SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 10 - Israel-based Quantum Source has

raised $50 million to help produce quantum computers that use a

light-based technology to crunch data, the company said on

Tuesday.

Tech giants such as Alphabet's Google and Intel ( INTC )

are working on various approaches to constructing a

commercially useful quantum computer.

At present, no viable commercial applications have been

possible, but there are hopes that in the future, quantum

computers could be able to crunch some data that is effectively

impossible for today's chips.

Quantum Source has developed a method of creating quantum

computers that involves generating the photons, or light, which

makes its systems more efficient than other approaches, CEO Oded

Melamed said in an interview.

Using photons allows the company to construct room-temperature

quantum computing systems, whereas other approaches call for

extremely low temperature systems that are bulky and costly.

Smaller, room-temperature systems would allow it to deploy the

computers in data centers or elsewhere without special

retrofits.

"This means we can enjoy about four orders of magnitude

better efficiency compared with other solutions," Melamed said.

"And four orders of magnitude efficiency means a smaller

machine, a machine that can be installed in standard server

(unit) and moreover, the (standard) infrastructure."

The company plans to use the proceeds from the fundraising

round to help built a complete quantum system that will allow it

to generate millions of qubits, the building blocks of quantum

computing.

The funding round was led by the California-based Eclipse, and

included investments from Standard Investments, Level VC and

Canon Equity. Several existing investors participated and the

company has raised a total of $77 million, including

Tuesday's amount.

The company has 45 employees and is based in a suburb of Tel

Aviv. It was founded in 2021.