New Quantum Startups

55 North

Copenhagen, Denmark Investor

In October 2024, 55 North announced the first close of its €300 million inaugural fund, having raised €134 million with backing from anchor investors Novo Holdings and EIFO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark). Positioned as the world's largest dedicated quantum technology fund, 55 North targets investments across quantum computing, sensing, and communications. The team is led by Managing Partner Dr. Owen Lozman (ex M Ventures), General Partners Dr. Helmut Katzgraber (ex Amazon, ex Microsoft), and Dr. Kai Hudek (ex IonQ), supported by European VC Vsquared Ventures and US-based Cambium Capital. The firm takes a stage-agnostic approach backing enabling technologies and full-stack solutions, with 75% supporting European companies (including 25% targeting Nordic firms) and 25% pursuing select worldwide opportunities. Initial investments include IQM's €275 million Series B and co-leading Kiutra's €13 million Series A-2, advancing Denmark's National Strategy for Quantum Technology established in 2023. 2025 Developments: Active investment activities in quantum technology companies continue in 2025. Portfolio companies show progress in technology development and commercialization. Focus on supporting quantum startups through funding and strategic guidance.

African Quantum Consortium

Harare, Zimbabwe ecosystem

The African Quantum Consortium (AQC) is the first pan-African platform for quantum science, education, innovation, and policy across the continent, officially launched on August 5, 2025, after a year of foundational work. AQC is formally registered in South Africa as a nonprofit, providing operational and legal stability for coordinating quantum initiatives across African borders. Founded and convened by Farai Mazhandu with Zimbabwe connections, AQC is based in Zimbabwe and is a member of the Open Quantum Institute hosted by CERN. The consortium builds a shared foundation for quantum science and technology across Africa, addressing previous fragmentation of research efforts, isolated networks, and occasional funding without lasting coordination. AQC hosts quantum roundtables, develops a 'State of Quantum in Africa' white paper, and establishes initiatives for talent development and coordination. The consortium unifies Africa's quantum ecosystem across research, policy, business, and civil society.

Bifrost Electronics is a Colorado-based quantum hardware startup founded in 2025, headquartered on the Elevate Quantum campus near Boulder. The company develops next-generation quantum readout and amplification hardware, creating a new class of traveling wave parametric amplifier (TWPA) that eliminates the need for Josephson Junctions. Their Heimdall TWPAs remain unaffected by magnetic fields over 2T, requiring no shielding and enabling dense packing in cryostats. CEO Zenith Tillemann-Dick notes that conventional quantum amplification devices are 'about the size of a cinder block' with 100,000 needed for utility-scale quantum computers—Bifrost built equivalent technology on a 10mm chip. In July 2025, the company raised $2.5M in seed funding led by Caruso Ventures with Harlow Capital. Bifrost collaborates with U.S. industry leaders including FormFactor, Rigetti Computing, and Maybell Quantum Industries to tailor systems for commercial deployments.

CCRAFT

Neuchâtel, Switzerland Company

CCRAFT is a Swiss-based photonic chip foundry launched in April 2025 as a CSEM spin-off, committed to advancing thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology for scalable, high-volume manufacturing. CCRAFT is the world's first production-ready pure-play foundry offering chips based on TFLN technology, built on over six years of pioneering R&D at CSEM (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology). CEO and founder Hamed Sattari leads the company headquartered in Neuchâtel. TFLN chips promise up to 8 times higher speed and consume up to 10 times less energy than conventional optical components, enabling data transmission beyond 1.6 Tbit/s. CCRAFT manufactures photonic integrated circuits for optical communication, AI data centers, and quantum technologies. With planned expansion in Neuchâtel, CCRAFT aims to reach 12 million chips annual output by targeting 2030, targeting up to 30% of the global market for high-speed photonic circuits.

