Deep Tech · Corporate VC

Applied Ventures

CVC arm of Applied Materials (stage agnostic, up to USD 100M deployed per year, 90+ companies in 19 countries). Quantum thesis anchored on one strategic position, Qolab, and on fab-scale qubit manufacturing aligned with AMAT's materials and process roadmap.

Active Santa Clara, United StatesFounded 2001

Investment thesis

Applied Ventures is the corporate venture arm of Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), stage agnostic and investing up to USD 100M per year; it has backed 90+ companies in 19 countries since 2001. Its quantum exposure is concentrated and strategic: a Series A investment in Qolab (announced March 2025), paired with an Applied Materials process collaboration to manufacture superconducting qubits on 300mm semiconductor lines, and a jointly authored technical roadmap, 'How to Build a Quantum Supercomputer'. Beyond equity, Applied Materials engages the wider quantum ecosystem through open innovation workshops with hardware, networking and control startups; these engagements are technical, not investments. The thesis: quantum companies whose qubit quality and scaling depend on materials engineering and fab-grade process control sit closest to AMAT's core, and that is where Applied Ventures writes checks.

Anti-thesis

The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.

  1. Software-first quantum stacks with no fabrication or materials angle fall outside the mandate: every documented quantum engagement (Qolab investment, AMAT process collaboration, roadmap paper) is hardware-manufacturing centric
  2. Do not expect Applied Ventures to lead or price your round: on its only sourced quantum deal, the Series A was led by Octave Ventures; Applied Ventures joined with an undisclosed strategic check
  3. Strategic relevance to Applied Materials' process and equipment roadmap is the filter; a strong quantum team without a credible 300mm or materials-engineering story will not clear it
  4. Quantum is one thread in a broad deep-tech portfolio (semiconductors, display, photonics, AI infrastructure, life sciences); only one quantum equity position is publicly documented, so pace in this vertical is low and opportunistic

Notable quantum portfolio

Full portfolio
Qolab

Frequent co-investors

  • Octave Ventures
  • Development Bank of Japan
  • Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
  • Phoenix Venture Partners