Corporate Collision Connects Quantum Startups and Corporate Partners

Last week the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosted Corporate Collision, a capstone Duality event designed to connect corporate partners with quantum startups to explore opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and real-world applications of quantum technologies.

The day began with opening remarks from Samir Mayekar, associate vice president and managing director of the Polsky Center, and Shyama Majumdar, senior director of accelerators and investments at the Polsky Center, who emphasized the importance of building connections between startups and industry partners.

“This event brings startups and corporations together to solve real-world problems using actionable quantum technologies and to create the next generation of solutions,” said Majumdar. “The value of today is in the connections formed between the startups and the corporations.”

The keynote speaker, Pranav Gokhale, PhD ’20, CTO of Infleqtion and a Duality alum, reflected on his journey from University of Chicago PhD student to founder of Super.tech. 

Gokhale described how he became involved with the Polsky Center while still a PhD student and participated in a wide range of programs across the Polsky ecosystem, including the George Shultz Innovation Fund, Collaboratorium, and other entrepreneurship programming. He later incorporated Super.tech in early 2020 and joined Duality in 2021, where the company further developed its products, built partnerships, and ultimately entered acquisition discussions.

“The resources of Duality — the connections, the advisors, the ecosystem — were incredibly important for us,” he said. “The Polsky Center ecosystem played a huge role in our journey from research to startup to exit.”

He also noted that his company initially raised early funding through Polsky programs before growing the team, launching products, and eventually merging with ColdQuanta, which later became Infleqtion. Today, Infleqtion has more than 200 employees across the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

In his remarks, Gokhale emphasized that quantum technologies are approaching a major turning point. 

“Quantum computing may have not delivered real relevant commercial outcomes yet, but it’s just around the corner,” he said. “Now is the time for companies to prepare for the quantum journey so they can hit the ground running.”

He also shared practical advice for startups, including leveraging university intellectual property, building strong advisory networks, and structuring early investments effectively. Reflecting on his own experience building a company through Duality and the Polsky ecosystem, he noted the importance of mentorship and community support for early-stage companies.

Following the keynote, startups from the Duality accelerator pitched their technologies to corporate partners. The startups included:

• ​Connor Horn | K1 Semiconductor – K1 Semiconductor is a deep-tech company pioneering a semiconductor wafer-splitting platform technology that enhances the efficiency and economics of advanced chip manufacturing.
• ​Stuart Pino | QodeX Quantum – QodeX Quantum is developing a user-friendly quantum circuit model—built on naval research—that replicates transformer neural networks to help customers solve complex problems and train QML models without quantum or AI expertise.
• ​Dan Holme | Qoro Quantum – Qoro Quantum develops the network stack for scalable, distributed quantum computing. With software that automates how quantum programs are prepared, optimized, and executed across heterogeneous hardware — from CPUs and GPUs to quantum processors — making it easy for researchers and enterprises to run quantum workloads efficiently at scale.
• ​Brandon Kim | SQK Inc. – SQK Inc. is a US–Canada–Korea deep-tech startup developing quantum–AI hybrid computing solutions for precision medical imaging and related applications.
• ​Avery Linder | Stac12 – Stac12 is building an integrated diamond platform that enables the practical adoption of diamond in semiconductor and quantum applications. The startup’s thin-film single-crystal diamond is bonded to materials such as silicon, sapphire, and fused silica, unlocking new possibilities for next-generation devices.

Corporate partners then delivered short “reverse pitches,” sharing their innovation priorities, challenges, and areas where they are seeking partnerships and new technologies. These presentations helped startups better understand corporate needs and identify opportunities for collaboration. The corporations included Allstate, Boeing, Chicago Trading Company, IBM, and more.

During the corporate presentations and discussions, several corporate partners emphasized the importance of practical applications and technologies that can be integrated into existing systems. 

One representative noted that they “prefer to invest in products that they can use and like to see the proof,” emphasizing the importance of reducing friction when adopting new technologies and ensuring solutions align with real business needs.

Another corporate participant noted during the startup presentations that they were already hearing technologies that could help address challenges their organization is currently working on, highlighting the value of bringing startups and corporations together in the same room.

The event ended with networking and follow-up meetings, allowing startups and corporate partners to continue conversations and explore potential collaborations.