• Integration with ion-trap quantum processors using standard semiconductor processes

The company, founded in July 2024, commercializes research from OIST professor Yuki Takahashi’s quantum information physics lab. It maintains headquarters in Yokohama with R&D conducted at OIST Innovation Core 2 in Okinawa. The budget for the NEDO project was not disclosed.

Distributed quantum architectures are a leading candidate for scaling to large, error-corrected quantum computers. Qubitcore is hiring across research, engineering, and business roles to support the project through 2028.