Another unicorn company in Hefei is going to go public.

In 1925, German physicist Werner Heisenberg proposed matrix mechanics, which is regarded as one of the signs of the birth of quantum mechanics.

Now, it has been exactly a century since the birth of quantum mechanics, and this year has been designated as the "International Year of Quantum" by UNESCO. It can be seen that both in the academic and industrial circles, a variety of important news has been intensively released this year. Recently, the first domestic quantum computing company, "Origin Quantum", has also taken advantage of the trend and announced the official launch of its A-share listing process.

If successfully listed, Origin Quantum will become another listed quantum computing company in Hefei after Guodun Quantum. In addition, in September last year, the listing counseling record - filing of another Hefei quantum computing company, "Guoyi Quantum", was also accepted by the Anhui Securities Regulatory Bureau. Counting them up, with Guoyi, Guodun, and Origin, Hefei is about to enter the harvest period in the field of quantum computing.

Entrepreneurship of a Master - Disciple Pair from the University of Science and Technology of China: A 75 - year - old Senior Academician Takes the Lead

Origin Quantum is officially known as Origin Quantum Computing Technology (Hefei) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Origin Quantum), a company native to Hefei.

It is located on Yunfei Road in Hefei High - tech Zone, which is a well - known "Quantum Avenue" in China. On this street less than a kilometer long, there are several well - known companies in the quantum field, including Guodun Quantum and Guoyi Quantum. It is reported that an investor said bluntly: "Before making investments in the quantum field, one must visit the 'Quantum Avenue' and the University of Science and Technology of China."

Different from other companies, the story of Origin Quantum is full of sentiment and scientific research dreams, and it even seems like a "utopian" existence in the commercial market.

Origin Quantum was founded in September 2017 by Guo Guangcan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a leading figure in the domestic quantum computing industry, and Guo Guoping, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China. It is the first domestic quantum computing enterprise. The team's technology originated from the first provincial - and ministerial - level key laboratory in the field of quantum information in China, the Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the University of Science and Technology of China.

From the official website of Origin Quantum

Its R & D expert team consists of academicians in quantum computing and chief scientists of the super 973 project of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The core R & D team members are all doctors in the fields of computer science and physics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, covering most of the domestic quantum computing talents. The proportion of R & D personnel in the company exceeds 75%, and the team members are mainly post - 90s.

Although the company was founded in 2017, the story of Origin Quantum started earlier. Around 2013 and 2014, Academician Guo Guangcan and Professor Guo Guoping, who had long been on the front line of research, keenly realized that the gap between China's quantum computing and that of foreign countries had begun to emerge.

On the one hand, internationally, IT giants such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Intel have started research on quantum computing and are rapidly promoting the development of quantum computing from laboratory research institutions to engineering. In 2011, D - Wave Systems in Canada released the "world's first commercial quantum computer"; while in China at that time, quantum computing was still a laboratory project. Under such a trend, they believed that China should not keep quantum computers in the laboratory.

On the other hand, at that time, postgraduate and doctoral students in the domestic quantum computing field faced the situation of "unemployment upon graduation" because there were almost no domestic companies recruiting such talents. Unless they continued to stay in the laboratory, they had to change careers. Over time, domestic quantum computing fell into an embarrassing situation where it was difficult to inherit scientific research results.

In the words of Zhang Hui, the general manager of Origin Quantum: "The 'older generation' graduated after five or six years of research, and the 'younger generation' had to start all over again. So at that time, the process technology in our laboratory had been stuck at the level of five or six years; but Google and IBM could directly absorb laboratory talents and let them continue research after graduation. So they had accumulated more than 10 years in terms of talent and process technology."

The widening gap with overseas made Guo Guangcan and Guo Guoping feel a sense of urgency and they began to actively seek solutions. At first, the two founders approached domestic Internet giants, hoping that they could take the lead, cultivate technology, and output talents. Unfortunately, these companies thought that the era of quantum computing would not come until 10 or 20 years later, which did not meet their business considerations, so no company was willing to take the lead.

In the absence of anyone willing to take the lead, they decided to get involved themselves.

In the early days, the purpose of Guo Guangcan and Guo Guoping in founding Origin Quantum was very simple. They hoped that the graduates vigorously cultivated by the country would have a place to continue their studies, and also hoped to retain a globally competitive talent team for China. Reflected in the name, "Origin Quantum" means "seeking the origin", hoping to become the origin of the quantum track from scratch, so that the Chinese people can have the opportunity to participate and make some contributions.

