Quobly raises €19 million in seed funding to speed up the development of a quantum computer leveraging proven semiconductor-industry technologies
Quobly, which recently changed its name from Siquance, today announced that it completed its first funding round of €19 million. The startup is developing a fault-tolerant quantum processor to power a universal quantum computer.
Quantonation, Bpifrance (via the Deep Tech 2030 fund managed on behalf of the French government as part of the France 2030 program), Supernova Invest, and Innovacom led the round. Crédit Agricole Alpes Développement, CEA Investissement, Caisse d’Epargne Rhone Alpes, and BNP Paribas also participated.
The influx of capital will double Quobly’s R&D capabilities and allow the company to deploy the remote access solutions needed to develop software.
Quantum computing will bring a dramatic increase in computational performance, enabling solutions for healthcare, engineering, energy, chemicals, mobility, finance, and other strategic and/or tech-intensive industries. This disruptive technology will help Europe close the technology gap with the United States and Asia and level the playing field.
Quobly, founded in Grenoble, France in 2022, is developing a fault-tolerant quantum processor. Quobly’s breakthrough innovation leverages the same proven technologies used to produce classical processors to fabricate qubits, or quantum bits, the basic unit of information in quantum computing. This represents a huge step forward from early quantum prototypes. Fault-tolerant quantum computing requires millions of qubits. Quobly has mapped out a viable path toward manufacturing them in Europe’s existing semiconductor plants.
A 20-year career developing silicon technologies for computing prepared Maud Vinet (CEO) to found Quobly with international quantum engineering expert Tristan Meunier (CTO) and François Perruchot (CSO), who brings more than a decade of experience driving marketing strategy in advanced technology. All three founders have earned international recognition for pioneering advances in silicon quantum computing over fifteen years of strategic research at CEA and CNRS, both of which hold founding stakes in the venture and continue to provide it with substantial support.
Quobly can now invest in R&D services provided by outside labs and set up the manufacturing partnerships it will need to step up the pace of its R&D in in the global race to produce high-quality qubits at scale. This will also mean an uptick in hiring: Quobly is currently seeking leading international experts in silicon semiconductor technology and quantum engineering. The company’s headcount should reach 50 by end-2024. The CEA and CNRS will continue to work with Quobly, providing access not only to R&D capabilities and intellectual property through partnerships and licenses, but also to robust ecosystems spanning the entire quantum value chain, from basic science to manufacturing.
This is the largest seed fundraising round of any European quantum startup to date in terms of the amount of private equity invested.
“The funds will help speed up our R&D. We can now start building partnerships with semiconductor fabs and other manufacturers on the value chain and build demonstrator systems that will position us in the technological lead. We are thrilled to have the backing of seasoned quantum, semiconductor, and deeptech investors like Quantonation, Bpifrance, Supernova Invest, and Innovacom, said Quobly cofounder and CEO Maud Vinet.
Olivier Tonneau, Partner, Quantonation, said, “Quobly’s founders bring exceptional track records in scientific research and technology development. But they are also deeply embedded in the semiconductor ecosystem. They already have relationships that will be vital to Quobly’s technology reaching its full potential. We believe in the scalability of Quobly’s silicon spin qubit platform and are convinced that the company’s future quantum processors will achieve levels of performance that are simply not within the reach of classical processors. We at Quantonation are proud to support Quobly through our Quantonation 1 fund.”
“This is the inaugural investment of the French government’s new Deep Tech 2030 fund managed by Bpifrance. And it is one that aligns especially well with Bpifrance’s strategy of investing in France’s most ambitious deep tech startups. This particularly well-rounded team of founders and their proven track records in both quantum physics and semiconductors won us over. We are pleased to be a part of this funding round and can’t wait to see how far Quobly will advance its technology in the next few months,” said Gwenaël Hamon, Senior VP Investments, Bpifrance.
“By leveraging proven semiconductor-industry processes, Quobly has chosen both a realistic and an exciting path to manufacturing an operable high-performance quantum computer. The company will capitalize on many years of research at the CEA and CNRS to spark a major industrial and technological revolution. Supernova Invest is proud to support Quobly’s pioneering founders through our new Supernova Innovation 3 fund. We believe that this Grenoble-based startup has a bright future ahead of it on the global quantum computing market,” said Damien Bretegnier, VP Investments, Supernova Invest.
We are proud to put our Technocom3 seed fund behind such an ambitious scientific, technological, and entrepreneurial venture. Innovacom is all about supporting pioneers, and we feel strongly that Quobly has the kind of innovation it will take to make quantum technology manufacturable,” said Frédéric Humbert, Partner, Innovacom.