Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Spinout reaches Maturity
UbiQD series B is more key than it looks.
I cover emerging tech, sometimes called deep tech in Europe. Recently there was a Series B that really caught my attention. Let’s note right now: UbiQD® is pronounced 'ubiquity'.
UbiQD® a so-called global leader in quantum dot (QD) technology, announced on April 22nd, 2025 that it closed a $20 million Series B financing round.
What they are trying to do is super interesting and the round was led by Phoenix Venture Partners to expand its quantum dot manufacturing, R&D, and infrastructure. Five years after its Series A of a modest $7 million, this company is involved in advanced materials powering product innovation in agriculture, clean energy, and security - not the things you usually think about when talking about a Quantum tech related startup.
What does UbiQD do exactly?
The deep tech world is sometimes a little obscure. The Series B also saw participation from Builders VC, Azura Group, Builders Vision, Stout Street Capital, Seraph Partners, Scout Ventures, New Mexico Vintage Fund, and others. The new investment highlights investors' growing confidence in UbiQD's innovative solutions and market potential.
This is actually about nano-technology meeting agriculture. The round is aimed at scaling its groundbreaking quantum dot (QD) innovations—many of which are already transforming agricultural production systems.
UbiQD's proprietary quantum dot technology is revolutionizing light utilization in greenhouse agriculture, solar energy, security and other critical industries.
The Founder and CEO is Hunter McDaniel. Back in 2014 he founded UbiQD, Inc. to bring a new class of quantum dots to market. Over the last decade he’s been trying to solve global energy and agriculture problems with nanomaterials.
Let there be Light
Not everything that is built in New Mexico, stays in New Mexico. UbiQD’s proprietary quantum dot technology is revolutionizing light utilization in greenhouse agriculture, solar energy, security and other critical industries. By enhancing the efficiency, durability, and sustainability of fluorescence in these applications, the company says it’s addressing major challenges across multiple sectors.
Is this even Quantum tech though? These tiny nanocrystals, whose properties change based on their size, have opened new possibilities in light optimization, with applications ranging from solar, display, security, medicine, agriculture, design, and more.
The company's innovations build on the foundational work recognized by the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded for the discovery and development of quantum dots.
Funding from the Series B will be used to scale up manufacturing, expand R&D capabilities, strengthen intellectual property, enhance marketing efforts, and support working capital needs.
Additionally, UbiQD is making significant upgrades to its existing facilities in Los Alamos and new infrastructure is planned as part of its broader expansion strategy. A key milestone in UbiQD's growth roadmap includes plans to build the globe's largest and most efficient QD supply chain.
Of course this is Los Alamos, you have to wonder about the national defense applications here.
Agriculture seems to be the main thing they are going after in 2025. UbiQD’s proprietary quantum dot technology has gained traction in agriculture for its ability to enhance crop yields, optimize greenhouse lighting, and improve energy efficiency in controlled growing environments. Sounds like tech for agriculture in space colonies, if I have to admit.
California-based Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP), which previously backed photonics firms including Finisar, Daylight Solutions, and NeoPhotonics. They are no stranger to Deep tech.
This is also about energy though: This light-optimizing innovation is already helping farmers increase crop productivity while reducing the need for artificial lighting and excessive resource use—an approach well-aligned with global calls for climate-smart agriculture.
This isn’t your ordinary PR, it seems this tech has applications yet to fully be applied.
“A key milestone in UbiQD's growth roadmap includes plans to build the globe's largest and most efficient QD supply chain.”
Quantum Dot Nano (QDN)
Quantum dot nanotechnology involves manipulating tiny semiconductor particles, called quantum dots, which exhibit unique optical and electrical properties due to their nanoscale size. These particles, typically 2-10 nanometers in diameter, can emit light of specific wavelengths when energized, making them useful for applications like displays and biomedical treatments.
Recently acquired BlueDot
Just a few weeks ago, UbiQD acquired Blue Dot.
This has mostly to do with solar technology and the IP. So Blue Dot was involved with groundbreaking perovskite-based quantum cutting technology. The deal also enabled UbiQD to secure exclusive rights to BlueDot's associated intellectual property, originally developed at (and licensed from) the University of Washington.
This positions UbiQD in a fairly good position in this unusual vertical that our Newsletter of The Quantum Foundry needs to take stock of. The U.S. is substantial behind China in material development especially on a the cutting edge of Quantum Tech applications. So you get, UbiQD has national defense importance that has yet to be fully determined. My hunch is that the value is higher than is being fully considered here.
"This is far more than a scientific milestone—it's a material breakthrough with transformative commercial potential," said Jim Kim, General Partner at Builders VC. "Hunter and the UbiQD team have successfully translated quantum dot technology from the lab to real-world applications, creating scalable solutions for solar energy and agriculture. With accelerating customer adoption, a new factory underway in New Mexico, and industrial-scale production on the near horizon, the outlook is incredibly bright."
Even after a decade, obviously this startup is still fairly early-stage. When you have to wait five years between a Series A and a Series B round, you are in a precarious position. But this round really opens up new doors for materials science and Quantum Dot nano manufacturing in the United States.
“At PVP, we specialize in backing deep tech and advanced materials companies with the potential to reshape industries—and UbiQD is doing exactly that. What sets them apart isn’t just their breakthrough technology, but their ability to diversify applications and execute at scale,” said Dr. Sheng Peng, Partner and deal lead with Phoenix Venture Partners. “From agriculture to solar to security, they’ve built real traction with major industry players, turning scientific innovation into commercial success. In today’s investment climate, that kind of adaptability and market validation is critical, and we’re excited to support UbiQD as they continue to lead the way in the quantum materials space.”
Some of the investor quotes are vaguely evocative of what this startup might become.
What ramifications might this have on farming, solar and other areas?
First Solar partnership
UbiQD, which has previously worked to exploit the advantages of quantum dot materials in solar windows and vertical farming, pointed out that it has been building a business unit focused specifically on down-conversion products.
I don’t think it’s even found its unique value prop in the future yet. I believe its future best applications have yet to be discovered. However with fresh capital in hand, UbiQD plans to scale manufacturing, accelerate research and development, and expand its reach across industries—agriculture chief among them.
The U.S. needs to rethink manufacturing for a new world order. UbiQD® (pronounced 'ubiquity') is a global leader according to its copy, in quantum dot manufacturing and technology.
Recent milestones include acquiring Blue Dot Photonics and planning large-scale facility upgrades to establish a global supply chain for next-generation quantum materials.
In emerging tech you need pioneers and from agriculture to solar to security, they’ve built real traction with major industry players, turning scientific innovation into commercial success. Yet it’s what they will do in the future that interests me more than their achievements in their first eleven years operation.
Like so many Quantum tech startups, they are still in their infancy of what will become possible. In a nutshell the nanocrystals, whose properties change based on their size, have opened new possibilities in light optimization, with applications ranging from solar, display, security, medicine, agriculture, design, and more.
Light optimization
Solar, display
Security
Medicine
Agriculture
Design
Advanced Materials
In 2023, the company expanded a partnership with First Solar to explore the potential to incorporate fluorescent quantum dot technology in advanced solar modules.
A key milestone in UbiQD's growth roadmap includes plans to build the globe's largest and most efficient QD supply chain. In the competition with China, do you suppose the U.S. needs such a capability and capacity? What national defense applications could nano Q-dot tech hold?
This Series B makes all of this possible and could become an important part of America’s Quantum tech stack as it evolves. Spun off from LANL back in 2015, UbiQD has since won a series of grants and innovation prizes for its work to develop quantum dots. Now in 2025, eleven years later, it’s finally become legit.