In 2011, while IBM and Google were still years away from their first quantum computers, a Canadian startup in Burnaby, British Columbia sold the world's first commercial quantum computer to Lockheed Martin. The buyer paid $10 million for a machine that used an approach most physicists said couldn't work.
That company was D-Wave Systems—now D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS)—and its bet on quantum annealing has since attracted investors from Jeff Bezos to Goldman Sachs to the CIA's venture arm. In March 2025, D-Wave became the first to demonstrate quantum supremacy on a real-world problem.
What Is D-Wave?
D-Wave Quantum Inc. is a Canadian quantum computing company headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia. It holds the distinction of being the world's first commercial supplier of quantum computers.
Unlike IBM, Google, and other quantum computing companies that build gate-based quantum computers, D-Wave pioneered a different approach called quantum annealing—a method specifically designed for optimization problems.
Who Founded D-Wave?
D-Wave was founded in 1999 by four people connected to the University of British Columbia:
Geordie Rose's Journey
Geordie Rose is one of Canada's most prolific deep tech founders:
"There are problems facing humanity we can't solve – our robots could offer a solution." — Geordie Rose, on Sanctuary AI's mission
After leaving Sanctuary AI, Rose announced plans to walk 8,000 kilometers across Canada while working on combining quantum computing with AI to create "quantum agents."
What Is Quantum Annealing?
Quantum annealing is a method of solving optimization problems by encoding the problem into the energy levels of a physical system, then letting the system naturally evolve toward the lowest-energy solution.
Quantum Annealing vs. Gate-Based Quantum Computing
Think of it this way: gate-based quantum computers are like programmable calculators that can solve any problem with enough steps. Quantum annealers are like specialized tools that find the lowest point in a landscape—perfect for problems like scheduling, routing, and portfolio optimization.
"D-Wave and universal gate quantum computing are not competitors. They are useful for different tasks." — Anastasia Marchenkova, quantum computing researcher
What Quantum Computers Has D-Wave Built?
D-Wave has released six generations of quantum processors:
What Is the Advantage2 System?
The Advantage2 is D-Wave's most advanced quantum computer, featuring the Zephyr topology.
The Advantage2 solves 3D lattice problems 25,000 times faster than the previous Advantage system and delivers 5x better solutions on high-precision problems.
D-Wave's roadmap targets 100,000 qubit processors through scaling and multichip architectures.
Did D-Wave Achieve Quantum Supremacy?
In March 2025, D-Wave announced quantum supremacy on a real-world problem—a first for the industry.
The Science Paper
A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Science, titled "Beyond-Classical Computation in Quantum Simulation," demonstrated that D-Wave's Advantage2 outperformed the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The research simulated programmable spin glasses—magnetic materials with applications in materials discovery, electronics, and medical imaging.
"In an elegant paper, the D-Wave group has used a large-scale quantum annealer to uncover patterns of entanglement in a complex quantum system that lie far beyond the reach of the most powerful classical computer." — Seth Lloyd, Professor of Quantum Mechanical Engineering, MIT
Skepticism
Some researchers have questioned whether the specific problem was truly beyond classical computing, noting that alternative methods like tensor networks might solve similar problems on ordinary hardware. The debate continues, but the Science publication represents significant peer-reviewed validation.
Who Are D-Wave's Customers?
D-Wave has 133 customers across commercial, research, and government sectors.
Major Enterprise Customers
Applications in Production
D-Wave has worked on 250+ quantum and quantum-hybrid applications including:
- Employee scheduling
- Portfolio optimization
- Logistics and routing
- Protein folding
- Grocery operations
- Factory optimization
"More than 100 organizations trust D-Wave with their toughest computational challenges, with over 200 million problems submitted." — D-Wave
What Is D-Wave's Funding History?
D-Wave raised $300+ million before going public and has attracted notable investors.
Key Funding Rounds
Notable Investors
- Bezos Expeditions (Jeff Bezos's personal fund)
- In-Q-Tel (CIA's venture arm)
- Goldman Sachs
- NEC Corporation
- Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
- PSP Investments
- Draper Fisher Jurvetson
What Is the Quantum Circuits Acquisition?
