Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Thursday, June 11 2020 - 19:01
AsiaNet
European Deep-tech Champion IQM Receives More Than Euros 20M of New Funding
ESPOO, Finland, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

Simultaneously IQM unveils its first quantum computer design to set the phase 
in the technology roadmap

IQM Finland Oy (IQM)[https://www.meetiqm.com/], a leading European company for 
quantum computer hardware, was just awarded a Euros 2.5M grant and up to Euros 
15M of equity investment from the EIC Accelerator program for the development 
of quantum computers, benefiting the industry and the society at large. 
Together with Business Finland grants of Euros 3.3M that IQM received so far, 
the company is on a fast run with more than Euros 20M more raised in less than 
a year from its Euros 11.4M seed round, summing in total to Euros 32M.

IQM has experienced amazing growth, set up a fully functional research lab in 
record time, and also hired the largest industrial quantum hardware team in 
Europe. With the help of this new Euros 20M, IQM will hire one quantum engineer 
per week and take an important next step to commercialize the technology 
through co-design of quantum-computing hardware and applications. 

"Quantum computers will be funded by European governments, supporting IQM´s 
expansion strategy to build quantum computers in Germany," says Dr. Jan Goetz, 
CEO and co-founder of IQM.

Last week, the Finnish government 
announced[https://www.vttresearch.com/en/news-and-ideas/vtts-quantum-computer-ac
quisition-granted-eur-207-million-funding] they will support the acquisition of 
a quantum computer with Euros 20.7M for the Finnish State Research center VTT. 

"It has been a mind-blowing forty-million past week for quantum computers in 
Finland. IQM staff is excited to work together with VTT, Aalto University, and 
CSC in this ecosystem," rejoices Prof. Mikko Möttönen, Chief Scientist and 
co-founder of IQM.

This announcement was followed by the German government with Euros 2b and to 
immediately commission the construction of at least two quantum computers. IQM 
sees this as an ideal point to expand its operations in Germany.

"With our growing team in Munich, IQM will build co-design quantum computers 
for commercial applications and install testing facilities for quantum 
processors," states Prof. Enrique Solano, CEO of IQM Germany. 

Quantum computing will radically transform the lives of billions of people. 
Applications range from game-changing invention of medicine and novel materials 
to the discovery of economic models and sustainable processes. 

"We are witnessing a boost in deep-tech funding in Europe, very important now. 
For a healthy growth of startups like IQM, we need all three funding channels: 
(1) research grants to stimulate new key innovations, (2) equity investments to 
grow the company, (3) early adoption through acquisitions supported by the 
government. This allows to pool the risk while creating a new industry and 
business cases," says Dr. Goetz. 

IQM is focusing on superconducting quantum processors, which are streamlined 
for commercial applications in a novel Co-Design approach.

"With the new funding and immense support from the Finnish and the European 
governments, we are ready to scale technologically. This brings us closer to 
quantum advantage thus providing tangible commercial value in near-term quantum 
computers," adds Dr. Kuan Yen Tan, CTO and co-founder of IQM. 

IQM ranks in the top 2% of all European deep tech startups applying for the 
highly competitive EIC Accelerator program

Thanks to its strong technology and business plan, IQM was one of the 72 to 
succeed in the very competitive selection process of the EIC. Altogether 3969 
companies applied for this funding. 

"The Euros 15M equity component of the EIC can be an ideal contribution to 
IQM's Series A funding round." says a beaming Dr. Juha Vartiainen, COO and 
co-founder of IQM.

The new funding also supports IQM´s recent establishment of its new underground 
quantum computing infrastructure capable of housing the first European farm of 
quantum computers. IQM provides the full hardware stack for a quantum computer, 
integrating different technologies, and invites collaborations with quantum 
software companies. Brilliant quantum software engineers are also welcomed to 
join IQM. 

About IQM:
https://www.meetiqm.com/company/#aboutus

IQM videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvjqSqZiJ715XVH3O3IF93Q

About EIC Accelerator (SME instrument) program:
https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/news/eic-accelerator-offers-new-blend-grants-and-equity


About Business Finland:
https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/for-finnish-customers/about-us/in-brief/

IQM PR CONTACTS 

IQM Contacts for questions and comments: 

Dr Jan Goetz 
CEO, IQM 
email: jan@meetiqm.com    
tel. +358 505 666 483  
(English & German) 

Prof Mikko Möttönen 
Chief Scientist, IQM 
email: mikko@meetiqm.com 
tel. +358 505 940 950  
(English & Finnish) 

Dr Kuan Yen Tan 
Chief technology officer, IQM 
email: kuan@meetiqm.com 
tel. +358 504 778 091  
(English & Chinese) 

Photo - 
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1178706/IQM_quantum_computer_design.jpg 
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1178704/IQM_Dr_Jan_Goetz.jpg 
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1178705/IQM_founders.jpg  
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1121497/IQM_Logo.jpg 

SOURCE: IQM Finland Oy