French quantum startup Quandela has unveiled a 12-qubit photonic quantum computer named Belenos.

Offering 4,000 times more computing power than its predecessor, according to the startup, with the first integrated version of the new system set to be delivered to EuroHPC/GENCI and operated at the CEA’s Très Grand Centre de Calcul (TGCC) by the end of 2025.

Currently, the quantum computer is available via the cloud for more than 1,200 researchers across 30 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia. Quandela said Belenos supports quantum machine learning and hybrid HPC-quantum applications across structural mechanics, materials science, and meteorology.

Quandela has already announced plans to further double the number of qubits its system offers by 2026, with the release of its upcoming Canopus machine. Within three years, the startup plans to develop a quantum computer with more than 40 qubits.

“We are extremely proud of this new development. Cloud access to Belenos now offers to our partners the possibility to explore use cases where the speed of calculation and the number of computational operations per data point are essential; these capabilities, offered by Belenos, are inaccessible to the competition,” said Niccolo Somaschi, co-founder and CEO of Quandela. “This paves the way for concrete applications in machine learning and at the interface between AI and quantum, in sectors that are as varied as they are strategic for the future.”

Founded in 2017, Paris-based Quandela unveiled its 2-qubit MosaiQ photonic quantum computer in 2022. That system was supercooled to up to -265°C (-445°F) but used beams of light and photonics principles to run quantum applications, meaning it avoided the need for cryogenic supercooling and could therefore slot into a standard 19” rack system.

In March 2023, French data center firm OVHcloud purchased a MosaiQ quantum computer, which it deployed from its data center in Croix, France.