On January 7, 2026, D-Wave announced the acquisition of Quantum Circuits Inc. for $550 million ($300M stock + $250M cash).
Why This Matters
This acquisition makes D-Wave the only company building both annealing AND gate-model quantum computers.
Quantum Circuits' dual-rail technology dramatically lowers the resources needed for error-corrected quantum computing. The combined company plans:
- 2026: Initial dual-rail system generally available
- 2027: 40 dual-rail qubit machine
- 2028: 181 dual-rail qubit machine
How Does D-Wave Connect to Vancouver's Tech Scene?
D-Wave is a cornerstone of Vancouver/Burnaby's deep tech ecosystem, alongside other pioneering companies.
Vancouver Quantum Cluster
D-Wave's success helped establish British Columbia as a quantum computing hub and demonstrated that Canadian deep tech startups could compete globally.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is D-Wave?
D-Wave Quantum Inc. is the world's first commercial quantum computer company, headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia. Founded in 1999, it pioneered quantum annealing and sold the first commercial quantum computer to Lockheed Martin in 2011. D-Wave trades on NYSE under ticker QBTS.
What is quantum annealing?
Quantum annealing is a method for solving optimization problems by encoding the problem into a physical system and letting it evolve toward the lowest-energy solution. Unlike gate-based quantum computers (IBM, Google), quantum annealers are specialized for optimization but can handle thousands of qubits.
Who founded D-Wave?
D-Wave was founded in April 1999 by Geordie Rose, Haig Farris, Bob Wiens, and Alexandre Zagoskin. The founders met at the University of British Columbia. Geordie Rose, who earned his PhD in theoretical physics at UBC, served as the first CEO before founding Kindred AI and Sanctuary AI.
Did D-Wave achieve quantum supremacy?
In March 2025, D-Wave demonstrated quantum supremacy on a real-world problem in a peer-reviewed Science paper. Their Advantage2 computer solved a materials science simulation in minutes that would take the Frontier supercomputer approximately one million years.
Who invested in D-Wave?
D-Wave's investors include Jeff Bezos (Bezos Expeditions), In-Q-Tel (CIA's venture arm), Goldman Sachs, NEC Corporation, and the Business Development Bank of Canada. The company raised over $300 million before going public via SPAC merger in August 2022.
What is the Advantage2 quantum computer?
The Advantage2 is D-Wave's most advanced quantum annealing system with 4,400+ qubits, 40,000+ couplers, and 20-way qubit connectivity. It features 75% less noise and 2x longer coherence than its predecessor. The system solves 3D lattice problems 25,000x faster than the previous generation.
What happened to Geordie Rose?
Geordie Rose left D-Wave in 2014 to found Kindred AI (warehouse robots, acquired by Ocado 2020) and Sanctuary AI (humanoid robots). He stepped down as Sanctuary's CEO in November 2024 and is now working on "Snowdrop Quantum Applications" while planning to walk 8,000 km across Canada.
Related Reading
Canadian Quantum Computing
- The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor — Home to Perimeter Institute and IQC
- Vancouver: Canada's AI Gateway — D-Wave's home region
Canadian AI Leaders
- Geoffrey Hinton: Godfather of AI — Neural network pioneer
- Rich Sutton: Father of Reinforcement Learning — 2024 Turing Award winner
- Aidan Gomez: Cohere Founder — Transformer co-author
Canadian AI Institutions
- The AI Triangle: Canada's Three Superpowers — Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver
- CIFAR Complete Guide — The institute that funded deep learning
- Canadian AI Unicorns — Billion-dollar AI companies
Building in Canada
- AI Founder Resources Canada — Programs and funding
- Canadian AI Accelerators & Incubators — Where to launch your startup
Join AGI House Canada to connect with Canada's quantum computing and AI community. Scan the QR code to join our WhatsApp group or subscribe to our newsletter.
Data current as of January 2026. Statistics from D-Wave investor relations, SEC filings, and company announcements. Quantum supremacy findings from peer-reviewed publication in Science (March 2025).
