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  • 🔵 The Quantum Insider Weekly | A Honey(well) of a Funding Round. Record-Breaking Week For Quantum Investments. And More News in Quantum.

🔵 The Quantum Insider Weekly | A Honey(well) of a Funding Round. Record-Breaking Week For Quantum Investments. And More News in Quantum.

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FROM THE EDITOR.

The United Nations designated 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science. This week might go down as the International Week of Quantum Science Funding. Both private and public institutions are accelerating their commitments, and the pace has reached a level rarely seen in emerging technologies. It is fitting, perhaps, that in the first week of the last month of the third quarter — traditionally a quiet period — the sector experienced an extraordinary surge.

By conservative calculations, private investors alone have directed close to $1 billion into quantum companies this year. That figure excludes major government-led campaigns, such as New Mexico’s recent initiative and Norway’s sovereign fund-backed activities, which together represent another half-billion dollars. Not long ago, $2 billion would have been considered a landmark for an entire year; now the industry is approaching that threshold in a matter of months.

The other editors of this newsletter likely might kill me for taking up so much space — but there is a huge article below where we try to break this down.

Having said that, the headline numbers, impressive as they are, risk overshadowing other important aspects of this wave of funding. The investors themselves, for instance, are some of the world’s largest banks, along with established venture capital firms whose track records span decades — and in some cases centuries.

Another detail worth underlining is the participation of companies with deep roots in classical computing. Their involvement underscores that quantum will not stand alone but will be developed in tandem with classical systems. The next era of computing will be hybrid, drawing strength from the complementarity of these two approaches.

Finally, many of the investors are themselves potential end-users. From global pharmaceutical giants to multinational financial institutions, these stakeholders are not only betting on quantum as an asset class; they are positioning to be among its earliest adopters. The capital flowing in is therefore not just financial—it reflects vested interest in deploying quantum solutions for real-world challenges.

Of course, enthusiasm should not obscure the remaining hurdles. Technical challenges in scaling, error correction, and commercial viability remain formidable. Yet the substantial financial runway being established provides the industry with time and resources to address them.

The International Year of Quantum was conceived as an opportunity to recognize a century of discovery and progress in quantum science. What it is becoming, in real time, is also a showcase of global confidence — expressed in capital commitments — that the next century of quantum science will be defined not only by scientific insight but by the practical application of quantum technologies.Have a great weekend!

— Matt, Chief Content Officer at The Quantum Insider

INSIDER BRIEF.

ANALYST NOTES.

The Noteworthy & Nuanced

Big $ values across quantum headlines this week. To start, Honeywell confirmed Quantinuum has raised $600M in Series B funding with a $10B pre-money valuation - one of the largest financings in the quantum sector to date. New investors including Quanta Computer, NVentures, and QED Investors joined returning backers like JPMorgan and Mitsui.

Next up - IQM Quantum Computers announced $320M (€275M) in Series B funding, bringing its total raised to $600M. Led by Ten Eleven Ventures, IQM’s first U.S. investor, the round included strategic and institutional backers such as Elo, Varma, Schwarz Group, and Bayern Kapital. The financing will expand U.S. and global operations, boost fabrication capacity in Finland, and advance IQM’s roadmap toward million-qubit superconducting systems.

Lastly, Defiance ETFs’ Quantum Computing ETF (QTUM) surpassed $2B in assets under management, highlighting investor enthusiasm for quantum technologies amid a week of major capital inflows. Holding companies like IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave, QTUM tracks the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index. With a 5-star Morningstar rating and market projections of $90–$170B by 2040, QTUM’s growth signals broadening investor confidence in quantum. — 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.

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INSIDER SPOTLIGHT: Quantum’s Billion Dollar Week

➡️ Nearly $1 billion in private funding flowed into quantum in a single week, rivaling half the annual investment totals of prior years.

➡️ Quantinuum raised $600 million at a $10 billion pre-money valuation, with backing from NVIDIA’s NVentures, Quanta Computer, JPMorgan Chase, Mitsui, Amgen, and others.

➡️ Finland’s IQM secured $320 million, led by Ten Eleven Ventures, with participation from pension funds Elo and Varma, corporates Schwarz Group and Winbond, and sovereign funds EIC and Bayern Kapital.

➡️ Maybell Quantum raised $40 million from Addition to scale cryogenic and RF systems — infrastructure essential for quantum computing.

➡️ Phasecraft raised $34 million from Plural, Playground Global, and Novo Holdings’ Quantum Fund to advance algorithms bridging noisy devices to utility.

➡️ Norway committed NOK 1.1 billion (≈ $100 million) over five years to accelerate national quantum research and competitiveness.

➡️ New Mexico announced a $315 million package to anchor Albuquerque as a quantum hub, complementing its earlier $25 million Roadrunner Venture Studios initiative.

➡️ This week underscores a turning point: investors now span VCs, corporates, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds — many of them potential future users of quantum systems.

