US locks $200 million into Canadian-founded quantum firms

OTTAWA — The US Department of Commerce has finalized CHIPS and Science Act deals giving Canadian-founded quantum companies D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing access to up to $100 million US (about $138 million Canadian) each, taking minority, non-controlling equity stakes in both.

D-Wave ($QBTS), a 1999 University of British Columbia spin-out that moved its headquarters from Burnaby, B.C., to Palo Alto in 2023 while keeping Canadian R&D, executed a definitive agreement on Tuesday. Rigetti ($RGTI), founded by Moose Jaw, Sask.-born Chad Rigetti and based in Berkeley, Calif., signed a parallel $100 million award the same day.

“The Administration has made clear that US quantum leadership will require not only breakthrough research, but also the ability to scale, commercialize and manufacture these technologies,” D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz said. The cash is meant to expand domestic US quantum capacity and supply chains; Rigetti’s award funds readout electronics, cryostat architecture and high-connectivity chip fabrication.

The equity-for-funding model deepens Washington’s claim on firms that started in Canada. Ottawa’s most recent federal quantum envelope was $334 million Canadian over five years — a fraction of the broader US CHIPS quantum package — as Canadian founders keep drawing US capital and ownership stakes south.