Compute Everything

St. John's, Canada Company

Compute Everything is a Canadian quantum computing software company founded in 2025, based in St. John's, Newfoundland. The company specializes in developing classical, quantum, and hybrid algorithms for computational chemistry applications. The company focuses on materials science and drug discovery, developing proprietary quantum chemistry solutions that leverage both classical and quantum computing resources. Their approach combines traditional computational methods with emerging quantum algorithms to tackle complex molecular simulations and materials design challenges. Compute Everything represents part of the growing Canadian quantum ecosystem that includes companies like Xanadu, 1QBit (D-Wave), and Good Chemistry Company, contributing to Canada's position as a global leader in quantum computing software and applications development.

Emergence Quantum

Sydney, Australia Company

Emergence Quantum is an Australian quantum technology company that launched in May 2025 as a spinoff from the University of Sydney. The company was co-founded by Professor David Reilly and Dr. Thomas Ohki, both formerly of Microsoft's quantum computing division. The company develops qubit-agnostic quantum control systems, cryogenic electronics, and quantum sensing technologies. Emergence Quantum specializes in building the 'connective tissue' between qubits and software stacks, including cryogenic control electronics essential for scaling quantum computers. The founding team of approximately 20 members came from Microsoft's Quantum research program and contributed to the development of Microsoft's Majorana 1 quantum chip. In July 2025, Emergence Quantum established a strategic collaboration with IonQ to advance quantum computing hardware capabilities. The company's first commercial products became available in late 2025, focusing on enabling quantum computing systems to scale more effectively through advanced control and sensing technologies.

Florida Quantum is a statewide initiative launched December 2025 at the Tech Basel Miami AI Summit to organize and accelerate quantum innovation across Florida. Co-led by Matt Cimaglia (Quantum Coast Capital) and Tony Jimenez (Medina Ventures), with support from the Florida Alliance for Quantum Technology (FAQT), eMerge Americas, and FloridaCommerce. The initiative coordinates statewide quantum efforts, engages accelerator programs, and builds pathways for capital investment into quantum-focused companies and research. Modeled after successful quantum alliances in Maryland and Illinois, Florida Quantum provides companies a clear pathway to engage with government, research institutions, and capital networks. Florida leverages unique assets including the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, ISS National Lab access, Florida LambdaRail, and strong industry base to compete in the national quantum economy.

FrostByte

Delft, Netherlands Company

FrostByte is a 2025 spin-out from QuTech at TU Delft developing cryogenic electronics that address the scaling bottlenecks facing quantum technologies. The company creates integrated circuits and control electronics that operate at ultra-low temperatures directly alongside quantum processors, reducing wiring complexity and improving signal fidelity. FrostByte's innovations enable the scaling of quantum computers from hundreds to thousands of qubits.

Isentroniq

Paris, France Company

Isentroniq is a Paris-based quantum hardware startup founded in May 2025 by Paul Magnard (PhD in experimental quantum information processing from ETH Zürich, former lead architect at Alice & Bob) and Théodore Amar (former Bain & Company consultant, ex-head of marketing at Hilti) that develops next-generation wiring infrastructure for superconducting quantum computers to solve the critical cryogenic power and space bottleneck that currently limits scaling beyond a few hundred qubits. In October 2025, Isentroniq raised €7.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Heartcore Capital with participation from OVNI Capital, Kima Ventures, IXCORE Group, Better Angle, EPSL VC, plus support from Bpifrance and France 2030 to industrialize its proprietary dense, near-heatless wiring technology that enables 1,000x more qubits to be integrated into existing dilution refrigerators. The company's breakthrough wiring solution is designed to remove heat, cost, and space constraints inside cryostats and unlock the path to million-qubit systems, with the potential to reduce the price of a million-qubit quantum computer from tens of billions to approximately €50 million while solving the wiring deadlock that has become the primary barrier to scaling superconducting quantum processors as control and readout lines currently add excessive heat and complexity that cap systems at a few hundred qubits.

