European startup IQM is aiming to build powerful quantum computers to rival the likes of Google and IBM.
IQM
Finland-based quantum computing startup IQM announced plans Monday to become one of Europe’s first publicly listed companies in the sector.
IQM will merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Real Asset Acquisition Corp as part of the listing in New York. The deal, which gives IQM an initial equity valuation of $1.8 billion, is pending shareholders’ approval and other regulatory conditions being met, the firm said in a Monday statement.
The company is eyeing the transaction being completed around June this year, with the listing to happen shortly after that. It’s also considering a dual listing on the Helsinki stock exchange.
Founded in 2018, IQM raised $320 million in a Series B funding round in September, which valued the company at $1 billion. The round was led by Ten Eleven Ventures, a U.S. cybersecurity-focused investment firm, while Finnish venture capital firm Tesi also invested.
IQM is building full-stack, open-architecture quantum systems that can be deployed on-premise or accessed via the cloud.
The merger could provide over $300 million in funding for the company, in the form of private investment in public equity financing and cash held in RAAQ’s trust account, assuming no redemptions (when investors in the SPAC withdraw their money from the transaction ahead of the listing).
Commercial deployment
Quantum computing promises to run calculations vastly quicker than classical computers can, solving more complex problems and processing larger volumes of data. Proponents of the technology say it could be used to facilitate breakthroughs in areas like medicine, science and finance.
While the tech is not yet deployed in commercial environments and still has significant technical obstacles to overcome to become viable, some analysts are particularly bullish on the quantum sector.
“Whilst progress has been slow and there have been many challenges, we are starting to see meaningful breakthroughs in the quantum space,” UBS analysts wrote in a report in January.
“Quantum computing is a science project no more,” Jan Goetz, cofounder and CEO at IQM, said. “It is an industry where customers own, operate and build on advanced quantum computers.”
IQM has sold 21 quantum systems to 13 customers to date, the company said. It made at least $35 million in unaudited revenue in 2025.
As some businesses eye commercial deployment of quantum computers by the end of the decade, discussions have begun about how they will integrate with the data center sector.
IQM is one of a number of European players in the quantum computing space. U.K.-based Quantinuum raised $800 million across two rounds last year, with Spain’s Multiverse Computing picking up 189 million euros in a Series B last year.
China is leading in terms of public investment in the sector. The country has funnelled just short of $18 billion in public investment in quantum technology, followed closely by the EU, according to the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a think tank.
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