Quantum computing, long promised as a revolutionary technology “just around the corner,” is swiftly approaching commercial viability, driven by fierce competition among both startup and established players. At stake is the opportunity to tackle complex challenges unreachable by classical computing, influencing sectors from medicine and cybersecurity to materials science and chemistry. Yet, before quantum technologies can deliver on such ambitious applications, critical hurdles remain—particularly the reliable production of quantum chips able to support large numbers of qubits, the foundational units of quantum information.
While tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon hold prominent positions in the race, nimble startups are proving equally important, boldly addressing innovative chip designs, error-correction methodologies, and connectivity challenges that hamper quantum scalability. A select group of these emerging ventures offer promising, unconventional solutions worth watching closely.
Germany’s Akhetonics embraces an innovative vision, crafting a general-purpose quantum chip driven entirely by photonics. This bold approach earned them €6 million in seed funding from Matterwave Ventures in late 2024.
French quantum computing startup Alice & Bob secured a notable $104 million Series B in January 2025. Unlike firms narrowly focusing on chip designs alone, Alice & Bob develops comprehensive systems grounded in superconducting cat qubits, which promise diminished errors and simplified error correction.
San Francisco-based Atom Computing partners with Microsoft to commercially launch optically trapped neutral-atom quantum computers in 2025. Meanwhile, Amazon recently expanded its quantum horizons by introducing Ocelot, the company’s first quantum processing chip built in collaboration with Caltech—an extension of AWS’s existing quantum computing service Braket.
Veteran quantum computing player D-Wave, publicly listed following a spin-off from the University of British Columbia, relies on quantum annealing delivered by systems such as its Advantage2 prototype. D-Wave’s approach specifically focuses on solving complex optimization problems.
American startup EeroQ bets on helium-based quantum chip designs, a relatively untouched territory, drawing positive attention and investment support from regional authorities. Fujitsu and Japanese research center RIKEN recently debuted a notable 256-qubit superconducting computer, significantly advancing their earlier 64-qubit system.
Google’s latest innovation, announced in December 2024, is the quantum chip Willow, positioned as a major leap for quantum error correction. The company created worldwide buzz through its provocative statement that this new chip’s performance potentially indicates quantum computations occur across parallel universes.
IBM presses forward its quantum ambitions with robust systems like the 1,121-qubit Condor processor and the smaller yet precise Heron chip, fine-tuned towards performance and error reduction.
Despite delays, Intel continues pushing silicon spin-qubit architectures, exemplified by its Tunnel Falls research chip. IonQ, a publicly listed company constructing trapped-ion quantum processors, notably acquired Canada’s networking specialist Entangled Networks to strengthen its connectivity approach.
Finnish quantum computing maker IQM, spun out of Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre, boasts strong European Union funding backing its superconducting systems. Microsoft’s entry, named Majorana, ventures into quantum chips based on a topological quantum architecture.
France-based Pasqal, utilizing neutral atom technology, leveraged Nobel laureate Alain Aspect’s reputation to secure €100 million in its Series B funding round, while PsiQuantum, ambitious designers of a million-qubit photonic machine, introduced “Omega,” a quantum photonic chipset developed with GlobalFoundries in New York.
Barcelona-based Qilimanjaro, producing specialized quantum circuits, gained visibility by winning the Four Years From Now competition at Mobile World Congress in 2024. French startup Quandela, developing photonic quantum computing components, solidified its standing with a €50 million Series B round and French government support.
Quantinuum, a powerful partnership formed through Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum, has announced major strides toward better error correction—positioning its trapped-ion quantum computer line, the H-Series, prominently in the market.
Netherlands-based QuantWare crafted its proprietary quantum processing architecture VIO, enabling a novel approach to tackling scaling challenges. Boston’s QuEra charted its neutral-atom quantum computing direction backed by heavyweight investments from Google and SoftBank.
Rigetti Computing maintains its superconducting quantum strategy, partnering with Taiwan’s Quanta in a multi-million-dollar strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating the commercialization efforts for superconducting systems.
SEEQC, incubated within semiconductor firm Hypres, integrates quantum chips with conventional computing cores, further fueled by a strategic partnership with Nvidia and a $30 million funding round aimed at advancing quantum-assisted drug discovery efforts.
China’s SpinQ pursues transportable quantum computing devices using nuclear magnetic resonance technology, an uncommon strategy in the sector. Canadian startup Xanadu, another photonic innovator, unveiled Aurora—its modular 12-qubit quantum system—after amassing significant investor support and a $1 billion valuation.
As these companies decidedly race toward creating practical quantum computing solutions, the global technology landscape braces for transformational breakthroughs—each promising immense computational power that could redefine industries and reshape technological possibilities.
