A Silicon Valley-based quantum computing company, D-Wave Quantum, will relocate its headquarters to Boca Raton by the end of the year. The move includes opening a research and development facility at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC), where D-Wave has leased approximately 25,000 square feet.
D-Wave Quantum, founded in 1999 and publicly listed since 2022, provides dual-platform quantum computing solutions. The company is led by CEO Alan Baratz.
The relocation comes alongside a $20 million agreement between D-Wave and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Under this deal, FAU will purchase an Advantage2 annealing quantum computer from D-Wave for installation at its Boca Raton campus. Following the announcement of this partnership on Tuesday, shares of D-Wave rose by 1.6 percent, according to Investor’s Business Daily.
In addition to the FAU collaboration, D-Wave announced it will work with Davidson Technologies and Anduril Industries to develop quantum applications for U.S. air and missile defense systems.
The BRiC property is owned by CP Group, based in Boca Raton, and New York-based DRA Advisors. The campus spans 1.7 million square feet at 5000 T-Rex Avenue and was originally developed in the 1960s as an IBM research site. In 2021, DRA Advisors paid $320.2 million for a stake in BRiC. CP Group is led by Angelo Bianco and Chris Eachus; David Luski leads DRA Advisors. A recent $100 million capital improvement project was completed at the campus.
D-Wave’s move contributes to ongoing efforts to position South Florida—and specifically Palm Beach County—as a growing technology hub that attracts real estate investment from tech firms. This trend began during the pandemic when some Silicon Valley companies moved operations to South Florida regions such as Miami’s Wynwood district but later saw some return west due to Silicon Valley’s established status in artificial intelligence.
Recently, there has been renewed interest in developing Palm Beach County—particularly West Palm Beach—as a tech center. Billionaire Steve Ross and executives at Related Ross are leading this effort through initiatives like Related Ross’ new downtown office tower at 10 City Place where ServiceNow pre-leased nearly 212,000 square feet last year—a record for South Florida office leasing—and Vanderbilt University’s upcoming $520 million graduate campus focused on business and technology programs. Steve Ross committed $50 million toward bringing Vanderbilt University to West Palm Beach.
