Bifrost Electronics Appoints Doug Campbell as CEO

Insider BriefPRESS RELEASE — Bifrost Electronics, a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced electronic hardware for quantum computers, today announced that successful deep-tech entrepreneur Doug Campbell has joined the company as its Chief Executive Officer. Campbell brings more than two decades of start-up leadership in commercial electronics, aerospace systems, and hardware manufacturing as well as a proven track record of scaling high-growth technology companies, optimizing manufacturing logistics, and fostering sustainable engineering solutions. One of his more notable entrepreneurial success stories was leading Colorado-based battery technology company Solid Power from startup to IPO.Bifrost is solving readout-scaling problems for superconducting and spin-based quantum hardware with a new class of amplifiers that eliminates Josephson junctions. Amplifiers that rely on Josephson junctions require shielding, extra cryogenic lines and control electronics and are manufactured with specialized processes with nanometer tolerances.

The Heimdall Amplifier is more robust, easier to scale, and requires less control hardware.“The Bifrost team has built something the quantum industry genuinely needs, and I’m glad to be joining at this inflection point. I’ve spent my career taking deep-tech start-ups out of university labs and into production at scale,” said Campbell. “The mission now is building the operational and commercial discipline to get the Heimdall Amplifier into customers’ hands.”The company’s Heimdall Amplifier is key to expanding the production of quantum hardware from low-volume research systems to scaled commercial deployments. The system provides qubit readout amplification without the operational fragility and magnetic sensitivity that have made amplification difficult to deploy at scale. The amplifier is intended to run without shielding, pack densely inside a cryostat, and be produced with the standard processes used to manufacture semiconductors. “Doug gives us the executive bandwidth leadership to allow us to focus on what we do best – pushing the technology forward – while he builds the commercial engine around it,” said Connor Denney, Bifrost co-founder and Head of Research and Development. “We’re on track to complete rigorous testing over the coming months, and having a proven operator in place as we prepare for rollout gives the whole team confidence in the road ahead.”The company, which is a spin-out from the Colorado School of Mines, has raised $5.5 million to date led by Caruso Ventures with participation from Range Ventures and others, and is headquartered on the Elevate Quantum campus in Arvada, Colorado.“Doug’s leadership role at Bifrost is another signal that quantum tech is moving into large-scale production,” said Dan Caruso, Managing Director of Caruso Ventures and a member of Bifrost’s board of directors. “Doug is the right person to guide the company and map a successful path to commercialization with customers in the quantum sector as well as national labs and defense in the long term.”In 2011, Campbell co-founded Solid Power as a spin-out of the University of Colorado Boulder to commercialize all-solid-state battery technology. Under his leadership, Solid Power grew into the largest climate-tech venture to come out of CU Boulder and one of nine companies with CU Boulder roots to reach unicorn status, forming development partnerships with BMW, Ford and SK On before going public in 2021. Campbell also co-founded Roccor, a supplier of deployable structures for small satellites. The company was acquired by Redwire Space in 2020. Today, quantum-limited cryogenic amplifiers range from $25,000 to $45,000 each at research-grade volumes.

The Heimdall Amplifier’s CMOS-compatible fabrication pathway and architectural simplicity will lower that cost significantly and allow for manufacturing at higher volumes. “Colorado’s quantum ecosystem is driving the entire industry forward and Bifrost Electronics is a vital part of that progress for regional and global companies,” said Jessi Olsen CEO of Elevate Quantum. “Doug’s leadership will be instrumental in bridging advanced materials and quantum capabilities to meet the rapidly growing demands of next-generation infrastructure.”Bifrost plans to roll out the Heimdall Amplifier later this year. In Norse mythology, the Bifrost is a magical bridge that connects the mortal realm to Asgard, home of the gods. Bifrost Electronics’ technology also serves as a bridge, taking signals from the quantum world into the human world of classical mechanics. Heimdall is the god who guards the Bifrost and the entrance to Asgard.TopicsShare Get the latest research, company news, and market intelligence every week. MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLEBifrost Electronics develops quantum hardware, with a focus on quantum-limited amplifiers. It produces quantum-limited readout components in the U.S. and manufactures scalable, magnetically insensitive electro-optic quantum amplifiers. The company collaborates with Form Factor, Rigetti Computing, and Maybell Quantum Industries on hardware for quantum computing systems.More in Research