Q-CTRL Names Marketing and Finance Leaders to Scale Business and Expand Customer Base

SYDNEY, Nov 8, 2022 – Q-CTRL, a global leader in developing useful quantum technologies through quantum control infrastructure software, today announced the additions of Kelly Gurr as Head of Marketing and Donna Hacker as Head of Finance. Their hires bring Q-CTRL’s leadership team to five new members in 2022.

‍

The two leaders will work alongside fellow leadership team members to accomplish the company’s goal of making quantum technology useful. Both women joined the industry based on the promise of quantum technology to accelerate innovation and revolutionize business. Q-CTRL’s focus on quantum control uniquely positions the company to power the future of computing and sensing. Their combined experience from working with traditional companies as well as startups will bring valuable expertise to the Q-CTRL executive team and support the twin goals of growing the business and its customer base.

Gurr will lead Q-CTRL’s marketing efforts across Australia, the U.S. and Europe and work closely across all multidisciplinary global functions - from product, research, operations and more - to make quantum technology accessible to broader audiences. Hacker will lead, manage and build all facets of Q-CTRL’s accounting and financial endeavors to enable the long-term health and financial stability of the company and achieve strong financial performance.

Based in Melbourne, Gurr has spent most of her career working in tech startups developing solutions for B2B customers and translating product benefits into relatable stories. Gurr will leverage her global experience delivering marketing strategies for product-led businesses to grow Q-CTRL’s customer base and create new revenue streams to support the company’s goals.

Her accomplishments include repositioning a flagship ANZ accounting software product to a cloud SaaS model, greatly increasing subscriptions and utilization; building a high performance marketing team to deliver growth for a scaling print management software business; and launching a construction management software business into new markets to create additional revenue streams in North America and ANZ.

“I am passionate about businesses doing something new in their field, pushing the boundaries, and creating solutions that provide significant value, so I was intrigued by Q-CTRL’s approach to making quantum technology more accessible to customers who are solving real-world challenges,” said Gurr. “I am thrilled to join a team of world-leading physicists, engineers and product and design specialists to raise awareness of quantum use cases and get Q-CTRL’s technology into the hands of customers that will eventually revolutionize their industries.”

Based in California, Hacker has managed financial operations for organizations across many different industries, building systems and teams and putting best practices and policies in place to support business goals.

Over the course of her career, Hacker has helped companies in operational, investment and managerial capacities. She has obtained operational efficiencies via upscaling, downsizing, reorgs and mergers as well as guided colleagues in scaling staffing and expenses to ensure strong year-over-year top-line growth while managing profitability. She also has managed investment activities that led to several key acquisitions and mergers.

Hacker will help Q-CTRL leaders keep their fingers on the pulse of the business, enabling them to drive the team and technology forward.

“Quantum technology’s potential to accelerate innovation and revolutionize how we do everything, from science to financial markets to logistics and more, inspired me to take on the new role,” said Hacker. “I am excited about the opportunity to lend my experience to Q-CTRL’s high-caliber team and be part of an emerging industry.”

Gurr has 20 years of experience in marketing, and Hacker has 31 years of experience in finance.

“We're always seeking the best talent and as we grow our business we're keen to add complementary skills that support our growth. Kelly's global consumer knowledge is critical to our ambitions to make quantum technology useful to the widest range of users, and Donna will be instrumental in delivering the most value to our investors," said Q-CTRL founder and CEO Professor Michael J. Biercuk. “I am thrilled we've been able to attract such exceptional talent to our leadership team and I'm excited for what we can build together.”

Currently, hardware limitations are preventing the quantum industry from achieving the full potential of the technology. Q-CTRL is uniquely focused on delivering hardware-agnostic, error-correcting infrastructure software that makes quantum technology useful for organizations around the world.

About Q-CTRL

Q-CTRL is building the quantum technology industry by overcoming the fundamental challenge in the field – hardware error and instability. Q-CTRL’s quantum control infrastructure software for R&D professionals and quantum computing end users delivers the highest performance error-correcting and suppressing techniques globally, and provides a unique capability accelerating the pathway to the first useful quantum computers. This foundational technology also applies to a new generation of quantum sensors, and enables Q-CTRL to shape and underpin every application of quantum technology. In an effort to bring this transformational capability to as many users as possible, Q-CTRL has built the world’s leading edtech platform for quantum computing, Black Opal, which can help anyone go from zero to programming real quantum computers in minutes a day.

Q-CTRL has assembled the world’s foremost team of expert quantum-control engineers, providing solutions to many of the most advanced quantum computing and sensing teams globally. Q-CTRL has been an inaugural member of the IBM Quantum Startup network since 2018, and recently announced a partnership with Transport for NSW, delivering its enterprise infrastructure software to transport data scientists exploring quantum computing. Q-CTRL is funded by SquarePeg Capital, Sierra Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Data Collective, Horizons Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Airbus Ventures, and Ridgeline Partners. The company has international headquarters in Sydney, Los Angeles, and Berlin.