Quantum Computing: The New Frontier in High-Performance Simulations

0:00Ben Murray: Greetings, everyone. I'm excited to welcome Dr. Laurent Guiraud, co-founder and CEO of Calibri TD. Laurent, welcome to the show. Thanks, Ben. Thanks for having me here. Yeah, great to have you here. Before we talk about what the company does, provide a little bit of background for our audience. Okay, so I'm Laurent Guiraud. I've been in physics back in 1996, so some times ago. But when I finished my PhD, I decided to go in the corporate sectors and only US-based companies. So I started with Oracle. And at the time, the network computing and Oracle application was a while back. Then I moved to a startup based in Austin, Texas.

0:42I was basically working in Europe, across Europe, Finland, Sweden, UK, and so on. Then moved to Google. When we started Google Enterprise back in 2005, we launched Google Apps in 2007, when no one was really thinking about collaboration in the cloud. And then after that, I went to, in 2011, to Amazon Web Services, still a US-based company for the big data and EC2 business, when in fact Amazon was only doing, when there was Amazon and Amazon Web Services was only doing, yes, infrastructure as a service. Then I went to a consulting company, still a US, some US startups, again, always US. And then in 2019, we decided with my co-founder, Asen Gojil, to go back to where I started with quantum physics in quantum computing.

1:35Why? Because we wanted to create our own company. And it's difficult to create on your own. You need to be several people. And then quantum computing at that time was started to emerge with Google announcing quantum supremacy. if you remember in 2019. At the same time, COVID hit, so we had to delay a little bit. So we did some consulting, and then we really started the kind of startup board in February 2021, where they decided to really use quantum computing technologies to solve real business problems. That's where very in a nutshell,

2:11Ben Murray: what led to credibility. Yeah, quite the background of startups and big companies. And so, yeah, tell us, provide the 30-second version of Calibri TD. So, yeah, what products and or services is it offering? So, first and foremost, we are a deep tech company, so we are pre-prepped. So, we are trying to use a very emerging technology, which is quantum computing, in order to solve real business problems around numerical simulation. So basically, when you want to design semiconductors, energy power plants, fluid dynamic, and so on, you need to do minimal cultivation. But they're highly complex. There's usually an exponential complexity to these problems that we do in quantum computing with lab, reduce the complexity, and be more efficient.

2:57So that's what we're trying to do, solve these big business problems that you see across different sectors.

3:03Ben Murray: Okay. And so tell us, who's your ideal customer profile here? What types of companies or verticals are you after? So the ideal customer profile in the coming years would be the simulation engineers. I want to design a new semiconductor architectures. I need to use CollierWee technology to go faster and have more precision. I want to design a new power plant. I need to do some simulation for fusion of fission. I will use CollierWee technology and so on. Right now, we are more like targeting research and develop R &D department that this models for their engineers. A little bit more into a deep dive technology than it will be in the future.

3:49Ben Murray: Interesting. Interesting. And then before your company and this type of technology, how were these engineers or simulation engineers solving this problem before or doing this work prior to your company? So basically they only solve it partially. They have to simplify most of the problem because current classical computing, which is CPU, GPU, have limitations. All these problems tend to be exponential based on the complexity, the number of parameters. If you want to simulate the climate, you have so many parameters to take into account that at some point you have to reduce the complexity to be able to do the calculation.

4:26That's why we're classical limits. We do how quantum will absorb. So today you use classical, but you simplify your problem.

4:35Ben Murray: Okay. Okay. Interesting. And are these then, say, R &D teams and engineering teams, could these be, say, smaller companies, or are these kind of global companies that need this firepower to help them out? Unfortunately, HPC, high-performance computing, that runs the simulation, is not highly democratized. So it's Boeing, Warlords, or let's say NVIDIA and others, these big companies, big industries will use simulation. What we hope with quantum computing and so on that we can democratize. So smaller company can design because when you look at how the IT sector is moving with Gen.AI and so on, you tend to have more and more smaller programs doing very specific tasks and somehow you democratize access to new technologies.