➡️ The scale, diversity, and geographic spread of these commitments signal that quantum is shifting from isolated research efforts into a globally networked industry.

Analyst Commentary

We’re going to try to do something different this week. Normally we focus on a single story. But this week is just too big, so we’re going to condense some of the big stories and tease out the major implications

In a span of days, nearly $1 billion in private capital poured into quantum companies, while governments in Norway and New Mexico unveiled major public commitments. For a field that once measured annual investment in low billions, the scale and composition of this week’s activity mark a turning point.

The largest single event came from Quantinuum. Honeywell confirmed that the company closed a $600 million Series B, giving it a pre-money valuation of $10 billion. That may be the highest figure yet publicly disclosed for a private quantum company, underscoring the scale of investor confidence in its model of combining hardware and software under one roof.

The roster of participants tells its own story. Quanta Computer, NVIDIA’s NVentures, and QED Investors joined the round, alongside Morgan Private Ventures, Mesh Ventures, and Korea Investment Partners. They were joined by repeat backers including JPMorgan Chase, Mitsui, Amgen, Cambridge Quantum Holdings, Serendipity Capital, and Honeywell itself. The list includes not only venture funds but global corporates with a stake in advanced computing and materials — potential future users as well as financiers.

Europe contributed its own headline. IQM Quantum Computers, based in Finland and a leading developer of superconducting quantum machines, announced a $320 million Series B, bringing its total raised to $600 million. The round was led by Ten Eleven Ventures, a cybersecurity-focused U.S. investor making its first quantum bet, with continued support from Finnish investment firm Tesi, among other organizations. The presence of institutional pensions and sovereign funds reflects how quantum is moving from niche frontier to mainstream allocation.

Infrastructure, often overlooked in coverage of the field, also drew attention. Maybell Quantum, which develops cryogenic and RF systems that form the plumbing of quantum computers, secured $40 million in a Series B led by Addition. Rounding out the week, London-based Phasecraft announced $34 million in Series B funding.

Private capital was only part of the story. Public commitments from governments added a parallel signal.

In Oslo, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced that Norway will invest NOK 1.1 billion (about $100 million) over five years in quantum technologies. Across the Atlantic, New Mexico disclosed a $315 million state-level package designed to seed a quantum industry centered in Albuquerque. The funds will support companies, fabrication facilities, and infrastructure.

This is a lot to unpack, but one certain thread that ties these events together is a sense of consolidation. Quantum is moving out of the lab and into structures that resemble the early stages of a commercial industry. Quantinuum’s $10 billion valuation anchors the upper end of private-market expectations. IQM’s raise validates Europe’s ability to produce large-scale players. Maybell’s and Phasecraft’s rounds prove that both infrastructure and software can now attract substantial late-stage funding. Norway’s and New Mexico’s announcements demonstrate that governments see quantum as tied to competitiveness, security, and industrial policy.

The analogy from last week still applies: ecosystems need connective tissue. The connective tissue now stretches beyond state lines and even national borders. Investors in Asia are funding Finnish startups; pension funds are underwriting deep engineering cycles; U.S. corporates are backing both domestic and European firms. That network effect is critical because no single company, country, or technology path can deliver quantum utility alone.

There are risks. Engineering timelines remain long, technical hurdles remain steep, and valuations will invite scrutiny if commercialization milestones slip. Governments face the challenge of sustaining programs across election cycles. States must coordinate rather than duplicate infrastructure. And companies will need to demonstrate that funding translates into near-term utility, not just distant promises.

But the headline is clear. This week showed that quantum has crossed a psychological threshold in capital markets and public policy circles. Investors and governments are no longer waiting for the perfect moment. They are placing large, visible bets that quantum will matter — and that those bets must be made now.

For a field long accustomed to patient research cycles, the sudden burst of activity feels almost disorienting. It is easy to be blinded by the zeroes. But behind those numbers are strategic choices, each one knitting quantum a little more tightly into the fabric of technology and policy.

Call it coincidence of timing or call it inflection point: in the first week of September 2025 — in this, our International Year of Quantum Science — quantum had its billion-dollar week.

The Quantum World Tour kicks off September 9, 2025, with its first episode spotlighting Malta’s growing quantum ecosystem, where government leadership, EU-backed projects like PRISM, and international partnerships are building Europe’s first nationwide quantum communication testbed. Organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and The Quantum Insider, the free global series acts as a “living blueprint” for how nations turn quantum strategies into infrastructure, talent, and commercialization.

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.

💰️ New Mexico announced a $315 million package to build a quantum industry hub in Albuquerque, funding companies, fabrication facilities, and a statewide quantum network. The initiative includes $185 million in venture capital and up to $120 million in matching funds with DARPA under the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.

🖥️ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Quantum Brilliance, has installed its first on-site commercial quantum computer cluster to explore hybrid quantum–HPC integration. Using diamond-based QPUs that operate at room temperature, the system will support research in scalable workflows, computational chemistry, and machine learning.

