The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation has invested $20 million in Diraq, a UNSW quantum computing spinout targeting commercial viability by 2029. The equity stake forms part of a $75 million raise that also drew super funds Hostplus, NGS Super, and UniSuper over the past two years.
Diraq's pitch: silicon-based quantum chips that will deliver computing power at a fraction of the cost and size of rivals Microsoft, IBM, Google, and heavily funded PsiQuantum. The startup, founded by Andrew Dzurak four years ago, now employs over 70 staff and sits within Australia's emerging quantum cluster.
This is NRFC's third disclosed deep tech investment in recent weeks. The fund committed $75 million to Queensland rocket maker Gilmour Space Technologies as part of a $217 million Series E that pushed valuation past $1 billion. It also deployed $30.7 million (more than 50% of the round) in Applied Electric Vehicles' $40 million Series B, creating 25 jobs atop 113 existing roles.
The pattern matters. NRFC, established September 2023 with $15 billion in deployable capital, is using equity, loans, and guarantees across seven priority areas: renewables, enabling capabilities (quantum, space), defence, transport, resources, agriculture, and medical science. The stated aim is sovereign manufacturing and economic diversification. Early data suggests the fund is catalyzing private capital, particularly from super funds with long time horizons.
Quantum remains a long bet. The technology is theoretically viable but not yet commercially proven. Diraq's silicon approach competes with photonics (PsiQuantum), superconducting (IBM, Google), and ion trap architectures. The advantage of silicon: existing semiconductor fabrication can be leveraged, potentially lowering costs. The disadvantage: proving it works at scale before competitors do.
NRFC CEO David Gall emphasized space and quantum as sovereignty plays. Industry Minister Tim Ayres framed the investments as public capital de-risking private participation. Whether that thesis holds depends on whether these startups ship working products before their overseas competition or their funding runs out.
The real question: can NRFC's equity approach, blending government backing with institutional co-investment, produce outcomes at the scale and speed of US venture capital? Three investments in two months suggests the fund is moving. Results will take years.