5:21And we do think quantum will benefit from that. So today, it's big customers, Fortune 400, whatever, 500 or whatever. But basically, not yet the small companies in the middle of nowhere trying to use quantum technology to sing.

5:35Ben Murray: Okay, hopefully get the small guys in there in the future. And then so founded 2019. So what led you to start this company? You worked for a lot of startups before, want to start your own company. So did you just see something in the market that you didn't like or thought the market was going a different way and you wanted to start your company? Really, I wanted to start my company. I've worked at a very nice company, Google, Amazon Web Services, where they were small. Google in 2005 is not Google today. Amazon Web Services in 2011 is not. So they were really at the early, and I wanted to do my own thing.

6:09It was time for me to create. In these companies, I started when they were small. So I had the chance to do something new. So I wanted to have my own destiny in my own hands.

6:19Ben Murray: Yeah, which is nice, right? I did a PhD in physics. So basically, it was a way for me to come back to where I started. Yeah, that's great. I love that. And then, say, this current market, do you think, are you doing something different than the rest of the market? Or are a lot of people thinking the same way as far as how you're trying to help these simulation engineers to just do more complex things that they couldn't do before? I think right now, we are pretty unique in what we do. There's really a few people. Let's say that Gen AI, Generative AI is taking a lot of the bandwidth of people and they are trying to use it.

6:58Like you've seen the announcement from OpenAI about Navier Stokes equations. They did not really solve them, but that's another, we could debate for hours on that. But basically you see that people are trying really to leverage AI or simulation. For now, our path is quite unique because we want really to have a very broad solver, multi-physics from finance to energy to semiconductors. So that's still unique. And people also are, and I think it's maybe another question you will ask, but people think it's not ready yet. So they think it's not yet that market and that's not yet ready in terms of technology.

7:34So let's say we still have to move and prove that it's not the case, that it's going to be there sooner than you expect.

7:41Ben Murray: Okay, that's interesting. And I want to talk a little bit about how you're landing customers. But I guess when you go talk to prospects, do they understand what you're trying to offer? Or like you said, do they feel like, hey, is this really real? Can this really help me? Are you actually doing this? I don't know if you read the Geoffrey Moore Crossing the Chasm book, which is based on the curve of the diffusion curve of technology, which is not new. It's not dating from Geoffrey Moore, but Geoffrey Moore said that there's a chasm at some point. We are before the chasm. Therefore, you are not like having a massive prospect and people coming to you.

8:17You are trying to select different people in different industries that are looking ahead, that they really need disruptive technology. And you work with these people to really build your product. So that's why I said we are quick product. And we work hand in hand with some selective customers in order to be able to have a product that have an impact within the next few months. So that's really how we do things right now. Never forget the diffusion curve of technology.

8:44Ben Murray: And then how currently are you finding prospects, simulation engineers? How are you finding customers right now? So a few things now. We define two key market for us, which are semiconductors and finance. And either we work in participating to events, doing some outreach in some community to help them understand what we are trying to achieve and identify a few customers really willing to look ahead. And also we are working with our partners, hardware partners, the ones that are building a computer like IBM, Amazon Web Services, and so on, Kobe in France, in order to build an ecosystem and work with them hand in hand to go and outreach customers.

9:30Ben Murray: Okay. And then once you talk to a prospect and they say, hey, this sounds great, this can really help me out. How are you pricing your product? What kind of mechanism? Is this traditional subscription? Is it usage-based? So as we co-construct, co-design the solution with them right now, it's more service-based. So we need to notify the UK where is your pay? Mr. Customer, where is your pay? And is quantum computing within the next few months going to help you solve that? So it's more a consulting effort. That's the end goal. The end goal is a license or usage-based. Pretty classical, nothing fancy.

10:04Either you buy a license or you are usage based because we want to build a platform that's scaling. Within the next, I think, 12, 18 months, we hope because we provide value, we will be able to move to a license or usage base. Right now, we're still designing and building the section head in head. I'm not a specialist in semiconductors, in finance, in energy. So I need to co-design with them and build the engine that can solve their problem. Okay.

