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The construction of the Dutch “national headquarters” for quantum technology has begun. Located at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) campus, the House of Quantum will put scientists, students, entrepreneurs and financiers in close quarters, in hopes of creating a smooth ecosystem that will accelerate the technology’s development and adoption. It will also feature the Living Lab Quantum and Society: an environment where stakeholders come together to develop ethical, legal and social standards surrounding quantum technology.

Credit: Marieke de Lorijn

“With the House of Quantum, we’re taking the next important step in building the best ecosystem for quantum technology in Europe. It’s great to soon have a place where our program comes together physically. This really will be our business card to the world,” says Freeke Heijman, director of Quantum Delta NL, a public-private partnership tasked with bolstering Dutch quantum activities. The consortium was recently awarded 615 million euros in funding from the National Growth Fund.

Source news: Bits&Chips

Quantum Delta NL launches LightSpeed, a program that can connect Dutch quantum startups with 13.6 billion in investment capital, managed by European and U.S. funds. The startups will be guided by Quantum Delta NL’s Investor in Residence Ton van ‘t Noordende (founder PHX, founder and former deep tech investor | 01Ventures).

With LightSpeed, quantum startups will receive personalized tailored assistance to scale their businesses and optimize their attractiveness to investors. Specifically for the project, contact has been made with European and American funds, totalling up to 13.6 billion in investment capital. By helping these startups with everything related to scaling their business and fundraising, rapid scenario planning, cap table assessment and finding investors, Quantum Delta NL wants to increase the number of successful quantum startups founded in the Netherlands. Currently, the country has 7 official quantum startups. This number should grow to 100 by 2028. These companies are considered to become of great value to the Dutch economy.

LightSpeed is built for Dutch quantum startups in all phases, ranging from pre-foundation to series B and everything in between, with a focus on market validation and investment. The LightSpeed-team has led the effort and guided Delft-based quantum modem startup QphoX to successfully raise 2 million euros in funding, right out of stealth. The funding round was led by a European syndicate of top deeptech investors, Quantonation, Speedinvest and High-Tech Gründerfonds, with participation from TU Delft University.

Ambition
Startups and building a business ecosystem are key pillars of the Quantum Delta NL-programme that received 615 million euros from the National Growth Fund last month. Among other things, the programme fuels the further development of the first European quantum computer and a quantum internet, openly accessible to end users in business and social sectors, including education. McKinsey calculated that in the medium term, the programme will lead to a contribution to the gross domestic product of 5 to 7 billion euros and 30,000 high-quality jobs in the Netherlands.

Freeke Heijman, director Quantum Delta NL: “Building a business ecosystem is an important pillar of the Quantum Delta NL programme. We want the scientific knowledge which is developed in our quantum labs, to also lead to new business activity within the Netherlands and Europe. Because of LightSpeed, promising initiatives receive an unprecedented acceleration to scale their idea into a startup or scale up. Central to our guidance is the startup team’s specific needs.”

Ton van ‘t Noordende, Investor in Residence Quantum Delta NL: “Our goal is to make the Netherlands the number one quantum technology startup ecosystem in the world. That’s why LightSpeed is all about the builders. The founders who will actually make the quantum leap. We are there to facilitate their journey and provide the best possible, personalized support and access to top investors worldwide. We take a reverse approach to classic acceleration processes. It is not the stage they are in that counts, but the potential. With our network and support, we make sure they go from zero to 100 quickly.”

Simon Gröblacher, Co-founder QphoX: “LightSpeed is specifically designed to address the toughest question for any startup founder: are you ready to scale and if so, where do you start to discover investment-related parties that can help secure your vision? It has been incredibly helpful for us to take on this challenge with help from inspiring entrepreneurs like Ton van ‘t Noordende.”

Simon Gröblacher works on QphoX’ quantum modem. Photo: Rebekka Mell

Online workshop with ZEISS Quantum Challenge and hybrid conference in combination

Due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the QuApps conference cannot take place as a face-to-face event in March 2021 as originally planned. For this reason, a combination of an online event on March 2, 2021 and a hybrid event from September 13 to 15, 2021 will be held. In this way, both topicality and personal contact, which is very important in this subject area, is guaranteed.

Current research and fields of application of quantum technology

The international QuApps conference deals with the state of the art and the development of quantum technology. The technology is developing rapidly and offers previously unimagined potential for future innovations in business and science. The subject areas include quantum computers, cryptography and quantum sensors. In addition to quantum engineers and researchers, the event is also aimed at business development strategists and trend scouts in industry as well as investors and the interested public. The participants get deep insights into current research and existing applications. The focus of the conference is the exchange with and between renowned experts in quantum technology.

Virtual workshop with expert presentations and award ceremony of the ZEISS Quantum Challenge

QuApps will kick off with the virtual event “QuApps Online: Workshop on Applications on Quantum Technologies” on March 2, 2021. The winners of the ZEISS Quantum Challenge 2020 will also be announced in this context. The idea behind the ZEISS Quantum Challenge is to advance the leap in quantum technology from scientific application from laboratory scale to marketable products.

In 2020, ZEISS launched the Quantum Challenge, a competition dedicated to the use of quantum technologies in sensor and imaging applications in a real setting. To this end, ZEISS has called on the scientific community in the field of quantum technology to face six real challenges in the categories of medical technology, microscopy and industrial metrology. The challenge aimed to identify promising solutions, discuss them among experts and become partners to advance these ideas together. The contributions submitted by numerous participants were evaluated by a jury of experts. The winners have now been determined. As part of the QuApps Online Conference, they will be announced on March 2, 2021 and present their approaches to the professional world.

News item via IVAM