Insider Brief
- Finland’s Coherence Quantum raised €2.78 million in seed funding to develop cryogenic signalling and control infrastructure for scaling solid-state quantum computers.
- The Aalto University spinout is developing signal conditioning and higher-density interfaces to manage wiring, heat and noise as qubit counts increase.
- Lifeline Ventures led the round, with participation from Mårten Mickos, to fund an Espoo laboratory, product prototypes, manufacturing development, research and hiring.
- Image: Coherence Quantum founding team. (Provided)
PRESS RELEASE — Coherence Quantum, a Finnish quantum hardware company originating from Aalto University’s Quantum Computing and Devices (QCD) group, has raised €2.78 million in seed funding to develop a new approach to the cryogenic infrastructure surrounding solid-state quantum processors.
The €2.78 million round is led by Helsinki-based early-stage investor Lifeline Ventures, with participation from technology entrepreneur Mårten Mickos.
Quantum computers are being developed to tackle calculations that are beyond the practical reach of today’s computers, with potential applications ranging from discovering new materials and medicines to modelling complex physical systems. Reaching that point will require machines with far more usable qubits than today’s systems.
But adding more qubits creates another scaling problem: everything needed to control them. As quantum processors grow, more control and readout signals need to reach the quantum processing unit (QPU).
Conventional approaches require more wiring and signal-conditioning hardware inside a system with very limited space and cooling power. At the same time, the qubit environment has to remain protected from thermal noise and other disturbances that can affect performance.
Coherence Quantum is developing an integrated cryogenic signalling and control platform to address this scaling challenge.
Its first technologies focus on cryogenic signal conditioning, helping protect the environment around the qubit. From there, the company is developing higher-density signal interfaces and working towards bringing more control functionality inside the cryostat and closer to the quantum processing unit.
“Quantum computers won’t scale by adding qubits alone. The infrastructure around them has to scale too,” said Aashish Sah, CEO and co-founder of Coherence Quantum. “We’re starting with signal conditioning and building towards higher-density interfaces and, ultimately, more integrated cryogenic control. Our aim is to give quantum-computer builders an architecture that can support larger systems without wiring, cooling requirements, and complexity growing at the same rate.”
The technology builds on research originating from Aalto University’s QCD group. Coherence Quantum’s team brings together expertise in quantum physics, cryogenics, RF and microwave engineering, electronics and product development. The team has spent more than two years on focused research and experimental development of the technologies underpinning its cryogenic signalling and control platform, with multiple generations of cryogenic prototypes designed, fabricated, and tested, including validation in dilution refrigerators using qubit systems.
Coherence Quantum’s founding team includes Sah; CTO Suman Kundu, an experimental quantum physicist who played a key role in building and setting up Aalto University’s 20-qubit Q20 quantum computer; and CPO Erkki Soininen, who previously held a product leadership role at cryogenics company Bluefors. The company is also supported by founding advisor Mikko Möttönen, a professor of quantum technology at Aalto University.
The company is building dedicated R&D, testing and manufacturing capabilities in Espoo, Finland, close to Aalto University and Finland’s growing quantum technology ecosystem.
“The quantum industry has proved that increasingly capable processors can be built. The next challenge is building the infrastructure that allows them to scale. Coherence Quantum is going after a fundamental part of that problem,” said Petteri Koponen of Lifeline Ventures. “They have an exceptional technical team with a clear view of where the industry is heading and the ambition to build far more than a single component. If quantum computers are going to scale, the architecture around the qubits has to scale with them, and we’re backing them to become a key part of how larger quantum computers are built.”
The €2.78 million will be used to establish Coherence Quantum’s lab in Espoo, build its first product prototypes and manufacturing process, continue R&D, and grow the team.
“Coherence Quantum is addressing a pressing need in quantum computing, supporting large numbers of qubits while managing the growing challenges of heat, noise and complexity,” said Mårten Mickos, technology entrepreneur and investor in Coherence Quantum. “This type of sophisticated technology is needed to turn quantum computing into practical and scalable systems. The team behind Coherence Quantum is impressive, and I am delighted to be an investor and supporter.”
Coherence Quantum’s long-term ambition is to help establish a standardised blueprint for the cryogenic signalling and control stack, bringing its own technologies together with complementary technologies from across the quantum ecosystem.