Quminex Named Top Innovator in WEF Quantum Challenge with Pre-seed Funding Secured

For all its technological advancements, the mining industry remains surprisingly inefficient at its most fundamental task: finding valuable minerals. Now, a Canadian firm believes quantum computing may hold the answer.

Quminex, a fledgling Sherbrooke-based startup, has caught the attention of both the World Economic Forum and specialist quantum investors. The firm was named a Top Innovator in the Forum’s Quantum for Society Challenge on April 14th, besting nearly 100 competitors. Concurrently, it secured pre-seed funding from three investment firms specialising in quantum technologies.

The company’s proposition is straightforward but ambitious: deploy quantum computing algorithms alongside artificial intelligence to parse complex geological datasets. Mining exploration has long struggled with enormous uncertainties. Companies typically drill numerous expensive test holes, most yielding nothing of value. Quminex claims its approach can significantly reduce this wasteful pattern while accelerating discoveries of critical minerals—increasingly important as the green energy transition creates voracious demand for previously obscure elements.

“We’re essentially increasing the signal-to-noise ratio in exploration data,” explains Marc Fassbender, Quminex’s chief executive, in an interview. The Forum’s recognition provides the young company with a three-year support programme, including valuable connections to potential investors and clients.The quantum computing sector has seen substantial investment despite remaining largely pre-commercial. Total private funding exceeds $5bn globally, even as debates continue about when practical applications will materialise. Mining represents an intriguing use case, as the computational problems involved—particularly in processing geophysical data—are exceptionally complex.

Quminex has attracted capital from three specialist funds: QV Studio, which operates from the same Sherbrooke quantum technology hub where Quminex is based; Quantacet, a Canadian quantum investment vehicle; and Quantonation, a French-American fund focused on deep physics applications.

These specialist investors appear convinced by the firm’s unusual blend of traditional mining expertise and quantum science. “We’re backing teams that combine domain expertise with quantum capabilities,” says Christophe Jurczak of Quantonation. “The resources sector desperately needs innovation.”

Critics may question whether quantum computing is necessary for this application when classical machine-learning approaches remain underutilised in mining. Quminex counters that certain data-processing tasks are uniquely suited to quantum approaches.

The firm joins a small but growing cohort of startups aiming quantum technologies at specific industrial problems rather than building general-purpose quantum hardware. Whether this application-first approach proves more commercially viable than the quest for quantum computers themselves remains to be seen.

Any technological edge would be welcome for mining firms facing increasing pressure to discover resources with minimal environmental disruption. If Quminex’s approach proves successful, the century-old mineral exploration techniques may finally experience their quantum moment.