Deep Tech · Corporate VC

Cisco Investments

Corporate VC of Cisco Systems. Quantum is a strategic satellite to Cisco's in-house program (Quantum Labs, entanglement chip, Universal Quantum Switch). Two participating positions: Aliro Quantum and Qunnect, both co-invested behind other leads. Channel and validation, not a lead check.

Active San Jose, United StatesFounded 1993

Investment thesis

Cisco Investments is the corporate venture arm of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), and its quantum exposure is a strategic satellite to Cisco's much larger in-house effort. The internal program, run through Outshift and Cisco Quantum Labs in Santa Monica (opened May 2025), is the real center of gravity: a room-temperature entanglement source chip co-developed with UC Santa Barbara (up to 200 million entangled pairs per second, fidelity above 99 percent), a patented Universal Quantum Switch prototype unveiled in April 2026, and a full-stack quantum-networking software effort (entanglement distribution, distributed compiler, QKD integration via SKIP, post-quantum cryptography across the product line). Against that backdrop, Cisco Investments holds two quantum-networking positions, both as a participating co-investor rather than a lead: Aliro Quantum (October 2023 round led by Flybridge / Leaders Fund, then a $15 million round led by Gutbrain Ventures in February 2026) and Qunnect (10 million dollar Series A extension led by Airbus Ventures in June 2025). Qunnect, not Cisco, runs the Deutsche Telekom T-Labs Berlin testbed. The thesis is plumbing for the quantum internet, deployable over existing telecom fiber, channeled through Cisco's enterprise reach. Founders should read Cisco as a strategic validator and channel partner, not a thesis-leading quantum fund.

Anti-thesis

The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.

  1. Strategic-fit gate: every check must map to Cisco's roadmap (quantum networking plumbing, enterprise infrastructure). Pure-science quantum hardware with no networking angle is out of scope
  2. Follower, not lead: in all three quantum deals (Aliro 2023, Qunnect 2025, Aliro 2026) Cisco participated behind another lead (Flybridge / Leaders Fund, Airbus Ventures, Gutbrain Ventures). Do not expect a term-sheet-setting check
  3. AI absorbs the strategic oxygen: the $1B AI Investment Fund launched in 2024 under Derek Idemoto, plus positions in Anthropic, Mistral, Cohere, Scale AI and xAI, dwarf quantum in capital and attention
  4. Build-over-buy via Outshift: Cisco's quantum bet is mostly internal (Quantum Labs, entanglement chip, Universal Quantum Switch). External checks are validation and channel plays, not the core strategy, which caps how far Cisco will lean into any single startup
  5. Capital recycling and board-observer posture: Cisco usually takes a board observer seat (no voting rights) and invests for strategic optionality and future M&A, not for lead-investor governance

Notable quantum portfolio

Full portfolio
Aliro QuantumQunnect

Frequent co-investors