.jpg)
On November 4, 2002, MagiQ Technologies publicly unveiled itself and its vision for quantum information processing through an exclusive with the New York Times and an associated press release with supporting outreach once the NYT exclusive hit.
In addition to announcing its vision, the company also announced that it has closed more than $6.9 million in seed funding to date from angel investors including Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, experienced Wall Street trader and MagiQ founder Robert Gelfond, Goldman Capital Management President Neal Goldman, Guaranteed Overnight Delivery Chairman Walter Riley, and other top executives from both the high-technology and Wall Street communities.
The funding will be used to help launch the company’s first commercial product in the second half of 2003, which will be a quantum cryptography solution, and to identify and acquire intellectual property in the field of quantum information processing (QIP).
The communications opportunity for the company with this launch was to share its vision for QIP; to become the industry resource on topics associated with QIP; lead the industry agenda for quantum cryptography, a technology not previously covered by the media; and to drive interest in its first product, a quantum key distribution system called ‘Navajo.’
The goals and objectives for the launch encompassed: generate broad awareness for MagiQ and quantum information processing; establish MagiQ as a resource for quantum information processing topics; drive awareness and beta interest for MagiQ’s first product; heighten investor interest.
Led by the November 4, 2002 New York Times article, “A New Cryptography Uses The Quirks of Photon Streams” By John Markoff , the unveiling of MagiQ Technologies garnered extensive coverage across business, IT, telecommunications, optics, science and engineering publications.
Media highlights included:
· C|Net News.com, November 15, 2002, “Noisy light” is new key to encryption, by Sandeep Junnarkar
· Bloomberg / PBI (from Communications Today), November 12, 2002, Magiq Technologies Uses Fiber For Encryption
· EE Times, November 12, 2002, Hackers Beware: Quantum Encryption is Coming, by R. Colin Johnson
· eWeek, November 11, 2002, MagiQ Device Can Encode Keys, by Dennis Fisher
· InformationWeek, November 7, 2002, Quantum Technology Isn’t Just Sci-Fi Anymore by R. Colin Johnson (also featured in Gilder Friday Letter, November 8, 2002)
· Information Security Magazine, Security Wire Digest, November 7, 2003, Quantum Crypto’s Practicality Debated
· PC Advisor UK, November 6, 2002, Quantum Crypto: That’s MagiQ, by Wendy Brewer
· The Daily Deal, Nov. 5, 2002, Bezos Backs Encryption Startup, by Tyson Freeman
· VentureWire, Nov. 5, 2002, MagiQ Technologies Launches with $6.9 Million Seed, by Lizbeth Scordo
· Wall Street Journal, Nov. 5, 2002, MagiQ Conjures $6.9 Million, by David Flores
· New York Times, Nov. 4, 2002, A New Cryptography Uses The Quirks of Photon Streams By John Markoff (also featured in Gilder Friday Letter, November 8, 2002)
· eWeek, Nov. 4, 2002, Unbreakable Crypto: Who Needs It? by Dennis Fisher
Additional articles appeared in various news outlets and short-lead publications, and many more are expected in longer-lead publications throughout the next few months.
The resulting New York Times article and follow-on media coverage of MagiQ Technologies helped the company meet its communications programs’ goals.
The Web site statistics show that MagiQ was averaging nearly 1,000 hits/day prior to the launch and New York Times feature. On Nov. 4, the traffic spiked sharply to nearly 25,000 hits, jumped even higher on Nov. 5 to 35,000 hits and has since seen a constant flow of visitors.
Prior to the launch, MagiQ had begun meeting with candidates to serve as betas for the launch. After the launch, the beta program turned from solely a proactive outward to overwhelming incoming proactive beta interest and resulted in the company having the ability to strategically evaluate its beta participants for fit and long-term relationship.
To date, MagiQ has been angel-invested, and the company wanted to increase its awareness in case it wanted to seek additional funding in the future. Since the launch, MagiQ has received a flood of institutional investor interest, which is crucial should the company decide to pursue a Series B round of financing.
Quantum cryptography, and quantum information processing, has entered the national high-tech conversation. MagiQ’s unveiling of its vision and quantum cryptography solution sparked a number of other academic and commercial research groups to announce their efforts in the quantum cryptography space (such as Northwestern University, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., others). The launch also generated numerous industry discussions and articles slated for 2003.
In addition, Peter Shor, who in 1994 discovered a quantum algorithm that could factor numbers (and therefore break current encryption standards), began using the New York Times article during his public speeches, including at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in November of 2002.
