Meissner Raises $2.6 Million to Search For New Superconducting Materials

Insider Brief

• Meissner raised $2.6 million in pre-seed financing to develop superconducting materials for quantum computing, fusion energy and other applications.
• The startup combines machine learning, quantum simulations and laboratory testing to identify materials that could operate at higher temperatures and with fewer performance problems.
• Meissner plans to begin testing its leading material candidates at the University of Waterloo’s Quantum-Nano Fabrication and Characterization Facility.

Toronto-based materials startup Meissner has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed financing to search for superconductors that could support advances in quantum computing, fusion energy and other emerging industries.

The $2.6 million U.S. round, equivalent to about $3.6 million Canadian, included backing from BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund and a group of Canadian technology entrepreneurs and investors. Participants included Andrew Talpash, Anthony Lacavera, Christian Weedbrook, Daniel Debow, Dennis Bennie, Eliot Pence, Greg Twinney, and Michael and Richard Hyatt, according to BetaKit.

Meissner plans to use machine learning, computer simulations and laboratory testing to identify and develop materials with improved superconducting properties. The four-person company describes the system it is building as a “discovery engine” for superconductors.