How Phaseshift is Transforming Light to Scale the Quantum Future
Enter Phaseshift, our latest investment, with a breakthrough approach to quantum optics that replaces room-sized optical tables with ultra-thin metasurfaces.
Quantum science already quietly powers many technologies we rely on daily.
From the MRI machines in hospitals, to the GPS navigation in our phones, the secure encryption protecting our online banking, and even the LED display in the device you are currently reading this on. The issue is that the next generation of quantum applications, and the breakthrough technologies they could enable, remain trapped in specialized facilities due to a fundamental challenge, the optical scaling problem.
There’s a massive size mismatch; quantum operations happen at microscopic scales, but the optical systems controlling them fill entire rooms.
Enter Phaseshift, our latest investment, with a breakthrough approach to quantum optics that replaces these room-sized optical tables with ultra-thin metasurfaces. Phaseshift’s technology has the potential to free quantum applications from the constraints of specialized facilities and, as a result, accelerate their real-world implementation.
The Optical Challenge
Traditional quantum systems depend on bulky optical components, mirrors, lenses, beam splitters, all arranged in these complex configurations that require micrometer-precision alignment. These setups are incredibly expensive, fragile, and resistant to miniaturization, creating what engineers call a “scaling wall” for quantum technologies.
The complexity of these optical systems only continues to grow with the sophistication of the quantum technology they support. For instance, a typical quantum optical table might contain hundreds of precisely positioned components, each requiring constant calibration and environmental isolation. If the temperature changes, even less than a degree, it can misalign the entire system, requiring hours or days of painstaking readjustment.
This optical bottleneck has become the silent barrier to quantum commercialization. While headlines focus on quantum coherence times and error rates, it’s often the sheer physical bulk and fragility of optical control systems that prevent quantum technologies from leaving specialized laboratories.
Several companies in the space have developed metasurfaces, the ultra-thin optical elements that manipulate light using nanoscale structures, but they’ve primarily focused on near-infrared applications for AR/VR and sensing. Quantum systems, however, require capabilities across the visible and ultraviolet spectrum where existing approaches are falling short. The silicon-based metasurfaces that work well for consumer electronics simply don’t function in the wavelength ranges critical for many quantum applications.
The Phaseshift Breakthrough
Phaseshift’s proprietary design and fabrication process enables metasurfaces made from a range of high-index materials, not just silicon, which is opaque at visible and ultraviolet frequencies. This materials-agnostic approach allows them to create ultra-thin optical elements that work across the entire spectrum from ultraviolet to infrared.
The technical innovation lies in Phaseshift’s unique combination of fabrication techniques. They’ve created a process that can precisely pattern nanoscale structures from virtually any optical material. This versatility is critical for quantum applications, where different wavelengths require different material properties for optimal performance.
Their solution is only further enhanced by their unique AI/ML-driven design process. Traditional optical design relies on iterative simulation and testing, but Phaseshift’s algorithms can rapidly optimize metasurface patterns for specific optical functions, delivering twice the performance of conventional designs. This means not just smaller components, but better ones, with higher efficiency, lower loss, and greater functionality.
The company’s turnkey process design kit provides quantum developers with a comprehensive solution from design to fabrication and testing. Rather than requiring customers to become experts in nanofabrication, Phaseshift offers an end-to-end service that translates optical requirements into finished metasurface components.
Replacing bulky optical tables with ultra-thin, chip-like components that achieve the same functions in a fraction of the space.
Thinner than a human hair, a single Phaseshift metasurface can replace multiple traditional optical elements while providing greater stability and precision.
The Technical Visionaries Behind Phaseshift
At Unshackled Ventures, we back technical visionaries who tackle hard technical problems that hold back entire industries. The kind of fundamental problems that require both deep expertise and a bold, fresh perspective to solve. The Phaseshift team exemplifies this thesis perfectly.
Dr. Rezlind Bushati, an Albanian immigrant with a PhD in Physics, brings 8+ years of specialized experience in metasurfaces for quantum applications. As a former Senior Advanced Scientist at Quantinuum, he experienced the optical scaling challenges firsthand.
Dr. Amit Agrawal, an Indian immigrant with a PhD and MS in Electrical Engineering, contributes 18+ years of metasurface R&D expertise. As a former researcher at NIST and a Professor at the University of Cambridge, he brings deep technical knowledge in metasurface design and development along with valuable academic and industry connections.
There is something powerful about immigrant founders who see problems that others have learned to accept as ‘just how things are.’ Rez and Amit looked at room-sized quantum setups and had the insight to uniquely challenge what everyone else had accepted. Sometimes the most transformative solutions come from those willing to question the fundamentals. Excited to be on this journey with the Phaseshift team!
Unshackled Ventures - Immigrant Start Here.
About Unshackled Ventures: Unshackled Ventures is the only early-stage venture capital fund that enables unrecognized and excluded immigrant founders to start companies in the U.S. Since its founding in 2014, Unshackled has proven its thesis that investing and supporting this population drives strong investment returns across key industries, including American infrastructure, generative AI, healthcare, space, and enterprise SaaS. To date, the firm has invested in over 100 companies and over 250 entrepreneurs.
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