💸 Phasecraft has raised $34 million in Series B funding, bringing its total to over $50 million. Working with partners like Google, IBM, Quantinuum, and QuEra, and end users in materials, energy, telecom, and life sciences, the company will expand R&D and industrial applications to bring practical quantum advantage closer to reality.

🤝 Rigetti Computing has signed an MOU with India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing to co-develop hybrid quantum computing systems that combine superconducting qubits with high-performance computing. The partnership will focus on hardware, cryogenic electronics, processor fabrication, and hybrid use cases.

🇮🇳 A coalition of U.S. and Indian investors has launched the India Deep Tech Investment Alliance to channel long-term capital and expertise into Indian startups in quantum, semiconductors, space, AI, biotech, and other frontier technologies. Aligned with India’s ₹1,00,000 crore RDI Scheme and the U.S.-India TRUST framework, the alliance will provide funding, mentorship, and global networks.

🇳🇴 Norway has announced a five-year, NOK 1.1 billion (approximately $100M US) quantum technology initiative to boost national competitiveness and security. Managed by the Research Council of Norway, the program will fund research and industry collaboration on quantum computers, communications, and sensors, with a formal call for applications expected in 2026.

🐣 Zapata Computing, which shut down in 2024 after defaulting on financing obligations, has reemerged as Zapata Quantum, completing $3M in bridge funding and converting over $10M of debt into equity. The restructuring preserved more than 50 patents.

💸 IQM Quantum Computers raised $320M in Series B funding, bringing its total capital to $600M. The round, led by Ten Eleven Ventures with support from European investors and pension funds, will fund U.S. expansion, scaling of Finland-based fabrication, and R&D.

🖋️ C-DAC and QuantrolOx signed a Letter of Intent to co-develop quantum computing technologies for government labs and academic research. The partnership will focus on indigenous cryogenic electronics, superconducting hardware, and software stacks.

🧊 Maybell Quantum raised $40M in Series B funding led by Addition to scale its cryogenic and RF infrastructure platforms. The company will expand production and accelerate global deployments across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

💎 IonQ, in collaboration with Element Six, announced the development of quantum-grade synthetic diamond films compatible with standard semiconductor manufacturing. This supports industrial-scale production of diamond-based devices for quantum memories, photonic interconnects, and hybrid on-chip systems.

🥼 The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $16 million to four teams to design the first phase of the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL), aimed at expanding nationwide access to quantum technologies. Projects include networked quantum computers, a quantum digital twin, and platforms based on trapped ions, photonics, and Rydberg atoms.

🔥 Qubic secured a $925,000 CAD grant from Canada’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) department and the FABrIC program to support a $2.5M project developing cryogenic amplifiers that reduce heat dissipation by 10,000x, a key barrier to scaling quantum computers. 

🇨🇳 Hong Kong’s State Key Laboratories have been restructured under Beijing’s national technology strategy, closing or rebranding weaker labs while launching new ones in priority fields. Two new facilities include the State Key Laboratory of Optical Quantum Materials at the University of Hong Kong and the State Key Laboratory of Quantum Information Technologies and Materials at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

EVENTS.

Sept. 16-18 -- Quantum World Congress 2025 will be held at Capital One Hall in Greater Washington. The event is a chance for the world’s quantum ecosystem to come together and bring a quantum-ready future into focus.

Sept. 24-25 -- Q2B25 Paris at Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris, France.

Sept. 29-Oct. 1 -- Quantum.Tech Europe is taking place in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The event will bring together the whole quantum supply chain to drive forward the commercial applications of Quantum Technologies.

Oct. 6-10 -- 8th International Conference for Young Quantum Information Scientists (YQIS25) will take place in Barcelona, Spain. YQIS is a conference series organized by and for PhD students and early-career researchers working across the broad field of quantum information.

Oct. 8 -- The Fifth Anniversary of The City Quantum & AI Summit will take place at the Mansion House in the City of London this year with the subtitle Race for Growth.

Oct. 8 -- The Quantum Insider, in partnership with the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County and Quantum Coast Capital, will host Quantum Beach 2025, an officially recognized event of the International Year of Quantum (IYQ2025). Register here.

Oct. 13-17 -- Quantum Reference Frames 2025 will bring together leading experts on quantum reference frames and the many related subjects in the first focused event in the new era of quantum frame covariance. QRF 2025 is co-funded by the Quantum Information Structure of Spacetime consortium.

Oct. 19-21 -- Q+AI will be held in New York City. This event will uncover the coming wave of Quantum + AI, include 50+ speakers, daily mentoring sessions and 16 sessions, one continuous track.

Nov. 10-12 -- European Quantum Technologies Conference 2025 will be held at Øksnehallen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dec. 1-4 -- QUEST-IS 2025 Quantum Engineering Sciences and Technologies for Industry and Services From Quantum Engineering to Applications for Citizens. EDF Lab, Paris-Saclay, France.