The start-up Quandela, co-founded by Valérian Giesz, Niccolo Somaschi and Pascale Senellart, CNRS Senior Researcher, received one of the 14 Grands Prix of the French national competition to support the creation of innovative technology companies "i-LAB 2018" from the hands of Frédérique Vidal, French Minister of Higher Education and Research.
Based on a lithography technique developed at the Centre de nanosciences et de nanotechnologies – C2N (CNRS/Université Paris-Sud), Quandela manufactures and delivers sources of light delivering a single photon in each pulse. These sources of light, which operate at a cryogenic temperature, have the advantage of emitting single photons with very high efficiency and with identical characteristics, making them a tool of choice for researchers of quantum photonics in academia and industry, and more broadly for research in quantum physics.
As a result of fundamental research of the highest level conducted for many years by Pascale Senellart, laureate of a CNRS silver medal in 2014, Quandela's singlephoton source technology now follows a robust and reproducible manufacturing process. This was made possible in particular by the prematuration program of CNRS and the Labex Nanosaclay in 2016, before the creation of Quandela in 2017. In June 2018, Quandela successfully installed a first single photon source at the University of Brisbane in Australia.
The Grand Prix i-Lab is accompanied by significant financial support. This grant will allow Quandela to develop a new range of turnkey sources that are easier to use and to initiate their industrialization.
The jury of the "I-Lab 2018", chaired by Ludovic Le Moan, General Director of Sigfox, distinguished 64 winners among 383 applications received. Among them, 14 Grands Prix reward the most outstanding projects, which are part of one of the ten societal challenges defined by the agenda France Europe 2020.
For the first time, the Grands Prix will be accompanied by a mentor, a seasoned entrepreneur who will help them face a major challenge in their development, such as the completion of a first fundraising event or the introduction of their product on the market. Pierre Barnabé, Senior Vice President Big Data and Security at Atos France, has agreed to be the mentor of Quandela, inaugurating a rapprochement between the two companies around quantum information technologies.
- More information: http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/cid132562/i-lab-2018-64-laureats-dont-14-grands-prix-recompenses.html
- Contact : Valérian Giesz
