Exploded view of Qolab quantum processing unitQolabThe quantum computing industry has arrived at a critical bottleneck. For over a decade, the narrative surrounding quantum computing has been focused on theoretical milestones and proof-of-concept demonstrations. We have seen quantum supremacy achieved in controlled lab environments, where processors have solved highly abstract problems faster than the world’s most powerful classical supercomputers. However, translating these lab-scale triumphs into commercial utility-scale systems has proven to be a monumental engineering hurdle.Enter Qolab, a quantum hardware startup founded in 2022 with primary research laboratories in Madison, Wisconsin. It was initially backed by $22.5 million in venture funding that included a Series A round led by Octave Ventures and including strategic industry players such as Applied Materials. Just recently, Qolab obtained $54.2 million in Series B financing and commitments led by UC Investments (which invests on behalf of the University of California).Qolab is not interested in building another laboratory prototype. Instead, the company is systematically applying advanced semiconductor manufacturing techniques to solve the twin manufacturing crises of quantum hardware: reproducible qubit yield and dense component integration. Qolab’s goal is to bridge the gap between deep physics and industrial-grade semiconductor fabrication so it can build the world’s first truly scalable quantum supercomputer.Assembling A Quantum ‘Dream Team’Qolab is led by an executive team that reads like a Who’s Who of quantum — scientists who have spent their careers helping to define modern quantum computing. CTO and co-founder Dr. John Martinis is widely regarded as a pioneer of superconducting qubits. Previously, as the chief scientist of Google’s quantum hardware efforts, Dr. Martinis was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for his foundational work in advancing scalable quantum systems.Another co-founder, Alan Ho, serves as Qolab’s CEO. He was formerly the head of product at Google Quantum AI, and the strategic coordinator along with Dr. Martinis for Google’s historic 2019 quantum supremacy experiment. His experience focuses heavily on translating complex physics into commercial roadmaps.MORE FOR YOUThe third co-founder, Dr. Robert McDermott, is Qolab’s head of hardware. A professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Dr. McDermott is considered a leading expert in quantum measurement, cryogenic interconnects and superconducting electronics.Martinis and McDermott are both experts in qubit coherence. I believe that, combined with Ho’s deep background in productization, Qolab has the expertise needed to address the physical and industrial constraints that have prevented quantum processors from scaling to the millions of physical qubits necessary to achieve fault-tolerant quantum computing.Why Quantum Scaling Fails And What Qolab Is Doing About ItSuperconducting quantum computers rely on qubits constructed as “transmons” that depend on a critical component known as a Josephson junction. This consists of a thin insulating barrier sandwiched between two layers of superconducting aluminum — which can be tricky to manufacture. It’s crucial to note that superconducting qubits are exceptionally fragile and prone to suffer from problems with decoherence and noise.Josephson junctions are traditionally fabricated with electron-beam lithography and an evaporation lift-off technique that uses organic photoresist stencils. But because the lift-off method leaves microscopic chemical residues, it can result in uneven junction sizes, leading to lower yield across a wafer. While this process is acceptable for producing a few qubits in a laboratory environment, it can’t be used to build a million-qubit processor.Qolab plans to eliminate these manufacturing problems by adapting advanced 300 mm silicon foundry tools to produce quantum hardware. This is the same equipment used to manufacture chips for smartphones, servers and PCs. Dr. Martinis and his team have developed a semiconductor-compatible fabrication process that they say eliminates the problems associated with lift-off stencils. By replacing the existing fabrication process with precision subtractive etching — which produces an atomically clean material interface — the new process increases qubit coherence and improves manufacturing consistency.The Importance Of Wafer-Scale Tile Architecture And Collaborative Systems EngineeringInstead of building a single, giant, fragile quantum chip, Qolab has also developed an advanced semiconductor packaging technique that allows separate qubit and wiring wafers to be bonded into modular tiles that contain integrated cryogenic amplifiers and filters. Integrating these components reduces the number of external coaxial cables previously needed in quantum refrigerators. (Superconducting machines must operate at extremely low temperatures.)Qolab has also prioritized co-designing its chips with leading control-hardware companies such as Quantum Machines. In superconducting systems, control electronics must deliver clean microwave and flux pulses to the qubits, which is why Qolab integrates its high-yield QPUs with control platforms such as Quantum Machines’ OPX1000. According to Qolab, this allows it to dramatically reduce physical error rates, which would otherwise be problematic to quantum operations.Qolab has set itself apart from many quantum hardware companies by using a horizontal, collaborative approach to systems engineering. (Indeed, the company’s name is a contraction of “quantum collaboration.”) Partnering with companies in specialized domains enables Qolab to focus on its core competency of perfecting low-noise, high-yield superconducting QPUs. A list of Qolab partners can be found here.Embracing Industrial Semiconductor Manufacturing To Scale Quantum ComputingAfter Dr. Martinis was appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology earlier this year, he noted that the key to practical quantum error correction is reducing the raw noise burden on the qubits. That philosophy is evident in Qolab’s design because every layer of its quantum stack, ranging from cryogenic filtering to pulse management, works in tandem to achieve that.In the bigger picture, Qolab appears to have removed the scaling burden from (so far theoretical or experimental) error-correction software and placed it on what the company considers to be stable and reliably manufactured industrial hardware. Moving to industrial semiconductor fabrication and implementing an effective quantum error correction method would position Qolab as a key hardware contender in the global race to build a useful quantum supercomputer.Moor Insights & Strategy provides or has provided paid services to technology companies, like all tech industry research and analyst firms. These services include research, analysis, advising, consulting, benchmarking, acquisition matchmaking and video and speaking sponsorships. Of the companies mentioned in this article, Moor Insights & Strategy currently has (or has had) a paid business relationship with Applied Materials and Google.