In 2017, when Guo Guoping, the founder of Origin Quantum, was studying at the Party School, he accidentally met Cai Xia, the chairman of Hefei High - tech Construction Investment Group, and Wang Fei, the chairman of Harbin Institute of Technology Robot Group. After the exchange, the two investors realized the huge potential of the quantum computing industry and the weakness of China's quantum computing industrialization foundation.

Finally, the two investors valued Origin Quantum at 200 million RMB and invested 30 million RMB in the seed round.

Afterwards, during an internal review, Origin Quantum found that there were two reasons for getting the support of the two investors. One was, of course, the prospect of the track, and the other was the team itself. Not only did it have the support of Academician Guo Guangcan, the founder of quantum computing, but the team's long - term main research direction coincided with the technological paths promoted by giants such as IBM, Google, and Intel. It was the best and most suitable team for quantum computing in China. At the same time, at the age of 40, Guo Guoping was in his prime and had the energy and endurance to accompany the long - term development of quantum computing.

Top - level State - owned Capital Bets, Valuation Nearly 7 Billion

I wrote in a previous article that there is a big gap between China and foreign countries in the capital aspect of quantum computing. Whether it is the frequency of financing or the scale of funds, they are on different levels.

A sharp contrast is that the highest domestic financing record so far is still held by Origin Quantum - the 1 - billion - RMB Series B financing completed in 2022, with a valuation of about 7 billion RMB.

In the US market, take Quantinuum, recently invested by NVIDIA, as an example. Its valuation doubled within 18 months, jumping from 5 billion US dollars to 10 billion US dollars. Even earlier, the photonic quantum company PsiQuantum completed a 750 - million - US - dollar financing led by BlackRock, with a post - investment valuation reaching 6 billion US dollars.

Judging from the recently disclosed data, after three years, the valuation of Origin Quantum has not only failed to increase but has slightly decreased.

This starts with an equity transaction. In August 2025, Honglida, a listed company on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, announced that it would acquire a part of the shares of Origin Quantum:

The company plans to use its own funds of 15.981 million RMB to acquire 69,687 shares of Origin Quantum held by Guangxi Free Trade Zone Kechuang Qiyuan Investment Center (Limited Partnership), accounting for 0.2323% of the current total share capital of Origin Quantum.

The company's related party, Jiaxing Yuanfan Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership), plans to use 16.6471 million RMB to acquire 72,589 shares of Origin Quantum held by Shenzhen Jiayuan Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), accounting for 0.2420% of the current total share capital of Origin Quantum.

Based on this estimate, the valuation of Origin Quantum is about 6.9 billion RMB. After the transaction is completed, Honglida will hold 0.47% of the shares of Origin Quantum. This transaction also exposed the latest shareholding structure of Origin Quantum. Guo Guoping directly holds 21.08% of the shares of Origin Quantum and controls more than 30% of the voting rights of the company through related shareholding platforms. He is the controlling shareholder and the actual controller of Origin Quantum.

In addition to the shareholding structure, the financial data of Origin Quantum has also surfaced. However, the stage that quantum computing is in determines that its financial data will not be very impressive.

It can be seen that last year, the annual revenue of Origin Quantum was 99.3849 million RMB, and the loss was 34.1928 million RMB. As of the first quarter of this year, Origin Quantum was still in a loss state, with a revenue of 28.5844 million RMB. Based on this estimate, its revenue this year may exceed 100 million RMB.

Since its establishment eight years ago, Origin Quantum has received investments from multiple national funds and government funds.

For example, the significant financing in 2022 was led by the Red Earth Fund under Shenzhen Capital Group. The new and old shareholders participating in the follow - on investment included CITIC Securities and China International Capital Corporation from the securities industry, BOCGI representing financial industry users, and various local government investment funds responding to the national "14th Five - Year Plan", such as Anhui Science and Technology Transformation Fund, Zhongke Yucheng, Yuanfang Fund, Shengkun Capital and other 17 well - known domestic investment institutions.

Before that, Origin Quantum had completed three rounds of equity financing, with a luxurious lineup of shareholders, including Zhongwangtou under the Cyberspace Administration of China, Guoxin Fund under the State Council, Zhongke Chuangxing, CICC Capital, Zhongtian Huifu, etc. Different from other enterprises, Origin Quantum has been firm in "not accepting a single cent" of foreign capital since its establishment.

The industry is also very optimistic about the valuation of Origin Quantum's IPO. Taking Guodun Quantum, the leading quantum company in the A - share market, as an example, its latest stock price is 347.65 RMB, and its market value is 35.76 billion RMB. So, conservatively estimated, the valuation of Origin Quantum is also in the tens of billions level.

Build a Fully - Integrated and Independently - Controllable Quantum Computing Ecosystem

To a certain extent, the original intention of Origin Quantum's entrepreneurship determines that the path they have to take is not easy.

In 2018, when being interviewed by the central media, Guo Guoping once said that Origin Quantum regarded itself as the eldest son of the Republic's quantum computing. Just like in a family, the eldest son not only has to solve his own food and clothing problems but also bears the responsibility. Through actions, it tells the parents, the country, and the younger siblings that if China wants to succeed in quantum computing, every link must be independently controllable.

From the official website of Origin Quantum

Therefore, Origin Quantum focuses on the construction of the quantum computing industrial ecosystem. With the mission of building a domestically - produced, independently - controllable, and practical quantum computer, it is engaged in both chip manufacturing and system development. Centering around the core businesses of quantum chips, quantum computing measurement and control all - in - one machines, quantum operating systems, quantum software, quantum computing cloud platforms, and quantum computing science popularization and education, it conducts full - stack R & D on quantum computing.

In terms of route selection, Origin Quantum has always adhered to two technological routes: superconducting and semiconductor, and has launched products such as the third - generation self - developed superconducting quantum computer "Origin Wukong", the domestically - produced engineered superconducting quantum computer "Origin Wuyuan", the first domestic quantum computing cloud platform, the first domestic quantum computer control system, the quantum computer operating system Origin Sinan, and the first domestic quantum chip industrial design software Origin Kunyuan.

In this process, Guo Guoping also led the construction of the first domestic quantum chip manufacturing and testing production line, achieving full - chain independent control of quantum chips, measurement and control all - in - one machines, operating systems, software, and cloud platforms.

Guo Guoping also said: "Behind 'Origin Wukong' is the independent breakthrough of the full - stack technology of quantum computers, such as quantum chip design industrial software, measurement and control systems, and ultra - low - temperature environment support systems, which gives us the confidence to 'compete on the same stage' in the global quantum competition."

In June this year, the Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Center revealed that since the third - generation self - developed superconducting quantum computer "Origin Wukong" was launched on January 6, 2024, it has successfully completed more than 500,000 quantum computing tasks for users in 143 countries and regions around the world, and the global access volume has exceeded 30 million times, breaking the record of the scale of China's self - developed quantum computing power services.

Among the overseas users of "Origin Wukong", quantum technology powerhouses such as the United States and Canada have continuously led in terms of access frequency, with users from the United States ranking first among overseas users.

In terms of applications, Origin Quantum has implemented multiple applications in fields such as financial engineering, biopharmaceuticals, fluid mechanics, and education, thus becoming the first domestic enterprise to officially promote quantum computing to the commercial field.

For example, at the beginning of 2025, the superconducting quantum computing power of "Origin Wukong" was connected to the Financial Quantum Cloud Experiment Platform, providing a more efficient solution to problems in the financial field; in May 2025, relying on the real - machine of the "Origin Wukong" quantum computer, the research team of Origin Quantum launched applications for molecular docking prediction, drug toxicity prediction, and drug interaction prediction, providing a faster and more accurate path for relevant links in new drug R & D and design.

In the artificial intelligence field, which has to be mentioned, the status of quantum computing is constantly rising. As early as a few years ago, Origin Quantum had predicted this. Artificial intelligence is highly dependent on computing power. For example, the amount of data in machine learning is very large, which requires stronger computing power to make machine learning faster. Enterprises engaged in AI generally pay great attention to quantum computers in order to find stronger computing power to improve machine learning, neural network algorithms, and development in artificial intelligence.

The breakthrough of Origin Quantum in the field of quantum computing is regarded as a new footnote for Hefei, the "strongest venture - capital city".

Currently, Anhui has gathered nearly one - third of the country's quantum technology enterprises, forming the most concentrated quantum industrial ecosystem in the country. Three of the four Chinese quantum enterprises short - listed among the world's top 20 are from Hefei