AI / Data Science · VC Firm

Radical Ventures

Single concentrated bet on Xanadu (photonic quantum) sized as a meaningful 21.56% stake, now the first publicly listed pure-play photonic quantum computing company since the March 2026 closing of the Crane Harbor SPAC (Nasdaq and TSX: XNDU).

Active Toronto, CanadaFounded 2017

Investment thesis

Radical Ventures is a Toronto-based AI-focused VC founded 2017 by Jordan Jacobs and Tomi Poutanen (Salim Teja joined as Partner in 2019), with $2.5B+ total AUM. It runs early-stage funds (latest Fund IV, $650M, final close October 2025) plus an $800M growth fund (2024); six funds overall. Invests Seed to growth across AI applications, foundation models and AI infrastructure.

Quantum bet: Xanadu (Toronto photonic quantum computing; Radical invested in 2019). The SPAC business combination with Crane Harbor (announced November 2025, pro forma ~$3.6B market cap) closed in March 2026: Xanadu now trades on Nasdaq and TSX as XNDU, and Radical holds 21.56% via its Fund II, rolled over. Thesis framing: quantum as AI-compute infrastructure rather than a standalone quantum platform.

Value-add: dominant Canadian AI network; Geoffrey Hinton and Fei-Fei Li among backers; recurring co-investment with NVIDIA NVentures and Inovia on AI deals (Cohere, Waabi), not on Xanadu.

Not a quantum specialist: a single bet framed through an AI lens, but a valuable cap-table member for Canadian deep-tech founders at the AI-quantum intersection. Partner Daniel Mulet (built the first quantum software incubator at CDL) covers the Xanadu relationship.

Anti-thesis

The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.

  1. Radical's explicit thesis is applied AI now, with quantum framed as adjacent rather than core; the LP narrative is built around foundation models and AI agents, making quantum allocation a thesis-dilution risk
  2. Toronto / Vector Institute roots create an AI talent density advantage that does not translate to quantum, where the local ecosystem (Xanadu, Photonic) is already well funded by strategics and government
  3. The $800M growth fund (2024) writes larger growth-stage cheques, so growth entries skew Series B+ with revenue traction, a stage profile most quantum companies cannot yet meet
  4. No new quantum investment since the 2019 Xanadu entry; the firm's public content frames quantum through its AI-compute lens, so a quantum pitch must clear the bar of accelerating AI workloads
  5. A heavy non-dilutive layer (SIF, NRC, Project OPTIMISM) shapes Canadian quantum cap tables, compressing venture ownership; Radical prefers cleaner cap tables

Notable quantum portfolio

Full portfolio
Xanadu

Frequent co-investors