Speeding up quantum chip fabrication with new lithography

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Photo credit: Timmy Loen

Chris Wood and Chris Myatt were quasi-retired after decades in fundamental quantum computing research. They abandoned those plans when the US government offered funding to build a new fabrication facility. This opportunity led them to launch QPICs in 2025.

😟 Problem

Fabricating integrated circuits for quantum technologies is currently a broken process. It takes foundries three to six months to fabricate a single new device. This slow turnaround severely bottlenecks the development of quantum computers and photonic components.

💡 Solution

QPICs accelerate the fabrication of photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which use light instead of electricity to process information. The company bypasses traditional delays using a unique direct-write lithography approach.

The foundry service includes several key features, including: 

• Rapid fabrication of photonic integrated circuits.
• Scalable direct-write lithography methods.
• Fast-turn production for quantum developers.

Photo credit: QPICs

📊 Market size

The overall photonics components market is a US$500 billion industry. Segments requiring PICs today, such as data communication for AI, exceed US$10 billion. Automated PIC production could eventually replace the artisanal sub-assemblies used by tens of thousands of photonic suppliers.

🤝 Team

• Chris Myatt. Co-founder and CEO. Previously built and sold two photonics companies and conducted fundamental quantum computing research.
• Chris Wood. CTO. Served as CTO for multiple venture-backed quantum and lidar companies.
• Min Xiao. COO. Researched and scaled the manufacturing of nano-fabricated storage devices before founding a startup.

🚀 Traction

• Secured a waitlist of over 100 foundry service customers through word of mouth.
• Delivered initial goods to first beta customers for evaluation.
• Anticipates generating initial revenues by the third quarter of 2026.

🏆 Competition

Foundries like GlobalFoundries and Tower Semiconductor rely on traditional photolithography. This standard approach is slow unless customers pay exorbitant fees to commandeer a fabrication plant. QPICs differentiates itself by delivering faster development speeds at accessible price points.

💰 Financials

Customers pay US$25,000 for a processed wafer. The company has secured US$21 million in government funding alongside seed funds from a founder. QPICs is raising up to US$6 million in seed financing to expand this initial program.

🚩 Risks