How a European quantum-computing startup plans to take on IBM and Google

The company collected more than $ 300 million in a financing round managed by a US investment company last week. HE B Series capital upgrade It may be an early sign that investors realize how the continent emerged. creativity For quantum in recent years. Specially traded pure games emerge.

“If you look at the technology, we can create products that can compete even with big names in the United States,” IQM’s interview with IQM joint CEO Jan Goetz Barron’s. He said. “There is this feeling that we have a chance in the end, and I think there is a lot of optimism here.”

In 2016, after a doctoral degree in physics, Goetz retreated to the quantum calculation from a research environment to the real world.

“Quantum university laboratories were moving to the sector.” Goetz, Goetz. He said. “Here, in Europe, we are still a little behind from the perspective of commercialization, not from the perspective of technology.”

IQM was founded in 2018. The following year was the first to be in Finland with € 11.4 million ($ 13.4 million) in Finland.

In the following years, he founded himself as one of the leading quantum players in Europe with customers, including Leibniz Supercomputing Center in Germany and VTT Technical Research Center in Finland.

IQM processors have been built from cooled electronic circuits to achieve superconducting, which is a condition in which they can perform electricity with zero electrical resistance. “Super conductive approach is based on chip technology, Goetz said. “In fact, we use very standard semiconductor transactions to create our chips. And that just says it is a very scalable approach.”

Tried and True Nature super conductive quantum Information process makes it a popular method. Many larger players such as Microsoft, International Construction Machinery and Alphabet Google use the same approach with small variations.

IQM aims to separate itself from these giants by building better machines. In 2024, the company reported a technical milestone when one of the quantum processors achieved 99.9% loyalty. High loyalty is essential for the performance of quantum algorithms; It is negatively related to errors, which is a permanent problem in the enterprise.

The company is also taking steps commercially. As of May 20, IQM has sold and sent more quantum computers in the last 12 months than all other manufacturers. Goetz said that the company can produce 20 computers a year and that it is “really too much in this sector”.

Left: Juha Lehtola, Director of Investigation and Growth Investments in TESİ; Alex Doll, founding partner and general partner of the eleven attempts; Sierk Poetting, IQM President; Mikko Välimäki, IQM Co-Joo; And Jan Goetz, IQM Common CEO.

CEO is waiting to see a change towards cloud computing or quantum in the coming years. However, the sales of systems are the bread and butter of IQM containing most of its income. Start-up sells most of its computers to customers such as the National Laboratory of OAK Ridge in the USA

“We integrate our quantum computers into existing CPUs or GPU piles and also into the software heap, GO said Goetz. “This allows us to improve the product to a level that can be adopted by the industry.”

He saw companies like D-Wave Quantum Topakli income, With the large cash pieces that come to irregular times as a result of system sales rarely. But Goetz argued that selling hardware is working as a way of making money.

“Customers are renewing their hardware every three years, so if you are happy, you are in a very good position to sell them again.” He said. “Now we have clearly reached a level where we are one of the market leaders, and people have a lot of confidence that we continue to deliver, which gives us a lot of strength.”

As the race warms, IQM will have to fight with ambitious competitors in Europe. In July, the European Commission revealed a strategy to position Europe as a global leader in quantum until 2030.

IQM receives a similar support from European investors. Although a US -based firm participated in the latest financing tour, it caused headlines, the participation in the tour came to a large extent from European investors.

And things just start. “There’s a feeling of Renaissance that we can finally do something, Goetz said to Barron. “Growing the business on a global scale is the next step for the company.”