QxBranch, Inc. (QxBranch) is a

data analysis Data analysis is the process of inspecting, Data cleansing, cleansing, Data transformation, transforming, and Data modeling, modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Da ...

and

quantum computing A quantum computer is a computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. On small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of wave-particle duality, both particles and waves, and quantum computing takes advantage of this behavior using s ...

software company, based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The company provides data analytics services and research and development for quantum computing technology. On July 11, 2019, QxBranch announced that it had been acquired by

Rigetti Computing Rigetti Computing, Inc. is a Berkeley, California-based developer of Superconducting quantum integrated circuits used for quantum computers. Rigetti also develops a cloud platform called Forest that enables programmers to write quantum algorith ...

, a developer of quantum

integrated circuits An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

used for quantum computers.

Services

QxBranch provides

predictive analytics Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of Statistics, statistical techniques from data mining, Predictive modelling, predictive modeling, and machine learning that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or other ...

services to firms in the banking and finance industries. The company also develops software products for

technologies, including developer tools and interfaces for quantum computers, as well as quantum computing simulators. Additionally, the company provides

consulting A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

and

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

for businesses that may be improved through quantum computing methods, including in the development of adiabatic quantum computing methods for

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

applications.

History

QxBranch was founded in 2014 as a joint spin-off of Shoal Group and The Tauri Group to commercialize quantum computing technology. Shoal Group (named Aerospace Concepts at the time) had a research agreement with

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

to access a D-Wave Two quantum computer, and transitioned the access and associated technology to help found QxBranch. In August 2014, QxBranch was selected as one of eight participants for

Accenture Accenture plc is a global multinational professional services company originating in the United States and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, that specializes in information technology (IT) services and management consulting. It was founded in 1 ...

's FinTech Innovation Lab program in Hong Kong. In May 2015, Dr. Ray O Johnson, former Chief Technology Officer of

Corporation, joined QxBranch as executive director. In January 2016, Australian Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

toured QxBranch's facilities in Washington, D.C. for a demonstration of quantum computing applications. In November 2016, QxBranch, in partnership with

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

, was announced as a winning bid under the

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the UK Res ...

's Quantum Technologies Innovation Fund under the

UK National Quantum Technologies Programme The UK National Quantum Technologies Programme (UKNQTP) is a programme set up by the UK government to translate academic work on quantum mechanics, and the effects of quantum superposition and quantum entanglement into new products and service ...

. The partnership is working on developing

quantum algorithms In quantum computing, a quantum algorithm is an algorithm that runs on a realistic model of quantum computation, the most commonly used model being the quantum circuit model of computation. A classical (or non-quantum) algorithm is a finite sequ ...

for

foreign exchange market The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. By trading volume, ...

trading and

arbitrage Arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more marketsstriking a combination of matching deals to capitalize on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which th ...

. In April 2017, QxBranch, in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, released a quantum computing simulator aiming to enable software and algorithm development to assess the feasibility and performance of applications ahead of the development of silicon-based quantum computers. The simulator was modeled on the hardware being developed by the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

and made accessible as part of the bank's internal cloud-based systems, allowing developers to design and evaluate software and algorithms concurrently with the hardware's on-going development. In February 2018, QxBranch demonstrated a quantum deep learning network that simulated the

2016 US Presidential Election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

, resulting in slightly improved forecasts of the election outcome over those of forecasting site Five Thirty Eight. In April 2018,

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

announced a collaboration with QxBranch and other companies for research access to its

IBM Quantum Experience IBM Quantum Platform (previously known as IBM Quantum Experience) is an online platform allowing public and premium access to cloud-based quantum computing services provided by IBM. This includes access to a set of IBM's quantum processors, a set ...

quantum computers.

Locations

QxBranch is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has an engineering team in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, as well as offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official website

"Decipher quantum computing"
''CNBC News''
"Quantum Computing: A Discussion with Michael Brett"
Center for Strategic and International Studies
"Hearing -- Disrupter Series: Quantum Computing"

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committee (United States Congress), standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name chang ...

Software companies based in Washington, D.C. Software companies established in 2014 Quantum information science Defunct software companies of the United States

Services

History

Locations

See also

References

External links