Quantonation Launches €220 Million Fund With Eye on Error Correction And Quantum Infrastructure

Insider Brief

• Quantonation has closed a €220 million early-stage fund focused on quantum technologies, more than doubling the size of its first fund and underscoring rising global investment in the sector.
• The Paris-based firm will invest from pre-seed to Series A in quantum computing, sensing, communications, error correction and enabling technologies, with plans to back about 25 startups.
• The fund is supported by institutional and corporate investors including Vertex Holdings, Bpifrance, the European Investment Fund and Novo Holdings, as global quantum funding reached a record $5 billion last year.

Quantonation has closed a €220 million — or, about $240 million US — early-stage fund focused on quantum technologies and more than doubling the size of its first vehicle, a €91 million fund raised in 2022, Sifted reported.

The new fund positions the Paris-based among a small group of global investors dedicated exclusively to quantum science and engineering. Founders say error-correction will be a particular focus for the fund.

According to Sifted, the fund comes as global investments in quantum technologies reached record levels, an increase that reflects growing confidence that quantum computing, sensing and communications are moving closer to commercial viability.

Founded in 2018, Quantonation invests from pre-seed through Series A across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. The firm was an early backer of French quantum computing company Pasqal and Spanish startup Multiverse Computing, which develops quantum-inspired software designed to make artificial intelligence models run more efficiently on classical computers.

A Concentrated Bet on Quantum

Quantonation is one of only a handful of firms globally that focus exclusively on quantum technologies. Sifted reports that Danish venture capital firm 55 North announced a €300 million debut fund last year, highlighting the emergence of specialist capital pools in the sector. Firgun Ventures recently announced a $70 million first close to launch a VC fund focused on early growth-stage quantum technology companies.

Quantonation partner artner Olivier Tonneau told Sifted: “We surpassed our target [of €200m], with strong acceleration in the past six months, which reflected what was happening in the sector.”

The new Quantonation fund is backed by a mix of institutional and corporate investors. Limited partners include Vertex Holdings, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek; French public bank Bpifrance; and Bradley M. Bloom, founder of U.S. private equity firm Berkshire Partners. Other backers include the European Investment Fund, Spanish construction group Grupo ACS, Novo Holdings, Toshiba and growth equity firm Planet First Partners.

The breadth of investors reflects the strategic importance many governments and corporations now place on quantum technologies. Policymakers in Europe, the U.S. and Asia have identified quantum as a critical future capability for computing, communications security and advanced sensing.

Error Correction and Infrastructure

The past year has seen heightened attention on quantum computing in particular, driven in part by large funding rounds in Europe. Finnish scaleup IQM Quantum Computing raised $320 million in a Series B round, while Multiverse Computing secured $215 million in its own Series B, according to Sifted.

Part of that momentum stems from advances in quantum error correction. Today’s quantum computers are highly sensitive to noise and interference, leading to frequent calculation errors. Error correction techniques aim to detect and minimize these mistakes, a step widely seen as essential to building machines capable of solving practical problems beyond the reach of conventional computers.

Sifted reports that error correction will be a focus of Quantonation’s new fund.

 “There are new architectures that optimise error correction from the start, thanks to attributes within the hardware,” Quantonation managing partner Christophe Jurczak told SIfted. “We’re interested to look into the question of: ‘What’s an ideal architecture to do error correction at scale?’”

The firm also plans to invest in so-called enabling technologies. These include networking systems, control electronics and other components that form the broader hardware and software stack required to scale quantum devices. As quantum systems transition from laboratory prototypes to early production environments, these supporting technologies are expected to become more important.

Beyond Quantum Computing

The scope of the fund extends beyond pure quantum computing. According to Sifted, Quantonation has broadened its mandate to include physics-based technologies not strictly tied to quantum processors. Areas of interest include advanced materials and photonics, which underpin both quantum systems and other high-performance industrial applications.

The fund has already invested in 12 companies. These include Australian startup Diraq, which develops quantum computing chips, and Swiss nanomaterials company Chiral.

With the €220 million vehicle, Quantonation plans to back about 25 startups, according to the European tech magazing. Initial investments will range from €200,000 to roughly €12 million, with the capacity to invest up to €20 million in top-performing companies across multiple funding rounds.

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