Incubated by University of Science and Technology of China, China's only full-stack general-purpose photonic quantum computing system enterprise has completed a financing of over 100 million yuan | 36Kr Exclusive

Image source / the enterprise

This article is approximately 2200 words, with an estimated reading time of 5 minutes

Author | Ou Xue

Editor | Yuan Silai

Hard Krypton learned that Hefei SiZhen Chip Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "SiZhen Chips") recently completed a financing of over 100 million yuan. This round of financing was jointly led by Weihao Core Semiconductor and GD Electronics (002655), followed by institutional investors including Huace Film and Television (300133), Suzhou Venture Capital Group, Suzhou Financial Holding, Chuangling Capital, and Houliang Capital. The raised funds will be mainly used for the R&D of 10,000-bit dedicated optical computing clusters and general-purpose quantum computing chip sets.

SiZhen Chips was founded in Hefei in 2020, and its core technology originates from the Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of the Chinese Academy of Sciences led by Academician Guo Guangcan of the University of Science and Technology of China. The company was co-founded by three joint founders: Chen Wei, Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education and Executive Director of the Department of Optics and Optical Engineering of the University of Science and Technology of China; Ren Xifeng, National Distinguished Young Scholar and Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Ding Yuyang, PhD from the University of Science and Technology of China, who has been engaged in the R&D of optical quantum chips during his doctoral period. The core team has more than 20 years of technical accumulation in the field of integrated optical quantum, all from the team of Academician Guo Guangcan of the University of Science and Technology of China.

At present, SiZhen Chips has built a complete technical layout covering from core optical quantum devices to complete machine systems. Ding Yuyang, General Manager of SiZhen Chips, said that the original intention of the company's establishment is to "realize the practical application of three technologies: quantum cryptography, quantum measurement and quantum computing based on optical quantum chip technology".

In terms of specific product implementation, SiZhen has taken two clear commercialization paths.

In the direction of quantum computing, in November 2025, SiZhen released a general-purpose programmable quantum computer based on silicon photonic integrated chips at the Quantum Technology Industry Conference, which can be accessed through the cloud platform. This complete machine is the only optical quantum computing complete machine in China that can run general quantum algorithms.

General-purpose programmable quantum computer based on silicon photonic integrated chips (Image source / the enterprise)

In addition, the company has completed internal verification of 5000-bit level equipment in the field of dedicated optical computing. Compared with similar optical fiber solutions, the chip-based integration solution has absolute advantages in cost and performance. Ding Yuyang revealed that this product is expected to be launched on the market by the end of this year.

Notably, SiZhen has recently made key breakthroughs in the field of general-purpose optical quantum computing. The company, in cooperation with the Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of USTC, has successfully realized the stable generation of 4-photon 16-qubit GHZ state and single-photon 4-qubit cluster state on the chip for the first time, which is the largest-scale entangled state demonstrated on optical quantum chips so far. The team also demonstrated the Grover search algorithm on this platform, with an average recognition probability of 98.7%.

In the direction of quantum security, the QRNG-10 quantum random number generator chip independently developed by SiZhen is the first millimeter-level QRNG chip in China. Based on the principle of quantum amplified spontaneous emission, it is also the first QRNG chip in China that has passed the evaluation of the Commercial Password Testing Center of the State Cryptography Administration.

According to Ding Yuyang, the chip has received orders of about 200,000 pieces, and its cumulative shipment volume ranks among the top of quantum technology-related single products. In terms of customer expansion, the chip has been integrated into SIM cards, and the product is also compatible with smart terminals such as State Grid electricity meter encryption chips and home cameras. Ding Yuyang predicts that with the introduction of relevant national standards for anti-quantum cryptography, the annual shipment of QRNG chips can reach the level of millions of pieces.

In terms of commercialization pace, SiZhen has a clear short-term, medium-term and long-term strategy: in the short term, it achieves self-sufficiency through QRNG chips, which has verified the business model and achieved continuous repurchases; in the medium term, 10,000-bit dedicated optical computing equipment will contribute revenue; in the long term, it aims at the million-bit general-purpose optical quantum computer, and it is the only quantum computing enterprise in China that directly benchmarks PsiQuantum and Xanadu.

The following is the interview between Hard Krypton and Ding Yuyang, General Manager of SiZhen Chips (edited):

Hard Krypton: The market generally pays attention to the number of qubits, while the indicator of fidelity is often ignored. How does SiZhen view the relationship between the two?

Ding Yuyang: The number of qubits is certainly something we pursue, but fidelity is equally critical. Fidelity can be understood as the quality of qubits — if the single-qubit fidelity is 99.9%, it is equivalent to an error rate of 0.1%. When 10 qubits are put together, the correct rate is (1-0.1%) to the 10th power. The more qubits there are, the more exponentially the impact of fidelity is amplified.

Therefore, our logic is: the number of qubits and their quality should be promoted simultaneously, and neither can be missing. Increasing the number of qubits is the ultimate goal of all quantum computing tracks, but fidelity determines whether these qubits are truly usable.

Hard Krypton: Compared with other technical routes, what is the core advantage of optical quantum computing?

Ding Yuyang: There are two main points. First, our team itself has been engaged in optical quantum research for more than 20 years of accumulation. Second, optical quantum computing is a route that can clearly explain "how to scale from 4 qubits to the million-qubit level".

After the number of qubits of a single device in other routes reaches a certain level, the physical size may reach its limit. Only optical quantum can be directly transmitted through optical fibers at room temperature. All other routes eventually need to be converted into light for transmission, and cannot bypass our technology.

Hard Krypton: From the perspective of the industry, what problems does SiZhen still need to solve to achieve the million-qubit goal?

Ding Yuyang: This is not a scientific research problem, but an engineering problem. As a chip design company, we need to find wafer fabs that can meet the requirements of optical quantum chips in terms of loss and process to carry out in-depth cooperation and jointly develop customized processes. This requires a large number of engineering iterations, polishing processes, adjusting parameters, and repeated verification with the fabs. That is why we need to introduce industrial capital in this round of financing. Technology alone is not enough, and in-depth collaboration with the manufacturing side is required to truly realize the landing of the million-qubit goal.

Views of Investors:

Lu Zhengyang from Weihao Core Semiconductor: This investment in SiZhen is based on the long-term commercial potential of the optical quantum computing track. The enterprise is deeply engaged in the silicon optical quantum route, its equipment supports operation at normal temperature and pressure, and it is compatible with mature CMOS silicon optical production lines. Compared with superconducting and ion trap solutions, it has considerable mass production cost advantages and excellent industrialization prospects. The company's core team comes from the Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of USTC, with both top scientific research accumulation and chip implementation experience. It is a rare domestic enterprise that can realize full-link independent R&D of general-purpose optical quantum computers, and has built deep technical barriers. SiZhen has launched the first 4-qubit general-purpose programmable optical quantum computer equipped with silicon photonic integrated chips in China, and simultaneously laid out the mainstream technical architectures of KLM and MBQC, overcoming core technologies such as high-dimensional photon encoding and kilometer-level distributed quantum interconnection, with solid first-mover advantages and high growth certainty.

Wang Shuai from Chuangling Capital: As the leader of future industries, quantum technology is the track we believe is most worthy of attention in at least the next 5-10 years. Investing in quantum technology now is equivalent to investing in artificial intelligence and the computing power industry 5 years ago. After systematically sorting out and contacting quantum industry-related targets, Chuangling Capital believes that SiZhen Chips is the most representative optical quantum target, and also the most noteworthy cost-effective target at present. In particular, the recent progress of SiZhen Chips in MBQC technology marks that SiZhen Chips has become the first optical quantum computing enterprise in China to realize the construction of large-scale graph states on chips, which makes the R&D and implementation of million-qubit optical quantum computers practically feasible, and also marks that SiZhen Chips is expected to rank among the world-class optical quantum enterprises in the future.