Riverlane hassuccessfully raised £3.25m in seed funding, a round led by venture capitalinvestors CambridgeInnovation Capital and Amadeus Capital Partners, with the participation of Cambridge Enterprise.
Our focus is to build a simulation engine for microscopic systems to replace expensive laboratory tests with computer simulation. Riverlane’s software leverages the capabilities of quantum computers, which operate using the principles of quantum mechanics. In the same way that graphics processing units (GPUs) accelerate machine learning workloads, we use quantum computers to accelerate the simulation of quantum systems.
We are working with leading academics and companies on critical early use cases for our software, such as developing new battery materials and drug treatments. The seed funding will be critical for us to demonstrate the technology across a range of quantum computing hardware platforms; focusing on early adopters in materials design and drug discovery. It will also enable the team to expand with the recruitment of additional quantum software researchers and computational physicists.
Steve Brierley, CEO of Riverlane, said: “This seed funding allows us to accelerate our work at a critical time in the development of quantum computers. Computers are central to the design of many new products, but when we try to model systems at the level of individual atoms, the rules that govern their behaviour are fundamentally different. Even huge supercomputers are limited to approximations. As a result the design of new drugs and materials remains primarily a laboratory, rather than a computational, exercise. Riverlane’s software aims to unleash the huge potential of quantum computers.”
Andrew Williamson, Managing Partner at CIC commented, “Riverlane is changing the way we think about computation at the most fundamental level. Steve [Brierley] and his team are developing state-of-the-art algorithms that can run on a range of quantum computing hardware platforms. These algorithms can be applied to a number of applications such as drug–protein interactions, biomolecule folding and materials science at a molecular level. This is the sort of cutting-edge technology at which Cambridge excels and at CIC we are delighted to be involved with such an exciting company from the outset.”
Amelia Armour, Principal, Amadeus Capital Partners, said: “Amadeus has along history of supporting deep tech businesses in Cambridge and we’ve been impressed by Riverlane’s progress. Steve has brought together an impressive team of experts in maths, computer science, chemistry, physics and materials science who share a passion for driving innovation in quantum computing. We’re pleased to support the company as it seeks to demonstrate the commercial value of its unique software.”