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  • 🔵 The Quantum Insider Weekly | IQM's Public Plans. Italian Quantum Hits a Snag. And More News in Quantum

🔵 The Quantum Insider Weekly | IQM's Public Plans. Italian Quantum Hits a Snag. And More News in Quantum

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FROM THE EDITOR.

Quantum earnings season has begun!

Publicly traded quantum companies have started reporting annual and quarterly results, and the numbers paint a picture of steady forward motion. Revenue remains modest relative to long-term ambitions, and profitability is still distant. But bookings are growing, backlogs are expanding, hardware metrics are improving, and most balance sheets still provide meaningful runway. For companies at this stage of technological maturity, that matters.

This isn’t a sector that has “arrived.” It’s still early, capital-intensive and technically demanding. But the recent filings suggest operational progress rather than stagnation. The narrative for 2026, at least so far, is one of continued build-out — not retrenchment.

And then there’s IQM.

This week, IQM announced plans to go public through a SPAC merger, a move that would bring one of Europe’s most established superconducting quantum hardware companies onto U.S. public markets. Just as notable, the company signaled its intention to remain headquartered in Finland, reinforcing Europe’s position in the global quantum landscape even as it taps American capital markets.

That development is significant at multiple levels — for IQM’s own growth trajectory, for the Nordic ecosystem that has supported it, and for an industry that increasingly needs scaled, globally competitive hardware providers. IQM has consistently positioned itself as a commercial systems builder, delivering on-premises quantum computers to customers rather than limiting itself to laboratory milestones. A public listing, if completed, would represent another step in the sector’s gradual evolution from research initiative to industrial infrastructure.

It’s still only the second month of the first quarter. But if early indicators are any guide, the anticipated slowdown hasn’t materialized.

Let’s see if the momentum carries through the rest of 2026.

Have a great weekend.

Have a great weekend!

— Matt, Chief Content Officer at The Quantum Insider

INSIDER BRIEF. 

The Noteworthy & Nuanced

Researchers have demonstrated lattice surgery on superconducting qubits, enabling a fault-tolerant quantum operation between logical qubits while actively correcting errors. Using surface-code error correction, the team split a single logical qubit encoded in 17 physical qubits into two entangled logical qubits, overcoming constraints imposed by fixed, two-dimensional chip layouts.

Pakistan will host its first national Quantum Computing Hackathon from February 6–8 at the National Centre for Physics, bringing together early-career researchers to develop quantum solutions aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals. Organized by PIEAS and NILOP under PAEC, with support from NCP, Open Quantum Initiatives, and CERN, the event drew over 950 applications nationwide. Forty-two selected participants will form seven teams, receiving expert mentorship and access to quantum processing units during the three-day program.

Welinq has launched its rack-mounted Entangled Photon Pair Source commercially and delivered its first unit to a European institution, expanding the availability of on-premise components for quantum networking. The product generates entangled photons for quantum communication links and quantum computer interconnects, and is compatible with multiple quantum computing platforms. — Alan Kanapin, Analyst at The Quantum Insider

The Research Rundown

Check out this week’s handpicked quantum research. These are studies headed for real-world impact: improving accuracy, reducing latency, using fewer resources, or solving problems that classical methods struggle with. These are early developments, but they hint at where quantum might earn its keep.

Want more research insights? Get them delivered straight to your inbox Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with The Daily Qubit. Subscribe below or use the link to update preferences at the end of this email. 👇️

➡️ IQM Finland Oy has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Nasdaq-listed SPAC Real Asset Acquisition Corp. that would value the company at approximately $1.8 billion and result in a U.S. public listing.

➡️ The transaction is expected to provide more than $450 million in cash at closing — including trust proceeds, PIPE financing, warrant exercises and existing balance sheet capital — to accelerate IQM’s roadmap toward fault-tolerant superconducting quantum systems.

➡️ IQM may pursue a dual listing on the Helsinki exchange following completion, anchoring one of Europe’s most prominent quantum hardware firms in both U.S. and Nordic capital markets.

➡️ The deal positions IQM as a scaled European contender in the capital-intensive race to industrialize quantum computing, while exposing it to public market scrutiny and execution risk.

Analyst Commentary

They are Finnish — yet they’re just beginning!

Arguably the biggest headline this week in quantum was news that Finland-based IQM is preparing to enter public markets at a pivotal moment for quantum hardware.

Under the proposed merger, IQM would list American Depositary Shares on a major U.S. exchange. The structure uses a SPAC — a special purpose acquisition company — which is a publicly traded shell formed to merge with a private firm, providing an alternative to a traditional IPO. Companies tend to favor SPACs because they offer speed and pricing certainty. However, there are risks, including redemption risk if existing shareholders withdraw capital before closing.

If completed as outlined, IQM expects more than $450 million in cash at closing. That figure includes roughly $175 million held in public shell company’s (Real Asset Acquisition — or RAAQ) trust account (assuming no significant redemptions), $134 million from a PIPE financing priced at $10 per share, about $24 million from warrant exercises and $172 million already on IQM’s balance sheet.

Quantum hardware development demands sustained capital. Superconducting systems — which use ultra-cooled circuits to create quantum bits, or qubits — require specialized fabrication, cryogenic infrastructure and advanced control electronics. The industry’s next milestone is fault tolerance, where systems can detect and correct errors well enough to run long, complex computations reliably. That objective remains technically challenging and resource intensive.

IQM has built its strategy around vertical integration with the company developing its own quantum chips, operates fabrication capabilities and delivers full-stack systems deployable on-premises or via cloud access. That model allows tighter engineering control but increases fixed costs and capital requirements compared with lighter, software-focused approaches.

This transaction goes beyond just another quantum stock. For Finland, for example, the transaction represents considerably more than a liquidity event or a bullet point to list under national pride.

Finland has cultivated strong academic and engineering depth in quantum technologies. A publicly listed national champion could reinforce Finland’s position in advanced computing and signal that its ecosystem can produce globally competitive hardware firms. A potential dual listing in Helsinki would deepen domestic capital market participation in frontier technologies.

For Europe and Scandinavia, the listing intersects with broader debates around technological sovereignty. Quantum computing is increasingly framed as strategic infrastructure tied to encryption, sensing and high-performance computing. A well-capitalized European hardware company operating at scale strengthens regional resilience in a field where U.S. firms have historically dominated public markets.

Still, we shouldn’t gloss over the fact that execution risk remains.

SPAC transactions have delivered mixed outcomes in recent years, particularly for early-stage technology companies navigating long commercialization timelines. Redemptions could reduce available cash. Public investors may demand clearer revenue visibility in an industry where large-scale commercial adoption remains emerging.

Superconducting quantum computing is also one of several competing architectures globally. Achieving fault tolerance at meaningful scale will require continued technical progress beyond this financing round.

The simple fact is companies and investors tend to label a public listing as an “exit”.

It’s actually just the beginning.

DATA SPOTLIGHT.

PacketLight Networks and NEC demonstrated quantum key distribution over a 400G dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network using a dual-fiber setup. They integrated NEC’s QKD system with PacketLight’s PL-4000M 600G Muxponder, achieving 100% data throughput and low latency, verified via a 100GbE tester. The QKD ran over a dedicated parallel fiber, maintaining quantum signal integrity. The result: a cost-effective, scalable quantum-safe model with zero performance tradeoffs on existing high-capacity infrastructure.

INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS.

✨ Quantum computing spans multiple hardware approaches built on different physical foundations, and the field can be understood along two practical dimensions: system reliability and physical architecture. Most current systems operate in the NISQ regime with limited qubit counts and error rates, and each have distinct engineering trade-offs in scalability, speed, stability, and infrastructure requirements as the industry works toward fault-tolerant systems.

🚀 IonQ was awarded a position on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s $151 billion SHIELD IDIQ contract. The company highlighted its portfolio across quantum computing, networking, sensing, and security, along with subsidiary capabilities in space-based imaging, optical communications, and precision timing.

🇸🇬 QAI Ventures is launching a Singapore-based industry cluster program, backed by SoftBank Corp. and HorizonX, to accelerate commercialization of quantum-classical hybrid computing across four sectors: communications, financial services, industrials, and life sciences.

🖋️ Quobly and Entropica Labs signed a strategic MoU in Singapore to co-develop fault-tolerant quantum computing technologies, combining Quobly’s silicon-based quantum processors with Entropica’s compiler and optimisation tools for quantum error correction.

🏆️ QuSecure was awarded a position on the Missile Defense Agency’s $151 billion SHIELD IDIQ contract, enabling it to deliver crypto-agile and post-quantum cryptography solutions across distributed defense networks.

💰️ IonQ reported $130 million in 2025 revenue, up 202% year over year, becoming the first publicly traded quantum company to surpass $100 million in annual GAAP revenue, while ending the year with $3.3 billion in cash and announcing plans to acquire SkyWater Technology to strengthen U.S.-based chip manufacturing.

