Hypres

In 1983, a group of former IBM researchers, who had worked on the company's Josephson computer program, decided to start their own venture. This was the genesis of Hypres, a company founded to commercialize superconducting microelectronics. The founders aimed to solve materials-related issues that had previously hindered progress in the field by using a reliable niobium-based process for their integrated circuits. The company's core business revolves around designing and fabricating these specialized superconducting circuits. This technology offers significant performance advantages for both government and commercial applications, including medical imaging, quantum computing, and high-performance RF systems. For years, Hypres operated as one of the only commercial superconductor foundries in the world, providing design, fabrication, and testing services. A notable event in the company's journey was the spinoff of a company called +n (PlusN, LLC). This new entity was created to focus on capacity management solutions for data communications, a technology that originated within Hypres but was not dependent on its core superconductor technology. The spinoff allowed Hypres to continue its focus on superconductor applications while letting the new software-based venture pursue its own market. The company has been sustained over its long history primarily through government grants and R&D contracts from entities like the Department of Defense, NASA, and the National Science Foundation, rather than traditional venture capital rounds.