Rigetti Provides Business Update and Nine-Month 2021 Financial Highlights
Rigetti, currently a privately held company, announced in October 2021 that it had entered into an agreement and plan of merger with Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II (NYSE: SNII) (“Supernova”), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The proposed transaction is subject to the approval of Supernova stockholders and other closing conditions. Following consummation of the proposed transaction, the surviving combined company will be named Rigetti Computing, Inc.
GAAP Financial Highlights for Nine Months Ended October 31, 2021
Revenue increased by 68% to $6.9 million for the nine-months ended October 31, 2021, from $4.1 million for the same period in 2020. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by new customer relationships and the expansion of existing development contracts.
Total operating expenses increased by 7%, to $32.0 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2021, from $29.8 million in same period in 2020.
R&D expenses increased by 14%, to $21.2 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2021, from $18.6 million for the same period in 2020, representing 66% of total operating expenses for the nine months ended October 31, 2021 and underscoring the Company’s commitment to advancing its technology and product roadmap.
Net operating loss declined 3% to ($26.2) million for the nine months ended October 31, 2021, from ($26.9) million in the same period in 2020.
The Company changed its fiscal year end from January 31 to December 31, effective December 31, 2021, and will first reflect the change in fiscal years for interim and annual filings for fiscal years beginning January 1, 2022.
“We believe the time for quantum computing has arrived,” said Chad Rigetti, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rigetti. “Customer demand is increasing as Rigetti quantum computers begin to address high-impact computational problems.
“Consistent with our mission to build the world’s most powerful computers to help solve humanity’s most important and pressing problems, Rigetti achieved many critical milestones in 2021. We introduced the 80-qubit Aspen-M system, the world’s first multi-chip quantum processor, expanded our customer and partner footprint, and delivered substantial year-over-year revenue growth,” continued Rigetti. “We look forward to continued momentum as we expect customers to leverage the increasing speed and scale of Rigetti hardware and quantum solutions in their pursuits to solve important problems that lie beyond the capabilities of today’s classical computers.”
Chad Rigetti
Rigetti is fully vertically integrated, from chip design and production to cloud delivery. Rigetti’s primary business model is Quantum Computing as a Service (“QCaaS”). In 2021, Rigetti introduced the world’s first scalable multi-chip quantum processor, which Rigetti believes is a key advancement in quantum processor scalability. Industry researchers estimate fully fault tolerant quantum computers could ultimately produce up to $850 billion in annual value creation for end-users and technology companies. Rigetti believes its scalable chip technology has the potential to help unlock this transformative opportunity going forward.
Business Highlights in 2021 YTD
1. Technology Developments
1)World’s First Scalable Multi-chip Quantum Processor
Rigetti launched the world’s first multi-chip quantum processor in June 2021. The processor incorporates a proprietary modular architecture that accelerates the path to commercialization and solves key scaling challenges toward fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Rigetti multi-chip technology
2) 40-Qubit System
Rigetti made its next generation 40-qubit system, featuring 2.5x speedups in quantum processing time, available on Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services, Amazon Braket and Strangeworks Ecosystem in December 2021.
3) 80-Qubit System
Rigetti made Aspen-M, its 80-qubit system powered by its proprietary multi-chip technology, available to customers in private beta on its Quantum Cloud Services platform in December 2021.
80-Qubit System Aspen-M
2. Industry Collaboration Developments
1)Inclusion in Microsoft’s Azure Quantum Service
Rigetti announced in December 2021 it is collaborating with Microsoft to provide Rigetti quantum computers over the cloud to users of Microsoft’s Azure Quantum service. When the Rigetti system becomes available, it is expected to be the largest quantum computer accessible on Azure Quantum. The two companies expect the integration to be completed and available to users of the service in the first quarter of 2022.
2)Collaboration with Deloitte and Strangeworks
Rigetti detailed its plans to collaborate with Deloitte and Strangeworks to explore quantum applications in material simulation, optimization, and machine learning in a December 2021 announcement.
3. Customer and Quantum-Application Developments
1)Predictive Weather Modeling with Quantum Machine Learning
Rigetti developed an effective solution to a weather modeling problem using quantum computers and published the results in November 2021. Building on existing machine learning workflows, Rigetti applied a combination of classical quantum machine learning techniques to produce high-quality synthetic weather radar data and improve classical models for storm prediction. The work was performed on Rigetti’s 32-qubit system, demonstrating that practical applications are within reach for near-term quantum hardware.
Predictive Weather Modeling with Quantum Machine Learning
2)Fusion Energy via Quantum Computing for Department of Energy
Rigetti announced in November 2021 it was selected to lead a quantum simulation project for fusion energy awarded by the Department of Energy. Rigetti is collaborating with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of Southern California on the three-year, $3.1 million project that is designed to simulate plasma dynamics on Rigetti’s cloud-based quantum computers.
3)Drug Discovery with Quantum Computing via Partnerships with Riverlane and Astex Pharmaceuticals
Rigetti UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rigetti, announced in July 2021 that it is partnering with Riverlane and Astex Pharmaceuticals to develop an integrated application for simulating molecular systems using Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services. This cooperation paves the way for new commercial applications of Rigetti’s quantum computing solutions, with the potential to transform drug discovery in pharmaceutical R&D.
4. Talent Developments
Rigetti appointed Brian Sereda to the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Company in August 2021. Sereda has more than 25 years of senior level financial experience, most recently serving as Chief Financial Officer at Energous Corporation (NASDAQ: WATT) where he led the raise of significant working capital and oversaw finance, legal, investor relations, human resources and IT.
Rigetti appointed Jackie Kaweck to the position of Senior Vice President, Human Resources, in July 2021. Kaweck brings more than 20 years of experience in human resources and executive leadership to the role, most recently as SVP, People at Vivid Seats.
Rigetti appointed David Pappas to the position of Senior Principal Scientist in September 2021. Pappas joined the Company after 25 years at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he most recently led the Quantum Processing Group. Rigetti also added Josh Mutus, former Google quantum research scientist, to its hardware development team as Director, Quantum Materials in April 2021.
link:https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/12/20/2355661/0/en/Rigetti-Provides-Business-Update-and-Nine-Month-2021-Financial-Highlights.html
