IQM Quantum Computers, a Finland-based quantum computing spinout of Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, has secured €39m ($46m) in series A funding from investors including internet group Tencent.
The round was led by fund manager MIG Fonds and included Finnish government-owned investment firm Tesi, OpenOcean, Maki.vc, Vito Ventures, Matadero QED, Vsquared, Salvia and Santo Venture Capital.
Founded in 2018, IQM plans to exploit superconducting circuits with zero electric resistance to build quantum computers optimised for software algorithms that ordinary supercomputers cannot perform, targeting sectors such as drug design and advanced materials.
The funding will partly go to recruitment, with sales and marketing a particular focus. Proceeds will also support quantum hardware and software development tailored to research and supercomputing hubs.
IQM said it has now raised a total of €71m ($83.9m at current exchange rates) in equity and grant funding, including a $17m equity investment in June 2020 from the European Union-run EIC Accelerator.
The June investment came after IQM closed a $13m seed round in June 2019 with commitments from Tesi, Matadero QED, Maki.vc, MIG Fonds, OpenOcean and Vito Ventures.
The startup’s founding team includes Mikko Möttönen, an associate professor of quantum technology at Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
Möttönen was assisted by colleagues including Kuan Yen Tan, an academic research fellow at Aalto University, and Jan Goetz, a former Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow at the same institution who is also IQM’s chief executive.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.