10:30Ben Murray: Yeah. Interesting. And you founded the company in 2019, but it looks like you just recently raised some capital. It looks like maybe a 4 million euro seed round. So that just happened. So did you bootstrap for, say, five, six years and then raise? So we self-funded our servant in 2023. In 2023, in July 2023, we had a first pre-seed of 1 million. And then in quantum computing across the world, you have grants. So we got also some grants from national, from France and from regional grants. And now in July 2026, we raised 4 million. And we are also looking at other grants, but we really expect to start to have...

11:14We have some revenue, but let's say it's not that significant compared to the equity round. But basically, we do hope that by end of 2027, early 2028, we will balance with more revenue coming in. Okay.

11:29Ben Murray: And with that latest 4 million seed round, was there any surprising things with raising that round or any hard parts that made that seed harder than the pre-seed? So first, it's difficult. First, it's long. It took some time. So always, in a startup, we expect that we need a run rate longer than you expected. So that's the first lesson. Second, when you're doing software, people don't treat you as a deep tech. So normally when you're hardware, quantum computers, okay, it would take five years, seven years for you to build a quantum computer. So let's find that in the long term. When you're doing software, they say you need ARR.

12:10You can't say I'm doing quantum computing, so I'm deep tech. No, you are a software-based company, so you need AR ASAP. So that was like this cognitive imbalance or dissociation that we had to face.

12:23Ben Murray: Yeah, interesting. Yeah, if they classify your business model software, they expect that recurring revenue. So based on, yeah, to value your company. And then you're about, say, seven years in right now. So is there a number or metric or operational metric that really explains best what's happening in your business that you look at? So I would say what is really important is that we have around six active engagement with customers to validate their use case. So that's really important for us to say these customers really identify use cases that they think quantum can have. That's really our metrics right now.

13:01And we see more and more people coming to us and say, okay, I have this problem, can quantum solve it? So that's really important for us. And yes, for sure, within the next few months, we need to have an ARR KPI. But right now is more. Is quantum computing seen as a potential? You have to understand that customers right now, our customers are busy with Gen AI already spending millions. So the fact that they come and say, really, I'm doing Gen AI doesn't solve my problem. And I would like to look at quantum. That's a key matrix for us.

13:31Ben Murray: Okay. Yeah, interesting. So, yeah, proving that product market fit right now and eventually ARR. And things are changing so fast, especially with AI. But where do you think things will be in your market three years from now? Will this just be commonplace where everybody understands you cross that chasm? Or do you think it'll still be evolving three years from now? So, well, the principle of a startup is innovation. You protect yourself and software by innovating. So three years from now, I do hope we are so many use cases, a platform is running. We are license-based. And yes, we will have crossed the chasm.

14:07Otherwise, I will not be stringent with you. But yes, and in three years, I do hope to have a multiple industry using our platform to solve it for computers. And then it would be just a question of having orders coming in.

14:20Ben Murray: Yeah, get those AR orders coming in. So Laurent, I really appreciate the time sharing your journey. A few stats and figures before we wrap up. Do you have a headquarters location? Yes, Paris, France. Paris. Perfect. And what's your current employee or staff count? 20. 20? 20, yep. Okay. And it sounds like, so generating a little bit of revenue, so still in that early revenue generation phase? Yeah, yeah. We still have some revenue. Okay. Perfect. All right. Again, Laurent, appreciate the time sharing your journey. If listeners would like to learn more about Calibri TD, where should we send them online?

14:55So we have a website, which is colibritd.com. We have now a QTalk blog where we interview, the first interview is with IBM head of supercomputing and quantum so they can learn more. And we have a demo also.

15:11Ben Murray: All right. All right. If you'd like to learn more, check out colibritd.com. We'll have that in the show notes so you can learn more. And Laurent, really appreciate you coming on the show today. Thank you very much. Thanks a lot. Bye.