QUOBLY raises €115 million and reaffirms its industrial independence strategy

Six months after entering exclusive negotiations with SEALSQ over a potential majority investment, Grenoble-based quantum computing startup Quobly has secured a €115 million Series A round led by Bpifrance, SEALSQ and STMicroelectronics. The financing allows the company to remain independent while accelerating the industrialisation of its silicon-based quantum computers.

The transaction marks an important development for the French quantum ecosystem. In January, SEALSQ announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding providing for a potential investment of up to $200 million, a transaction that could have given the Swiss group a majority stake in Quobly. The announcement raised questions over the future ownership of one of Europe’s most closely watched quantum computing startups.

Six months later, the outcome looks markedly different.

According to information obtained by FW.MEDIA, Quobly’s determination to build its own industrial and technological ecosystem played a central role in this evolution. Rather than joining a single corporate structure, the company chose a financing model designed to bring together a broader network of industrial, technological and financial partners around its platform.

The composition of the round reflects that strategy. Alongside SEALSQ, the investors include Bpifrance through its Deep Tech 2030 fund, STMicroelectronics, the EIC Fund, ALIAD, Air Liquide’s venture capital arm, Blast and Innovacom. Existing shareholders, including the CEA, CNRS, Quantonation and Supernova Invest, also remain involved.

A financing round prepared well before the SEALSQ discussions

Rather than representing a strategic reversal, the transaction broadly follows the trajectory outlined by Quobly co-founder and CEO Maud Vinet several months ago. In an interview with FW.MEDIA in November 2025, she said the company was preparing to raise approximately €100 million to finance the industrialisation of its technology and its commercial deployment. The final amount has exceeded that initial target.

Quobly’s challenge is no longer confined to demonstrating the scientific feasibility of its approach. Since its creation in 2022, the company has been developing silicon qubits designed to be compatible with manufacturing processes already used by the semiconductor industry. After raising nearly €40 million in seed funding between 2023 and 2025, Quobly says it has validated the main technological building blocks required to manufacture its quantum processors.

The next stage is more demanding: turning scientific progress into an industrial capability.

Three French companies, three technological paths

In France, Quobly is developing alongside Alice & Bob, which recently raised €100 million, and Pasqal, which has secured more than €340 million in funding. The three companies are pursuing distinct approaches to quantum computing.

Alice & Bob is developing superconducting cat qubits, while Pasqal relies on neutral-atom processors. Quobly, for its part, is betting on silicon qubits that could eventually be manufactured using processes derived from the existing semiconductor industry.

Internationally, this places the Grenoble company closer to Quantum Motion, Diraq and Silicon Quantum Computing. All are attempting to use established semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure to address one of the sector’s most difficult problems: producing quantum processors reliably and at industrial scale.

This manufacturing focus also helps explain the growing presence of strategic corporate investors in Quobly’s capital structure. Beyond providing capital, groups such as STMicroelectronics, Air Liquide, Soitec and Orano could contribute to the value chain needed to address fabrication yields, process control, cryogenics and large-scale production. These capabilities, rather than qubit performance alone, will ultimately help determine whether silicon quantum computing can become commercially viable.

The first commercial test expected in 2026

Quobly’s immediate objective is to make its first cloud-accessible quantum computer available by the end of 2026 under the Alloy brand. The system, named Alloy Pioneer, will initially target high-performance computing centres and research organisations. The company then plans to begin deploying its technology within HPC environments from 2027.

Beyond Quobly itself, the transaction illustrates a broader shift within Europe’s quantum sector. Investment has long focused on fundamental research and on demonstrating the viability of competing architectures. Attention is now moving towards industrialisation: manufacturing yields, standardisation, integration with conventional computing infrastructure and the capacity to scale production are becoming nearly as important as scientific performance.

From this perspective, the €115 million round is about more than financing another stage of technological development. Quobly is seeking to position itself as the centre of an industrial ecosystem rather than solely as a quantum processor developer. Remaining independent gives the company greater latitude to assemble that ecosystem across several industrial groups, research institutions and public investors.

For Bpifrance and the corporate investors participating in the round, the stakes therefore extend beyond a single startup. Their involvement reflects an effort to establish European design and manufacturing capabilities in a field increasingly regarded as strategic for computing infrastructure, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

With more than 100 employees, operations in Grenoble, Singapore and Canada, and a growing network of industrial partners, Quobly now has the capital required to tackle the stage at which many deeptech companies stumble: turning a technological breakthrough into a reproducible, commercially viable industrial product.