In addition to announcing its vision, the company also announced that it has closed more than $6.9 million in seed funding to date from angel investors including Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, experienced Wall Street trader and MagiQ founder Robert Gelfond, Goldman Capital Management President Neal Goldman, Guaranteed Overnight Delivery Chairman Walter Riley, and other top executives from both the high-technology and Wall Street communities.
The funding will be used to help launch the company’s first commercial product in the second half of 2003, which will be a quantum cryptography solution, and to identify and acquire intellectual property in the field of quantum information processing (QIP).
The communications opportunity for the company with this launch was to share its vision for QIP; to become the industry resource on topics associated with QIP; lead the industry agenda for quantum cryptography, a technology not previously covered by the media; and to drive interest in its first product, a quantum key distribution system called ‘Navajo.’
The goals and objectives for the launch encompassed: generate broad awareness for MagiQ and quantum information processing; establish MagiQ as a resource for quantum information processing topics; drive awareness and beta interest for MagiQ’s first product; heighten investor interest.
Led by the November 4, 2002 New York Times article, “A New Cryptography Uses The Quirks of Photon Streams” By John Markoff , the unveiling of MagiQ Technologies garnered extensive coverage across business, IT, telecommunications, optics, science and engineering publications.
Media highlights included:
· C|Net News.com, November 15, 2002, “Noisy light” is new key to encryption, by Sandeep Junnarkar
· Bloomberg / PBI (from Communications Today), November 12, 2002, Magiq Technologies Uses Fiber For Encryption
· EE Times, November 12, 2002, Hackers Beware: Quantum Encryption is Coming, by R. Colin Johnson
· eWeek, November 11, 2002, MagiQ Device Can Encode Keys, by Dennis Fisher
· InformationWeek, November 7, 2002, Quantum Technology Isn’t Just Sci-Fi Anymore by R. Colin Johnson (also featured in Gilder Friday Letter, November 8, 2002)
· Information Security Magazine, Security Wire Digest, November 7, 2003, Quantum Crypto’s Practicality Debated
· PC Advisor UK, November 6, 2002, Quantum Crypto: That’s MagiQ, by Wendy Brewer
· The Daily Deal, Nov. 5, 2002, Bezos Backs Encryption Startup, by Tyson Freeman
· VentureWire, Nov. 5, 2002, MagiQ Technologies Launches with $6.9 Million Seed, by Lizbeth Scordo
· Wall Street Journal, Nov. 5, 2002, MagiQ Conjures $6.9 Million, by David Flores
· New York Times, Nov. 4, 2002, A New Cryptography Uses The Quirks of Photon Streams By John Markoff (also featured in Gilder Friday Letter, November 8, 2002)
· eWeek, Nov. 4, 2002, Unbreakable Crypto: Who Needs It? by Dennis Fisher
Additional articles appeared in various news outlets and short-lead publications, and many more are expected in longer-lead publications throughout the next few months.
The resulting New York Times article and follow-on media coverage of MagiQ Technologies helped the company meet its communications programs’ goals.
The Web site statistics show that MagiQ was averaging nearly 1,000 hits/day prior to the launch and New York Times feature. On Nov. 4, the traffic spiked sharply to nearly 25,000 hits, jumped even higher on Nov. 5 to 35,000 hits and has since seen a constant flow of visitors.
Prior to the launch, MagiQ had begun meeting with candidates to serve as betas for the launch. After the launch, the beta program turned from solely a proactive outward to overwhelming incoming proactive beta interest and resulted in the company having the ability to strategically evaluate its beta participants for fit and long-term relationship.
To date, MagiQ has been angel-invested, and the company wanted to increase its awareness in case it wanted to seek additional funding in the future. Since the launch, MagiQ has received a flood of institutional investor interest, which is crucial should the company decide to pursue a Series B round of financing.
Quantum cryptography, and quantum information processing, has entered the national high-tech conversation. MagiQ’s unveiling of its vision and quantum cryptography solution sparked a number of other academic and commercial research groups to announce their efforts in the quantum cryptography space (such as Northwestern University, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., others). The launch also generated numerous industry discussions and articles slated for 2003.
In addition, Peter Shor, who in 1994 discovered a quantum algorithm that could factor numbers (and therefore break current encryption standards), began using the New York Times article during his public speeches, including at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in November of 2002.
Article tags
Technology
