Prof. Ofer Firstenberg is Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Q-Factor, a Tel Aviv-based neutral atom quantum computing company on a mission to scale quantum systems to over one million qubits. He leads the Light-vs-Matter lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where his research spans quantum optics, Rydberg atoms, and light-matter interaction.

Firstenberg completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard University and MIT, pursuing photon-photon interactions in ultracold-atom systems, before joining the Weizmann Institute in 2014 as a principal investigator. He is also a graduate of Israel's elite Talpiot program, a distinction shared by all four Q-Factor founders.

Firstenberg believes the quantum computing industry requires a fundamental architectural revolution rather than incremental improvements to existing designs. His research has produced a novel neutral atom architecture engineered for continuous scalability from day one.

At Q-Factor, Firstenberg co-leads the scientific direction alongside fellow physicists from the Weizmann Institute and the Technion, translating decades of foundational atomic physics research into a commercially viable quantum platform. His lab has published extensively on Rydberg physics, quantum nonlinear optics, and advanced laser techniques underpinning Q-Factor's core technology.

Q-Factor raised $24 million in seed funding backed by NFX, TPY Capital, Intel Capital, and the Israel Innovation Authority, emerging from stealth just months after founding. The company's architecture targets a Moore's Law-like trajectory for neutral atom systems, aiming to break the few-thousand-qubit barrier and reach one million qubits and beyond.