Quantum device shrunk into a card-sized form factor: Guoguang Quantum integrates encryption capabilities into existing optical fibers.
At a quantum substation in Beijing, the monitoring equipment of Guoguang Quantum is connected to the operation links of transformers and switchgear, continuously capturing the extremely faint optical signals generated by partial discharge. Partial discharge is an early sign of insulation degradation in power equipment, and long-term neglect may lead to insulation breakdown and even equipment burnout. Traditional electromagnetic sensing methods have limited signal-to-noise ratio in strong interference environments, and the value of quantum detection lies precisely here — not because it is newer, but because at the same position, it can detect abnormalities earlier.
The full name of this company is Beijing Zhongke Guoguang Quantum Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guoguang Quantum"). It was established in Beijing in December 2021 and founded by a PhD team from the University of Science and Technology of China. Its business can be summarized in two steps: making quantum devices into chips, and then turning the chips into products that industry customers can purchase, install and maintain. In 2026, the company completed three consecutive rounds of financing within four months, and closed Series B financing in August. A new round of financing is currently in progress.
The Real Problem of the Quantum Industry Is Not That the Technology Is Not New Enough
"Quantum technology should not be reduced to concept hype, but applied to irreplaceable scenarios." This is the judgment that Zhao Yibo, founder and chairman of Guoguang Quantum, has repeated on many public occasions. He does not avoid the fact that in the field of information security, in addition to quantum encryption, there are alternative routes such as Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC); in the field of measurement, customer demands are scattered across different industries and different equipment, making it difficult to converge into a standard product line. The more realistic threshold lies in the engineering form: traditional quantum equipment is large in size, high in cost, difficult to mass produce, and hard to access the existing networks that have been operating for many years.
Zhao Yibo once mentioned a question that stumped him when docking with Beijing Power Grid: what exactly makes quantum encryption better than the national secret algorithm. The team subsequently studied the weak links of traditional cryptography, found that injecting ripple interference at the power supply end can attack the random number generation process, and completed the empirical demonstration of side-channel attacks; while quantum random numbers based on vacuum noise do not rely on deterministic algorithms and are not affected by such interference. At present, the company is jointly tackling key problems with the power and financial systems on a new encryption scheme that combines vacuum noise and PQC.
The engineering problems of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) have also been dismantled one by one. Dedicated optical fibers are exclusively occupied, leading to high usage costs, and the team has overcome high-isolation wavelength division multiplexing under single-photon conditions. The insertion slot of the optical switch is only 20 cm, so the equipment must be compressed into a small card to achieve truly seamless access. These efforts do not involve new physical principles, but they determine whether quantum equipment can move from the laboratory to the equipment room.
Breaking Down Three Product Lines Into Chips of the Same Layer
Quantum encryption, single-photon radar, and quantum precision measurement seem to be three separate markets, but their underlying capabilities are highly overlapping: single-photon detection, quantum light source, optical signal modulation and demodulation, and basic optical signal processing. Guoguang Quantum positions itself as the first domestic optical quantum chip provider, and its choice is to maximize the performance of these four types of common capabilities before making them modular and chip-based.
In May 2023, the company successfully developed the vacuum noise quantum random number chip, which integrates the generation, modulation, transmission, demodulation and detection of vacuum noise signals into a single chip. According to the company's disclosure, the chip has a volume of about 1 cubic centimeter, the cost is reduced by about 90% compared with traditional solutions, and it can resist side-channel attacks such as power supply ripple. After that, the first domestic quantum codec and modulation-demodulation chip, and the single-photon detection array chip that can work at room temperature were successively launched. Up to now, the company owns more than 80 authorized invention patents and more than 20 software copyrights in the fields of quantum key distribution, quantum random number, single-photon radar, ion trap and other fields, and has qualifications such as commercial password product certification and Ministry of Public Security certification. It is a member or governing unit of the Quantum Cryptography Standards Group of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the National Cryptography Standardization Technical Committee and other institutions.
