Chinese startup Tuoyuan raises seed round to build neutral atom quantum computer

Chinese quantum computing startup FlipFlop Tuoyuan raised hundreds of millions of yuan in seed and angel financing to build neutral-atom hardware systems, according to a report by QbitAI published on October 19, 2026. CICC Capital backed the company through its CICC Qizhi Shanghai Venture Fund, alongside Source Code Capital and Oasis Capital.

Quantum physics researcher Mu Qiao founded and leads Tuoyuan. The company set a primary technical development target of building a fault-tolerant quantum computing system with 100 logical qubits. The exact valuation and financing total were not disclosed, and report details have not been independently verified by external media.

Technical Targets and Hardware Architecture

Tuoyuan focuses its research on neutral-atom quantum computing architectures. Neutral-atom systems rely on tightly focused laser beams, known as optical tweezers, to trap and arrange individual atoms in precise geometric patterns. By exciting these trapped atoms into high-energy Rydberg states, researchers generate strong interactions needed for quantum computing and simulation tasks.

The startup aims to achieve fault-tolerant processing, which uses quantum error correction to protect calculations from operational noise. A logical qubit encodes information across multiple physical qubits, allowing the system to detect and fix errors as calculations run. An investor cited in reports described the 100 logical qubit goal as a key research and development target for the firm.

Tuoyuan also plans to integrate artificial intelligence into its development process. The company aims to introduce machine learning models into experimental quantum design, hardware equipment control, and experimental data processing.

Research Background and Technical Experience

Founder Mu Qiao brings a background in neutral-atom and trapped-ion quantum simulation. In August 2025, Qiao was shared first author and corresponding author on a research paper published in Nature. That study used Rydberg atom arrays to simulate a quantum magnet containing mobile vacancies, shedding light on physical phenomena connected to strongly correlated materials such as high-temperature superconductors.

In 2024, Qiao led a separate study published in Nature Physics that utilized a two-dimensional crystal of trapped ions to simulate tunable spin models. Together, these published studies established experimental groundwork across multiple quantum physical hardware platforms.

Tuoyuan has not yet released measured processor performance metrics, hardware benchmarks, or error-correction specifications. The company has also not published an official timeline for delivering its planned system.