Quantum computing, long relegated to the realm of the theoretical, feels like it is back on the agenda as a potentially viable alternative to the

Startup investors including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and SoftBank Group Corp. are betting that quantum computing, often thought of as a fantastical science experiment, is getting closer to having sweeping real-world applications.

QuEra Computing, a Boston-based quantum computing company, has raised $230 million in a round led by Google (GOOGL) and SoftBank (SFTBF) ’s Vision Fund 2 to develop “fault-tolerant” quantum computers, designed to overcome the computational errors that have long hindered real-world quantum applications.