Dublin-based Equal1, a quantum semiconductor company, today announced it has raised €51 million ($60 million) to accelerate development of scalable, silicon-based quantum computers and deployment of its datacenter-ready Bell-1 quantum server.
The round was led by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), with participation from Atlantic Bridge, the European Innovation Council Fund, Matterwave Ventures, Enterprise Ireland, Elkstone and TNO Ventures.
“This $60 million in funding marks the transition of Equal1 from development to deployment,” says Jason Lynch, CEO of Equal1. “As AI pushes classical computing into power and cost limits, quantum is the way forward, but only if it can be manufactured and deployed like the rest of the stack. By building quantum processors on standard silicon, we’re turning quantum from bespoke hardware into deployable infrastructure – positioning Equal1 as the quantum standard for HPC.”
When considering the sector context, Equal1’s new round positions the Dublin-based company among a cohort of European quantum startups attracting capital in 2025, positioning in the larger end of raises in the past year.
The most significant round reported was secured by IQM Quantum Computers in Espoo, Finland, which raised €275 million to scale its superconducting quantum computers and expand internationally. In the UK, Phasecraft closed a €29 million Series B to advance quantum algorithms for real-world industrial use cases, while Dutch hardware company QuiX Quantum raised €15 million to deliver its first-generation universal photonic quantum computer.
Earlier-stage infrastructure plays include Delft-based Orange Quantum Systems, which secured €12 million to commercialise quantum chip-testing technology, alongside smaller seed and pre-Seed rounds such as QFX (€2.2 million), FirstQFM (€1.2 million), and Zurich-based YQuantum (€160k).
Taken together, these announcements represent approximately €330 million in disclosed funding flowing into European quantum technologies during 2025.
Against this backdrop, Equal1’s raise stands out as one of the larger late-development rounds outside of Finland and adds to Ireland’s comparatively smaller but growing footprint.
“This commitment aligns with ISIF’s double bottom line mandate to invest commercially while supporting economic activity and employment in Ireland. Backing innovative Irish companies like Equal1 as they scale internationally is central to ISIF’s scaling indigenous businesses investment theme.
“Equal1 is already making its mark in silicon-based quantum technology and we look forward to working with Equal1 as it enters its next phase, helping to realise its vision for the advancement of quantum computing technology in Ireland,” adds Brian O’Connor, Senior Investment Director at ISIF.
Founded in 2017, Equal1 is an innovator in silicon-powered quantum computing tech. Its UnityQ processor family, the world’s first hybrid quantum-classical silicon-on-chip (QSoC) technology, integrates all quantum components in a rack-mounted quantum server.
By consolidating the entire quantum computing system onto a single chip, Equal1 reportedly reduces the size and cost of quantum computers, transforming their performance and scalability.
McKinsey estimates quantum computing could unlock €85 million ($100 billion) in value by 2035. A key barrier to capturing this value is the cost and specialised infrastructure current technologies demand. Equal1’s approach solves this.
As AI drives exponential growth in compute demand, power and cost are becoming major constraints. Quantum computing promises to go far beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful computers today, unlocking applications from new material discovery for better drugs or batteries, next generation grid optimisation and financial portfolio optimisation.
The company argues that quantum computing will put our current AI compute infrastructure on a more sustainable energy trajectory delivering advantage, not as a replacement, but as a tightly integrated accelerator.
They go on to outline that today’s quantum problem isn’t physics – it’s production. Current quantum computers demand huge investment: custom fabrication, exotic cooling, specialist teams. Equal1 aims to deliver a different model: quantum servers where cost, ease of deployment, power efficiency, and integration are first-order requirements.
“Atlantic Bridge, who has helped build the company since inception, recognised Equal1’s potential to fundamentally change the future of quantum computing,” says Gerry Maguire, Board Director at Equal1 and General Partner at Atlantic Bridge. “This funding milestone is a significant step forward, enabling Equal1 to move from breakthrough innovation to commercialisation, and we are proud to continue supporting the team as they execute on this next phase of growth.“
Equal1 develops its quantum computers using today’s silicon semiconductor industry. This unlocks semiconductor economics: costs that fall with volume, yields that improve with iteration.
The result is Bell·1 – a rack-mounted quantum server for standard datacentre environments.
Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board, adds: “Equal1’s approach – building on standard Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible semiconductor manufacturing – aligns directly with Europe’s semiconductor and quantum ambitions. The EIC Fund is proud to back a European company turning breakthrough science into industrial reality.”
Today’s new round, expected to expand with follow-on investors in the coming months, builds on significant technical and commercial momentum. The funding will:
Deploy Bell·1 into the world’s leading HPC centres
Embed quantum into real workloads
Advance the company roadmap towards millions of on-chip qubits
Scale manufacturing through existing foundry partnerships
Grow the team to deliver production quantum at scale
Amanda Ward, Head of Digital Technologies at Enterprise Ireland shares: “Innovation from pioneering Irish businesses like Equal1 are gaining increasing international recognition and Enterprise Ireland is delighted to have supported the company on each stage of its rapid growth. Our investment is an endorsement of Equal1’s ground-breaking technology, team, and global reach. This investment directly reflects our strategic focus on supporting ambitious companies to scale globally and we look forward to working with Equal1 on their continued growth and scaling plans.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/01/irish-quantum-semiconductor-startup-equal1-closes-e51-million-round-to-scale-silicon-based-quantum-computing/
