By Jorge Mercado Thursday, July 2nd, 2026

Quantum computing will continue to make leaps in Santa Barbara after startup Qolab announced it had raised $54.2 million in Series B financing on July 2.

Qolab is a leader in quantum computing hardware and was co-founded by Alan Ho, Robert McDermott, Britton Plourde and John Martinis. Martinis is a professor at UC Santa Barbara who, in 2025, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his role in laying the foundation for superconducting quantum computing. Martinis won the award alongside UC Santa Barbara Professor Michel H. Devoret.

The company’s total Series B round includes $12.6 million in convertible securities and a commitment for an aggregate of $10 million in future convertible securities. The round was led by UC Investments (the University of California Office of the Chief Investment Officer), while the Series B Preferred Stock financing and prior convertible financing included participation from existing financial and strategic semiconductor investors, including Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), Octave Ventures, and Phoenix Venture Partners.

The funding will go toward advancing Qolab’s superconducting quantum computing platform and expanding partnerships across the global quantum ecosystem.

Martinis, who serves as the company’s CTO, made the funding announcement during the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, where he joined fellow Nobel Laureates, leading scientists and emerging researchers from around the world. 

“Quantum computing is entering a new era, where decades of scientific research are beginning to translate into technologies capable of addressing real-world challenges,” Martinis said in a press release. “This investment enables Qolab to accelerate development of scalable quantum systems while deepening our collaborations across the University of California ecosystem and the broader scientific community.”