Quantum VC QDNL reached EUR 25 million in the first closing of the new fund

VC investment in quantum computing has dropped by 50% last year Funds have shifted in favor of Generative AI, falling from $2.2 billion in 2022 to $1.2 billion, according to the State of Quantum 2024 report. However, government quantum spending was projected to reach $40 billion over the next decade. Now a new VC European fund hopes to capitalize on this trend.

It is idiosyncratically named QDNL Contributions raised the first close of a €60m global fund for early-stage quant startups to €25m.

However, QDNL plans to expand beyond the country’s borders and invest more internationally.

The firm’s previous €15 million fund focused on the Dutch quantum ecosystem, supporting startups including Qblox, QuantWare, QphoX and Q*Bird.

Speaking to TechCrunch, Ton van ‘t Noordende, general partner at QDNL Participations, said: “Quantum is a global field. In the last decade, there has been incredible research, and we’ve seen the emergence of a new, startup ecosystem with 600 or more companies emerging. Also, more than 42 billion dollars have been invested by more than 20 governments in the last two to three years. So it built the infrastructure, the clean rooms, the facilities and de-risked the technology.

The appearance of QDNL is the latest sign that the Netherlands is making a play to become a major Quantum computing ecosystem, and the government (with EU funding) has already backed a whole initiative. So much for Delta NLwhich simply becomes an investor in QDNL.

Its team includes quantum computing pioneer Chad Righetti as a venture partner in the US, and specialist quantum VC in London Chris Kaczmarek, who joined as an investment director from quantum VC firm 2xN. They join advisors Nadia Karlsten (CEO of the Danish Center for Artificial Innovation) and Charles Markus of the University of Washington.

Quantum computing has had a rough start to the year, with both Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang sounding off. fall down When will Quantum arrive? But Nvidia made a quick turnaround and announced Quantum exclusive Nvidia Day at its event in March.