SpeQtral, a Singapore-based company in quantum-secure communication systems, announced Tuesday that it has successfully closed a $8.3 million financing led by Xora Innovation, an early-stage deep science investment platform of Temasek.

With quantum cryptography fast becoming mainstream and the Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) market expected to be worth $20 billion by 2035, SpeQtral said this latest capital injection will allow the company to strengthen its position as a quantum-secure communications company.

Specifically, the funds will be used to expand SpeQtral’s regional and international presence, establish strategic business partnerships, hire top talent, support the commercial rollout of terrestrial systems, and further develop its satellite-based systems, it said.

While the emergence of fully functional quantum computers will spur breakthroughs in optimisation problems for applications across a broad spectrum of industries, SpeQtral said it is only a matter of time before the same computational capabilities are used to break the fundamental cryptographic principles that safeguard today’s data communications – principally, public key encryption (PKE).

SpeQtral is on a mission to deliver tamper-proof and computationally uncrackable encryption keys, within and across global communications networks, securing data against present and future threats brought on by advances in computing. Together with partners, SpeQtral is reinventing cryptography for the quantum age, using satellites in low earth orbit to secure data networks across the globe.

It also said SpeQtral’s QKD technology solution is a crucial element in building global quantum-secure communication networks. QKD uses quantum physics, as opposed to current mathematically based encryption technologies, to distribute symmetric encryption keys that can be used to secure communication networks.By using the laws of physics to generate the keys rather than mathematical algorithms, SpeQtral’s QKD platform enables the creation and distribution of computationally uncrackable encryption keys.

“Secure data communication is foundational to the ‘web of trust’ between buyers, sellers, and intermediaries in the modern digital economy. SpeQtral’s QKD technology enables critical solutions for governments and enterprises seeking to ensure this web of trust in the quantum age. We are very excited to be a part of accelerating SpeQtral’s growth and success,” said Donna See, Chief Executive Officer of Xora Innovation.

SpeQtral Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Chune Yang Lum also said “We are honoured to welcome our new investors, Xora Innovation and TIS, and are deeply appreciative of the continued support of our original investors who continue to believe in our vision.”

“We feel very fortunate to have investors who are committed to rolling up their sleeves and helping us deliver best-in-class quantum technologies to governments, defence agencies, financial services institutions, data centres, cloud and telecommunication service providers,” he added.

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