Growing Enthusiasts
Although Latin America still has a long way to go in terms of quantum technology startups and the ecosystem in general, there are some positive signs a change is in the air with several quantum information science (QIS) programs running in universities throughout central and South America: the University of Los Andes Laboratory of Quantum Optics (Colombia) and the University of Buenos Aires Quantum Information, Computation, and Communication Group (Argentina) are just two of half a dozen currently stretching from the Southern Cone to the Rio Grande.
The Mexico-based QuantumHispano and Brazil Quantum are building communities and educational opportunities for the growing enthusiasts who see a technological future where quantum mechanics will play an important role.
In the startup world, too, GoQuantum out of Chile and Uruguay’s Quantum-South are a somewhat exclusive club of purely commercial enterprises using their novel IPs to make a mark in the quantum tech sector.
GoQuantum
GoQuantum, with its roots going back to 2016 as an R&D project of QIN Technology Spa, a Chilean ICT company with a regional presence in LATAM, was founded in 2018 as a spinoff by Jose M. Brito and Raul Zuleta. With headquarters in Santiago, Chile, it plans to set up subsidiaries in Germany and the US in the future.
The startup’s main service is to “provide post-quantum secure data transmission solutions through quantum-based hardware and radio link layer encryption for Industrial and Telecom applications.”
With a triumvirate of expertise in quantum technologies, telecommunications and information security, GoQuantum is spearheading technological solutions — utilizing unique algorithms and hardware — for a future where the quantum paradigm is a reality. This crypto-agile technological focus, as the startup sees, is only a common-sense stance to the obvious quantum threat not too far down the line.
As quantum technology is adopted with Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNG) the basis of GoQuantum’s offering — instead of the older generation of pseudo-random number generators, which can be easily broken by quantum technology — these will produce high-quality random numbers, maintaining a reliable level of encryption for those requiring such products.
GoQuantum’s CEO and cofounder is Raul Zuleta. With an MA in applied statistics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Zuleta is currently a Ph.D. candidate in post-quantum telecommunications at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Founder of several startups, he is also the director of QIN Technology Spa, a telecommunications industry company based in Santiago, Chile.
We provide Post-Quantum Secure data transmission solutions through quantum-based hardware
— GoQuantum
Zuleta’s cofounder and CSO at GoQuantum is physicist Jose M. Brito. Gaining his Ph.D. from the Universität des Saarlandes in quantum communications, he specializes in quantum-safe communications technology, IoT, communications using light and quantum states. He also spent more than three years as a scientific director at QIN Technology Spa.
Notwithstanding GoQuantum’s encryption products, the startup services include consulting and formation services on the quantum and post-quantum technologies sector.
As far as financials go, GoQuantum received an undisclosed Seed Round of funding in 2019 by Wayra, an entrepreneurship initiative focused on Latin America that is part of Telefónica’s Open Innovation programme to scale startups.
With such backing, it may not be too long before GoQuantum is making waves in Chile, Latin America and the wider world, creating a post-quantum industry that we can all rely on.