🤝 QUDORA and ParityQC formed a strategic partnership to optimize quantum algorithms for QUDORA’s trapped-ion systems by combining Near-Field Quantum Control (NFQC) with ParityQC’s hardware-aware Parity Twine architecture. The collaboration aims to reduce gate counts and circuit depth, improving efficiency and performance on existing quantum hardware.

🤖 Xanadu and Lockheed Martin have launched a joint research initiative to advance the theory and applications of quantum machine learning, with a focus on quantum generative models. The collaboration will explore how quantum computers can leverage Fourier-based operations beyond classical methods, targeting potential applications in defense, finance, and pharmaceuticals.

🇨🇳 China has released Origin Pilot, its first domestically developed quantum computer operating system, making it publicly downloadable as part of a broader strategy to expand its quantum ecosystem and industrial deployment. Developed by Origin Quantum, the system supports multiple hardware platforms, and manages core functions such as scheduling and automatic qubit calibration.

🇷🇴 IonQ announced the deployment of Romania’s National Quantum Communication Infrastructure (RoNaQCI), a 1,500+ km quantum key distribution network spanning six cities and 36 secure links, delivered with POLITEHNICA Bucharest and RoEduNet. Built using QKD systems from IonQ subsidiary ID Quantique, the project contributes to Europe’s broader EuroQCI initiative.

🇰🇷 Sungkyunkwan University’s Quantum Information Research Support Center signed its first software-focused MOU with Classiq Technologies and launched Korea’s first open training program using the Classiq platform, expanding its cloud-based workforce initiatives beyond hardware partnerships with IBM, IonQ, D-Wave, and Pasqal.

EVENTS.

Feb. 25 -- Is Quantum Sensing Ready for Business Adoption will be held at Digital Catapult in London, UK, examining real-world adoption and commercialization challenges of quantum sensing technologies.

March 3-6 -- SIAM Conference on Parallel Processing for Scientific Computing (SIAM SC26), Berlin.

March 16-20 -- Quantum Resources will be held in Tokyo, Japan. The conference brings together leading experts and emerging voices in the field to explore the latest theoretical insights, operational applications, and future directions of quantum resource theories.

March 24 -- Quantum Security & Defence -- Taking place at the Palais des Congrès de Paris, this half-day event convenes industry, government, and research leaders to address quantum security and defence challenges, including quantum-secure communications, certification paths, and practical deployment strategies amid the rising Quantum-AI era.

March 24 -- Convergence Quantum II (CQII) hosted by The Convergence Center for Applied Quantum Computing at The Engine in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA, defines the next generation of drug discovery through applied quantum use cases, biopharma insights and investor perspectives,

April 6-8 -- International Conference on Quantum Communications, Networking, and Computing (QCNC 2026) -- Taking place in Kobe, Japan, this IEEE-hosted conference covers advances in quantum communications, networking, computing, cryptography, and related systems, featuring research presentations and industry discussions across key tracks in the field.

April 9–11 -- TQCEBT 2026 -- Hosted at CHRIST University’s Pune Lavasa Campus in India, this interdisciplinary event explores quantum computing advancements alongside emerging business technology applications, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and business leaders.

Apr 22–23 -- Mathematics & Physics Frontiers 2026 in Frankfurt, Germany is an international forum uniting mathematicians, physicists, engineers, data scientists, and technology innovators from across the globe to explore groundbreaking advances at the intersection of theory and application.

April 27-30 -- The Quantum Matter International Conference & Expo (QUANTUMatter2026) will take place at the BarcelĂł Sants Hotel in Barcelona.

June 4-5 -- Q2B Tokyo 2026 will be held exclusively in-person and presented in Japanese and English, with real-time interpretation.

June 16 -- France Quantum -- the premier event showcasing the French Quantum ecosystem to the world.

June 22-24 -- IQT Nordics: Oslo, Norway

June 24-26 -- Quantum. Tech World: Boston, Mass

June 25-26 -- Quantum.Tech World -- Empowering Quantum, AI & HPC at Enterprise -- Scale, co-located with Quantum.Tech World will be held at Encore Boston Harbor in Boston, United States.

June 25-26 -- Quantum.Tech World -- Empowering Quantum, AI & HPC at Enterprise – Scale, co-located with Quantum.Tech World will be held at Encore Boston Harbor in Boston, United States.

July 1-3 – The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Control, Computing, and Learning (IEEE qCCL 2026) will take place from Wednesday to Friday, July 1-3, 2026