The accelerator, called Duality, will be run by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at U of C’s Booth School of Business. The yearlong program will be open to companies nationwide. Each startup will receive $50,000 and access to facilities, lab space and offices.

Duality is the latest move by U of C to stake its future on quantum, drawing on a long history expertise in physics and mathematics. Quantum technology, particularly in computing, is in the earliest stages, but it’s attracted interest and funding from companies and government.

U of C launched a research center called the Quantum Exchange in 2017, which is part of the accelerator. Last year both Argonne and Fermi national laboratories, which are managed by U of C, were named national centers for quantum research and will receive $115 million each from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which also is home to a quantum research center, is a partner in the Duality accelerator, along with Argonne and P33, a civic group that’s developing a long-term roadmap for the tech industry.

Originally Appeared On: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john-pletz-technology/u-c-putting-20-million-behind-quantum-startups