HPQC Fund portfolio company Sparxity (formerly SpiNNcloud) has announced a multi-million-dollar deployment of its sparse-native computing systems at Germany’s Jülich Supercomputing Centre, one of Europe’s largest supercomputing research facilities. The installation, named JUBIS, is designed to improve computational speed and energy efficiency for sparse machine learning and high-performance computing workloads. The deployment marks a significant milestone for Sparxity as it e

The rapid growth of AI has attracted a wave of investment into photonics, as the industry looks for ways to overcome the power and data-transfer constraints facing next-generation computing. But with so many companies, funding announcements and ambitious claims, how can investors distinguish commercial potential from hype? Drawing on lessons from the fiber optics boom of 1999–2001, HPQC examines the risks shaping today’s photonics market. From demand and technology to custome

As AI systems scale to incorporate increasing numbers of GPUs, traditional copper connections face growing limitations in bandwidth, distance and system design. In this article, Mixx Technologies explores how its high-density SxC fibre connector and roadmap for near-packaged and co-packaged optics could help enable fully optical scale-up networks, supporting greater connectivity and more efficient communication between processors. The article outlines Mixx’s approach to addre

As demand for computing power grows, designing advanced semiconductors is becoming increasingly complex. This article explores the software underpinning modern chip design, the role of electronic design automation (EDA), and how artificial intelligence could reshape the industry. It examines the established players and emerging startups seeking to automate or rethink parts of the design process, alongside the challenges of data access, reliability and adoption that could infl

Snapper Services’ Mosaiq platform has won the Technology category at the 2026 Wellington Gold Awards, recognising its evolution from New Zealand’s smart ticketing heritage into a global transit intelligence platform. By turning live bus data into actionable insights, Mosaiq helps public transport operators and authorities make evidence-based decisions to improve network performance and reliability. Read how local innovation is supporting smarter public transport networks arou

ICM HPQC Fund portfolio company Salience Labs has closed an oversubscribed US$125 million Series B funding round, led by Bullhound Capital, with strategic investment from AMD Ventures and Intel Capital. The funding will support the deployment of its silicon photonics-based optical switching technology, scale high-volume manufacturing and expand its US presence, advancing its ambition to address critical networking bottlenecks in AI data centres. Read the full announcement her

Diraq Founder and CEO Professor Andrew Dzurak has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, one of the highest honours in the global physics community. The recognition celebrates his pioneering contributions to silicon-based quantum computing and the development of scalable, cost-effective quantum technologies. Read the full announcement here.

Diraq has advanced to the final stage of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, marking an important milestone in the company’s development of silicon-based quantum computing technology and its progress towards demonstrating a path to utility-scale quantum computing. Read the full announcement here: Four more teams enter Quantum Benchmarking Initiative’s final stage | DARPA

ICM Mobility portfolio company Littlepay has been selected by Stagecoach, the UK’s largest bus and coach operator, to provide contactless payment infrastructure across its fleet of more than 8,300 vehicles. The partnership will support the rollout of modern, scalable payments technology, helping simplify journeys for passengers while strengthening the infrastructure behind public transport payments. Read the full announcement here.

ICM Mobility portfolio company Littlepay has been selected to deliver the Broker Service for Project Coral, a UK Department for Transport-funded initiative designed to enable region-wide contactless fare capping across multiple transport operators and modes. Following completion of procurement, the project is moving towards delivery, with an initial deployment planned across participating bus and tram services in the West Midlands in 2027. The initiative marks a step towards

Vivek Raghuraman and Rebecca Schaevitz HPQC portfolio company Mixx Technologies has showcased its high-density SxC optical connector, designed to address the growing connectivity demands of AI infrastructure. Capable of terminating up to 24,576 optical fibres in a single rack unit, the technology aims to support higher-density, more scalable optical connectivity for next-generation data centres. Read the full article here.

HPQC portfolio company Salience Labs showcased its 64-port silicon photonics-based all-optical circuit switch at ECOC 2026, demonstrating technology designed to support the growing networking demands of AI infrastructure. Its approach aims to enable faster, more efficient data movement between computing resources as AI systems scale. Read the full announcement here.

Scaling quantum computing requires more than increasing qubit counts - it requires architectures capable of supporting reliable, error-corrected computation. Recent work by Diraq and Iceberg Quantum, using NVIDIA’s CUDA-Q Logical platform, provides further validation of Diraq’s Pinnacle architecture and the potential of silicon-based spin qubits for scalable quantum computing. For High Performance Computing & Quantum, the work highlights the importance of the underlying techn

ICM Mobility portfolio company Littlepay is powering contactless payments on Liverpool City Region’s first franchised bus services, supporting the transition to a publicly controlled network. The rollout began in St Helens in September 2026, with the technology enabling passengers to pay using contactless bank cards and digital wallets. The initiative supports the region’s ambition to deliver simpler, more integrated public transport, with the network expected to expand to mo

Recognition for Diraq’s founder and CEO Diraq founder and CEO Professor Andrew Dzurak has been awarded the 2026 Walter Boas Medal by the Australian Institute of Physics, recognising his pioneering contribution to silicon-based quantum computing and the development of scalable, manufacturable quantum technology. Read the full announcement here.

Diraq takes quantum computing into the data centre Diraq is taking an important step towards commercial quantum computing, with plans to deploy its silicon spin quantum computer inside an Equinix data centre in Sydney. The deployment will demonstrate how quantum systems can integrate with existing data-centre infrastructure - bringing the technology closer to real-world applications. Read the full announcement here.

Mixx Technologies has launched its SxC™ Connector, designed to address the growing fibre-density demands of high-radix AI infrastructure. The technology can terminate up to 24,576 fibres in a single rack unit, helping enable the next generation of co-packaged optics and multi-petabit connectivity. Read the full announcement here.

Diraq has unveiled its roadmap towards utility-scale quantum computing, targeting millions of spin qubits on a single silicon chip. The milestone highlights the potential of Diraq’s silicon-based approach to overcome the scale and integration challenges facing quantum computing — bringing practical, large-scale quantum systems closer to reality. Read more from Diraq here.

Diraq is expanding its global footprint with the opening of a new U.S. technology hub in Los Angeles, strengthening its presence at the heart of the world’s leading technology ecosystem. The new hub will support Diraq’s continued development of silicon-based quantum computing technology and its engagement with customers, partners and the wider U.S. market. Read more from Diraq here.

Diraq has opened its first U.S. quantum laboratory in Chicago, expanding its R&D capabilities and strengthening its position within the growing U.S. quantum ecosystem. The new facility will support testing and development of Diraq’s silicon-based quantum technology as the company progresses towards utility-scale quantum computing. Read more about Diraq’s latest milestone and its expanding global R&D network here.