The form defined by the chips is finally embodied in products. In June 2026, Guoguang Quantum released the QKD+OTN quantum secure optical transmission integrated product nationwide: quantum keys and service data are transmitted in the same optical fiber, no need to build new dedicated optical fibers; it supports full rate adaptation from 2M to 400G, the encryption and decryption delay is less than 1 microsecond, and there is almost no perception on the service side; the products are divided into three forms: backbone network multiplexing equipment, cabinet-type integrated terminal, and board card that can be inserted into mainstream OTN equipment, matched with a set of quantum key management and control platform. For customers, quantum security can thus be transformed from "building a new network" to "replacing a board on the existing network".
Customers Are Not Only in Substations, But Also in Dedicated Lines
To judge which stage a quantum company has reached, the customer list is more convincing than technical terms. Guoguang Quantum, together with State Grid Beijing Electric Power Company and the Electric Power Research Institute, jointly built the first quantum substation project in Beijing; undertook the upgrade service of the Gansu State Grid cloud dispatching password system; participated in the development and application project of quantum encryption and optical communication system in Haidian District. According to the company's disclosure at the 36Kr 2026 Industry Future Conference, 7 of its winning bids are national-level projects, including 3 national-level "unveiling and listing" projects, mainly involving quantum encryption and quantum measurement. In 2026, the company co-built a joint laboratory of quantum communication and measurement with Huazhong University of Science and Technology; earlier, it also carried out 6G and Wi-Fi pre-research in cooperation with ZTE and Huzhou Research Institute of Zhejiang University.
In addition to the energy sector, finance is another repeatedly mentioned business line. The company has launched products such as anti-quantum password card, quantum secure optical transmission integrated system, and anti-quantum seal. According to Zhao Yibo, the company is currently in communication with a number of large state-owned banks, and once the relevant cooperation is implemented, the single order is expected to reach the level of tens of millions of yuan. The nuclear power scenario was key displayed at the China International Industry Fair in October 2026: quantum encryption covers communication links such as industrial control dispatching, power private network, and nuclear material traceability, and quantum precision measurement is used for radiation environment monitoring and defect identification of pressure vessels and pipelines.
In terms of performance, Zhao Yibo said in an interview with Entrepreneur magazine in September 2026 that the company's revenue in 2025 was more than 50 million yuan; the company's 2026 revenue expectation given at the 36Kr 2026 Industry Future Conference is to exceed 70 million yuan. The team has more than 150 people, two-thirds of whom are R&D personnel, and most of the members of the marketing team also graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China, Tsinghua University, Peking University and other universities.
Financing Rhythm and The Position It Wants to Secure
In April 2026, Guoguang Quantum completed Series A financing of nearly 100 million yuan, led by Weide Information, a listed company on the STAR Market; in May, tens of millions of yuan of Series A+ financing was led by Jinguang Electric, and the two parties agreed to jointly develop products in three directions: power information security, intelligent operation and maintenance of power grid, and intelligent scheduling of new energy; in June, it completed Series A++ financing with investors from Zhiyuan Capital; in August, tens of millions of yuan of Series B financing was led by the fund under the Management Committee of Zhengzhou Airport Economy Comprehensive Experimental Zone, with the cooperation direction of photonic integrated quantum computing. According to the disclosure by Investment Insider, the total disclosed financing amount of the company is about 190 million yuan. A new round of financing is currently in progress, and the specific amount and valuation have not yet been determined.
Behind the financing rhythm is a relatively uncommon choice. Quantum computing is the hottest direction at present, and Guoguang Quantum only focuses on core devices and basic support in this field — optical quantum processing chips, ultra-large-scale optical fiber arrays for the million-bit target, to serve complete quantum computing teams; what actually generates revenue is quantum communication and quantum precision measurement. The capital market plan given by the company at the 36Kr conference is to start the STAR Market listing application from 2029 to 2030.
Whether this path can be achieved depends on two things: whether the quantum security budget of industries such as power and finance can be transformed from pilot procurement to regular procurement, and whether the cost reduction brought by chip-based production can make quantum equipment enter the quotation range of traditional solutions. Guoguang Quantum's answer is to split the technology into the common capability layer, and then compress the product to the volume and price acceptable to the existing network. The large-scale development of the quantum industry will not come just because of one round of financing, but at least in this substation, it has been included in the equipment list that needs to run every day.