Lockheed Martin Quantum Navigation Program

Bethesda, United States Company

Lockheed Martin Quantum Navigation Program secured a DOD Innovation Unit contract for quantum-enabled Inertial Navigation Systems, partnering with Q-CTRL and AOSense. The defense contractor develops quantum navigation systems. The program aims to provide military aircraft and systems with quantum-enhanced navigation capabilities that maintain accuracy in GPS-denied environments, addressing critical defense needs for resilient positioning systems.

Monarch Quantum, launched in December 2025 by Rob Williamson, develops Integrated Light Engines designed to simplify the integration, scaling, and commercialization of quantum systems. The company focuses on photonic/optical quantum technology with applications spanning computing, sensing, and communications. Monarch Quantum's mission is 'Delivering Quantum At Scale' and the company emphasizes partnerships as vital to accelerating quantum technology adoption across multiple fields. The launch received engagement from industry figures including Ilyas Khan and Jennifer Strabley.

QDaria is a Norwegian quantum computer startup founded in early 2025 by a team of quantum computing PhDs and AI experts, headquartered in Oslo with a satellite office in Silicon Valley. The company is working towards developing a large-scale Topological Quantum Computer using Fibonacci Anyons. QDaria has partnered with Rigetti Computing to launch the Novera QPU, positioning them at the forefront of quantum computing in Norway. The company has established strategic partnerships with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Quantum Technology Centre at University of Oslo. QDaria was recognized among the top 25 most promising startups worldwide and top 5 in Europe, invited to present at Davos Innovation Week. CEO Daniel 'Mo' Houshmand leads the company. QDaria's QDiana AI agent can understand problems in natural language, map them to quantum algorithms, and interpret results. The company expects to release TeHaA v1.0, a large language model enhanced by quantum-inspired methods running on the Novera QPU.

QIDO Platform

Tokyo, Japan Company

QIDO Platform (Quantum-Integrated Discovery Orchestrator) is a partnership between Mitsui, Quantinuum, and QSimulate for drug and materials discovery targeting catalysts, enzymes, batteries, and reaction mechanisms. The collaborative platform integrates quantum computing into discovery workflows. QIDO represents a major industrial initiative to apply quantum computing to materials science and drug development challenges with commercial and scientific value.

Qinara

Edinburgh, United Kingdom Company

Qinara is an Edinburgh-based quantum computing startup developing CirQ, a quantum circuit optimizer that enhances AI model accuracy and efficiency through a hybrid approach combining classical hardware with quantum optimization. The company claims to improve AI model performance by up to 40% while reducing computational costs by 70%. Founded by Swapnil Deshmukh (CEO, 12 years Microsoft R&D), Satwik Dalvi (CTO, ML engineer from YC-backed startups), and Rahat Santosh (COO, AI specialist with DRDO/Oracle background), Qinara addresses critical AI model accuracy problems across sectors including biomedicine, cybersecurity, and finance. Part of the Venture Builder Incubator Cohort 5.0 (2025) at the University of Edinburgh's Bayes Centre. 2025 Developments: Qinara is currently developing its CirQ quantum circuit optimizer product while participating in the University of Edinburgh's Venture Builder Incubator program. The company is focused on demonstrating quantum advantage for AI applications and building partnerships across multiple industry verticals.

QodeX Quantum is a Chicago-based startup founded in 2025 that provides quantum-native AI models and a platform to train and deploy them at scale. The company offers cutting-edge quantum machine learning applications enabling enterprises to optimize operations and drive innovation without requiring specialized in-house quantum talent. QodeX was founded by Zachary Bradshaw (CEO), Ethan N. Evans PhD, and Jeffrey Dale with the vision of making quantum machine learning accessible to businesses of all sizes. Selected for the inaugural Alchemist Chicago deep-tech cohort in October 2025, QodeX receives support from IBM through the Duality accelerator's specialized quantum software track, gaining access to IBM's quantum computing platforms and technical workshops. The company provides full customer support and seamless integration with existing business ecosystems to ensure tailored quantum solutions.