SQC's $3.6M grant funds quantum AI energy forecasting with Schneider Electric

SQC has been awarded $3.6 million — the largest single slice of $12.3 million in federal government grants for quantum technologies split across six Australian startups.

The Sydney-based company, Silicon Quantum Computing, will use the money to expand its partnership with Schneider Electric and UNSW, applying quantum-enhanced artificial intelligence to improve energy forecasting and renewable electricity use. The project pairs SQC's Watermelon quantum-enhanced AI processor with Schneider Electric's forecasting models.

Watermelon generates quantum features from classical data, helping AI models uncover complex relationships in sparse and time-series datasets. It can also be used to offload parts of AI model training, potentially reducing the computational burden on conventional systems.

The companies say initial testing of next-day energy forecasts using 12 months of data delivered an average 20% improvement in accuracy against a conventional computing benchmark, with gains reaching 41%. The next stage will expand modelling to hundreds of Australian homes and integrate the technology into Schneider Electric's AI workflows. Better forecasts could help manage increasingly complex household energy systems as rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles change when electricity is consumed, stored and exported.

SQC is a UNSW spinout founded in 2017 by Professor Michelle Simmons, a former Australian of the Year and Tech Council director. The grant adds to a run of government backing: the company banked $60 million in National Reconstruction Fund investment earlier this year, including $40 million in June, just three months after an initial $20 million, as part of a larger raise currently underway.

The remaining grants span healthcare, biosecurity and logistics. Adelaide's QuantX Labs received $2.2 million to build and test a quantum clock designed to keep electricity networks accurately synchronised without relying on external timing signals. Founded in 2016 by Andre Luiten, the quantum sensing startup previously secured $2.7 million in Defence contracts for optical atomic clocks in 2024, following $1 million from SmartSat CRC in 2022 to develop a clock for satellite applications, and raised a $7 million Seed round in June. Its latest project involves Siemens and Swinburne University of Technology, extending its precision timing work into energy infrastructure.

Victorian startup FeBI Technologies received $2.2 million to improve iron deficiency testing and diagnosis for First Nations peoples. Western Australia's Avicena Systems gets $2 million for a prototype quantum biosensor to improve border inspections. Queensland's iQ Sense has $1.2 million to develop real-time livestock health and disease monitoring, while Q Factorial receives $1.1 million for software to improve delivery and transport planning.