France, 23 January 2023 – Welinq, a French quantum computing startup based in Paris, closed a $5m funding round. The seed round is led by Quantonation, the first venture capital fund dedicated to quantum technologies. WelinQ also has the support of Runa Capital, the Paris Region, the French National Quantum Initiative, the BPI (French Banque Publique d’Investissement) and the European Commission. 

Welinq was co-founded in 2022 by Tom Darras (CEO) who did its PhD in quantum physics at Sorbonne Université, Julien Laurat (CSO), Eleni Diamanti, and Jean Lautier-Gaud. The startup will use the fund to address the scaling-up of quantum computing. Thanks to its founding team expertise and deep understanding of interconnects as the central component of long-distance quantum information networks and privileged way to scale up quantum computing, Welinq provides solutions for quantum memory and quantum processors interconnection in order to drastically increase those processors computational power and make them quantum accessible at a distance. 

Tom Darras, CEO and co-founder of Welinq comments to Tech Funding News: “Quantum memories have been identified today as the key missing hardware for the scale-up of quantum technologies. Not only must these devices be deployed on the market at the earliest, but they also need to show extremely high performance and robustness if we want them to truly impact industry and society. We are happy to be joined in this project by investors with strong expertise in quantum technologies and who are sharing our ambitions for the future of quantum technologies.” 

Investor quotes

“At Quantonation, we believe that the development of efficient quantum interconnects is a pillar for the whole quantum infrastructure and a path to accelerate real-world applications. The founding team has groundbreaking expertise and a clear path to be impactful. We are excited to start this journey with Welinq,” says Christophe Jurczak.

Dmitry Galperin, a Berlin-based General Partner at Runa Capital adds to French Funding news, “When I first met Welinq’s team I was very impressed by their unique technology and the major impact that it can have on quantum computing scale-up. We are happy to stand with this founding team that gathers diverse backgrounds and a common strong ambition for the future of quantum interconnects.”