IQM Quantum Computers has announced plans to go public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger.

The deal will see the Finnish quantum computing company merge with Nasdaq-listed Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (RAAQ), a special purpose acquisition company.

The transaction provides IQM with a pre-money valuation of $1.8 billion, while the listing will see IQM become the first publicly traded European quantum company.

SPAC mergers occur when investors create a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, raise money through an initial public offering, and then use it to acquire the startup. The two companies then merge under the startup’s name, with the move allowing the target company to go public quicker than a traditional IPO.

Upon closure of the deal, IQM expects to have more than $450 million in cash on its balance sheet, with approximately $175m of that total being held in RAAQ’s trust account, the IQM said in a statement. The company will also have $134m in proceeds from a PIPE financing deal and an expected $24m from the cash exercise of outstanding IQM warrants prior to the closing.

“We built IQM from the beginning for one purpose — to put working quantum computers in the hands of the people who will use them to solve real problems,” said Jan Goetz, co-founder and CEO of IQM. “Not someday. Now. Quantum computing is a science project no more. It is an industry where customers own, operate, and build on advanced quantum computers. That’s what IQM makes possible.”

Peter Ort, CEO and co-chairman of RAAQ, added: “IQM has built and delivered more on-premises quantum systems than any other competitor — to some of the most demanding research institutions on earth. This transaction will accelerate the growth of a company that has already earned its position in the field, with real customers, running real quantum systems, today.”

Founded in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018, IQM brings full-stack quantum computers and applications to HPCs, research institutes, universities, and business enterprises. The company operates quantum data centers in Finland and Munich, Germany, offering cloud-based access to its systems. It has delivered quantum systems to supercomputing centers in South Korea, Poland, Italy, and Taiwan.

The company says it has sold 21 systems to 13 customers to date, and has manufactured a total of 30 systems.

Rival quantum computing firms D-Wave, Rigetti, IonQ, and Infleqtion have all gone public via SPAC mergers. Xanadu Quantum is in the process of doing so, while Honeywell-backed Quantinuum is set to IPO in the near future.

DCD spoke to IQM for the next upcoming issue of the DCD>Magazine. You can register to read it for free here.