European quantum computing leader IQM raises €128m led by World Fund to help combat the climate crisis

IQM Quantum Computers (IQM), the European leader in building superconducting quantum computers, is announcing it has raised €128 million ($128m) in Series A2 funding led by World Fund to expand its international business and accelerate product development to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.

The funding, which follows a €39m ($39m) Series A1 announcement in 2020 and includes part of a €35m ($35m) venture loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced earlier this year, makes it the largest ever funding round raised by a European quantum computing company.

The round included participation from Bayern Kapital, EIC Fund, OurCrowd, QCI SPV, Tofino and Varma, as well as existing investors Maki.vc, Matadero QED, MIG Fonds, OpenOcean, Salvia GmbH, Santo Venture Capital GmbH, Tencent, Tesi, and Vsquared.

With this new investment, IQM is also dedicating resources to co-designing quantum computer processors to provide solutions to tackle the climate crisis and promote sustainable development to improve lives around the world. Due to the leap in computing power that IQM’s quantum computers would provide, its technology could enable innovation in areas such as energy grid optimisation and climate modelling, the statement said.

Dr. Sierk Poetting, Chairman of IQM Quantum Computers, said: “This financing round is a significant milestone that recognizes our recent technological milestones and contributes to the acceleration of IQM’s development efforts. We value the continued participation of our existing investors and welcome new investors to this powerful syndicate.”

Dr. Jan Goetz, CEO and Co-founder of IQM Quantum Computers, said: “This funding underscores the importance of our mission: building quantum computers for the well-being of humankind. It also demonstrates the confidence in our business model and the continued trust in our team’s ability to build the future of quantum technologies. I am confident that we will continue to achieve all our product and business milestones and deliver world-class quantum computers to our customers.”

Daria Saharova, Founding Partner at World Fund, said: “Quantum computing holds the potential to drive the breakthroughs needed to help solve the climate crisis. We are proud to lead this round and support IQM’s ambition to deliver quantum advantage to climate and sustainability goals. This investment aligns with our commitment to back only companies with the highest climate performance potential (CPP) so that our portfolio can save two gigatonnes of emissions yearly by 2040 – the equivalent to four percent of all global emissions. It gives us immense pleasure to support the amazing IQM team and its founders, who have meticulously and consistently built IQM with a strong on-premises business model focused on high-performance computing centres and national quantum labs. We look forward to being a part of their growth phase towards global leadership.”

+ posts

HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.

What's your take on this post ? Comment: