Insider Brief
- Sparrow Quantum has appointed founder Peter Lodahl as CEO, succeeding Kurt Stokbro, who will remain involved as an executive advisor and board member.
- The company plans to focus on integrating, controlling and connecting its photonic quantum chip technology into larger computing systems designed for fault-tolerant quantum computing.
- Sparrow has strengthened its leadership team with new commercial and financial appointments and established a Scientific Advisory Board to guide its technical roadmap.
PRESS RELEASE — Sparrow Quantum today announced that its founder and former Chief Quantum Officer, Professor Peter Lodahl, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer as part of a planned leadership transition. He succeeds Kurt Stokbro, an early investor who led the company’s development into a growing commercial quantum technology scale-up. Kurt will remain closely involved as Executive Advisor and member of the board.
The appointment completes a strengthening of Sparrow Quantum’s leadership team that began in May, when former Danish Tech Ambassador Anne-Marie Engtoft Meldgaard joined as Chief Commercial Officer. The company has also established a new Scientific Advisory Board to provide external guidance on its technical roadmap.
Having developed and delivered its quantum photonic chip technology, Sparrow Quantum will now focus on the integration, control, and connection of reliable quantum light within larger computing systems. Peter Lodahl is uniquely positioned to lead that work. As a world-leading expert in photonic quantum technology, his research has been instrumental in establishing Sparrow’s position in photonic quantum hardware. Since the company spun out of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, it has built world-leading capabilities, an ambitious team, and growing engagement from customers and partners.
“Kurt has been instrumental in turning Sparrow’s scientific foundations into a growing technology company. He helped build the organisation, secure its financial foundation and bring its first products to customers,” said Niels Christian Nielsen, Chair of the Board of Sparrow Quantum. “Peter now brings the scientific vision behind Sparrow and a deep understanding of the technical milestones that will shape its next phase. Supported by a strengthened leadership team, he is well positioned to lead that work. We are pleased that Kurt will continue contributing his experience as Executive Advisor.”
“We founded Sparrow to tackle one of the fundamental challenges in photonic quantum computing: producing high-quality quantum light reliably and on demand,” said Peter Lodahl, CEO of Sparrow Quantum. “With our technology now in customers’ hands, our next task is to bring these capabilities into architectures designed for fault-tolerant quantum computing. That means addressing how photons are generated, controlled and connected without an explosion in hardware requirements. Kurt has helped build the company that makes this next step possible. I look forward to working with our team and partners to turn our roadmap into working systems.”
“I am proud of what we have built together: a company bringing exceptional research into products used by quantum technology teams around the world,” said Kurt Stokbro. “Peter has shaped Sparrow’s technology and ambition from the beginning, and I am pleased to hand over to him as the company takes its next steps. I look forward to supporting him and the team as Executive Advisor.”
Peter Lodahl will be supported by recent additions to the executive team: Anne-Marie Engtoft Meldgaard as Chief Commercial Officer, Andreas Olesen as Vice President of Finance, and Larissa Vertchenko, promoted to Chief Technology & Operations Officer. Together, the team combines scientific leadership with commercial, operational, and financial expertise.
“Sparrow Quantum is an example of how Danish research can grow into a company with global relevance. PensionDanmark invested because we believe the company will make photonic quantum technology accessible for industrial applications. We are pleased to see Peter Lodahl take on the leadership role; his scientific insight and long-term vision will be invaluable on the exciting road ahead,” said Rune Gade Holm, Head of Private Markets at PensionDanmark and Sparrow Quantum Board Member.
Scientific Advisory Board
Sparrow Quantum remains fully committed to its longstanding mission of unlocking scalable quantum systems through deterministic photonics. That’s why the company has also established a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to provide external guidance on the company’s technical roadmap as it advances the photonic architectures needed for future quantum computing systems and quantum interconnects. Its members bring complementary expertise in integrated photonics, quantum computing architectures, fault tolerance, and other quantum computing technologies.
“Having collaborated with and known Peter for nearly three decades, it has been a thrill to see his scientific vision and leadership in academia, and now also in the rapidly expanding quantum industry. I’m excited to support him and the whole team at Sparrow as they advance the frontiers of scalable photonic technologies,” said Professor Mark Saffman, Johannes Rydberg Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison; Chief Scientist for Quantum Information, Infleqtion.