Thirteen European Quantum Startups Selected for Major Funding Boost
Brussels, Friday 28 August 2026
Thirteen European quantum startups have been selected by EuroHPC, securing initial support and a pathway to unlock up to €30 million each in European Investment Bank venture debt.
A Strategic Pathway to Venture Debt
On 26 August 2026, the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) Governing Board officially approved Decision No. 31/2026, selecting 13 European quantum computing startups under the Quantum Grand Challenge call (HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-QGC-02) [1]. The initial decision was approved on 19 June 2026 from a pool of 30 applications [4]. These selected deep-tech companies will receive Phase 1 Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funding of approximately €300,000 per project, totalling an estimated EU contribution of €3.87 million over a four-month duration [1]. This initial phase is designed to establish technical proof-of-concepts, serving as a direct pathway to unlock up to €30 million each in venture debt financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) under Phase 2, sourced from a dedicated €100 million InvestEU pool [1][4].
Diverse Modalities and the Selected Cohort
The 13 selected companies represent a broad spectrum of hardware modalities designed to ensure European technological sovereignty, including cat-state superconducting, silicon-spin CMOS, trapped-ion, photonic, and analog processors [1]. The selected startups are Alice & Bob (France), eleQtron (Germany), Equal 1 Laboratories (Ireland), Groove Quantum (Netherlands), IQM (Finland), NVISION Imaging (Germany), Planckian (Italy), Qilimanjaro (Spain), Quandela (France), QUDORA Technologies (Germany), QuiX Quantum (Netherlands), QUOBLY (France), and Sparrow Quantum (Denmark) [1]. Additionally, a reserve list has been established, featuring C12 Quantum Electronics (France), neQxt GmbH (Germany), and PASQAL (France) [1].
Spotlight on Photonic Innovation
Among the selected cohort, Sparrow Quantum stands out as the sole recipient of funding from Denmark [3][4]. Spun out from Professor Peter Lodahl’s research group at the Niels Bohr Institute, Sparrow Quantum specialises in light-matter interfaces and on-chip deterministic single-photon sources developed over 25 years of research [4]. Under its four-month EU-SCALE project, which is supported by the €300,000 grant, the company will focus on mapping a pathway toward large-scale photonic quantum computers [3][4]. The project addresses the critical challenge of integrating these photons into larger, functional systems and delivering a technical and financial roadmap compatible with existing European high-performance computing infrastructure [3].
Integrating into Europe’s Supercomputing Power
This infrastructure is extensive, with the EuroHPC JU managing a budget of at least €8.2 billion for the 2021–2027 period, funded equally by the EU and participating member states [4]. The EuroHPC ecosystem currently comprises 12 supercomputers, including exascale systems JUPITER and Alice Recoque, alongside 19 AI factories and 13 AI Factory Antennas [4]. The integration of diverse quantum hardware modalities into this existing infrastructure is a key objective of the initiative, designed to move European quantum startups toward commercial viability [1][3].
Expanding the Horizon with Long-Term Initiatives
Beyond the immediate Grand Challenge, EuroHPC JU is actively expanding its quantum roadmap. On 13 August 2026, the initiative launched six new quantum calls for proposals to develop full-stack quantum systems, requiring cloud accessibility and mandating a 3.5-year duration for all selected projects [2]. This broader push represents a combined funding allocation of €84 million [2]. Specifically, the initiative allocates €20 million for trapped-ion technology targeting over 1,000 qubits, €20 million for superconducting technology utilizing chiplet technology, and €20 million under call HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-NAPT-11 for neutral-atom quantum computing aiming to support 10,000 neutral atoms for simulation and 1,000 physical qubits for computation [2].
Securing and Validating Future Networks
The remaining funds are directed toward securing and validating these systems. A budget of €24 million is allocated to call HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-NQKD-12, which targets next-generation Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems requiring key rates exceeding 1 Mbps over metropolitan distances [2]. Additionally, €20 million is allocated to call HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-QTI-13 to establish a pan-European, open-access testing infrastructure for quantum technologies [2]. The combined funding for QKD and testing infrastructure totals €44 million, representing the sum of their respective €24 million and €20 million allocations 44 [2]. Applications for the trapped-ion and superconducting calls are due by 17 November 2026, marking the next major milestone in Europe’s bid to secure global leadership in quantum technologies [2][3].