French start-up Quobly secured €115 million in funding this week as it pursues an ambitious goal: building quantum computers using the same manufacturing techniques as ordinary computer chips.
The funding round, announced on Wednesday, was led by state-backed investment bank Bpifrance, chipmaker STMicroelectronics and Sealsq.
Quobly said the money would help it develop quantum processors based on modified transistors – the tiny switches that underpin conventional computers.
The Grenoble-based company is betting that using existing semiconductor manufacturing techniques could make quantum computers cheaper and easier to produce than rival technologies.
“We benefit from the economy of scale of this industry,” said Maud Vinet, Quobly’s chief executive and co-founder. “The cost of producing our chip leads us to design quantum computers that will be 100 times cheaper than competing technologies.”
Big promises
Quantum computing has attracted growing investment in Europe and the United States, despite the technology still being at an early stage.
Researchers believe quantum computers could eventually solve problems in chemistry, biotechnology, materials science and cybersecurity that would take conventional computers far longer to process.
But today's quantum machines remain less stable and less reliable than conventional computers, whose semiconductor foundations have benefited from more than 50 years of development.
Quobly's approach is designed to take advantage of the scale and precision of an industry that already manufactures billions of chips every year, rather than relying on more experimental production methods.
French ambitions
The investment comes as France increases spending on advanced computing technologies. President Emmanuel Macron said last month that France would invest €1 billion in quantum technologies, a day after the administration of US President Donald Trump announced $2 billion in funding for the sector.
For France, the race is about more than scientific prestige. Macron has made technological sovereignty a key part of his economic agenda, arguing that Europe must be able to build, run and protect the digital systems on which its industries, governments and citizens increasingly depend.
France has been trying to strengthen the entire computing chain – from chips and data centres to cloud services, artificial intelligence and quantum systems. Paris has also promoted itself as a centre for AI innovation, including at the Paris AI Action Summit.
Macron has pointed to France's nuclear-heavy electricity mix as another advantage. Data centres and advanced computing systems require large amounts of power, and France believes its relatively abundant low-carbon electricity can help attract investment in the sector.
Industrial scale
Quobly is working closely with STMicroelectronics, one of Europe's leading chipmakers, to manufacture its quantum chips. Around 15 Quobly employees are already working inside the company's facilities.
Vinet said the partnership is essential because quantum computing requires the consistent production quality of a major commercial fabrication plant.
"It requires the yield and the quality of fabrication of commercial fabs," she said. "We needed an agreement with this commercial fab to exchange the learning of what it is that is needed to optimise the technology."
The investment also comes as Europe steps up efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign technology providers. Brussels is preparing new cloud and AI rules that could make it harder for US technology companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google to win sensitive public-sector contracts if they are judged too exposed to foreign government control.
While practical uses for quantum computing remain limited for now, governments increasingly see the technology as strategically important because of its potential impact on cybersecurity, defence, pharmaceuticals and industrial research.
As a French start-up, Quobly is betting that techniques already familiar to the semiconductor industry can help bring quantum computing closer to large-scale commercial use.
(with newswires)
