Bosch founds start-up for quantum sensor technology

The company has been working on quantum sensor projects since 2018. With the new start-up, Bosch now wants to be able to use this field commercially.

Corporate giant Bosch, which has its legal seat in Stuttgart and headquarters in Gerlingen, has founded a new in-house start-up. This is to take on the commercialization of quantum sensors. The CEO of the newly founded start-up is Katrin Kobe, who holds a doctorate in physics. Currently, the new subsidiary already has 15 employees. The team is expected to grow to more than 20 employees in the coming months. The company is still lacking engineers and business field developers in particular.

Bosch believes that the market for the sensors will soon grow strongly. For example, the market volume for quantum sensors alone is expected to soon reach up to seven billion U.S. dollars. In total, he said, investments of 22 billion U.S. dollars will have flowed into quantum technology worldwide by 2021. That's why the company wants to bundle research results from the past few years in the new startup and then turn them into products to be there for the potential market growth. The company has been working on eight publicly funded quantum sensor technology projects since 2018. With the startup, Bosch now wants to open up this field strategically for itself.

The new CEO Kobe can boast more than 25 years of management experience from activities in various technology companies. She explains, "As a globally positioned company with collaborations and expertise in quantum technology, Bosch is seizing the opportunity to drive this future topic forward in the agile environment of a startup."

Quantum sensors are intended, for example, to help diagnose neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's more accurately and easily. They should also be able to detect nerve impulses in order to control medical prostheses, for example, in the future. "Quantum technology is pushing back the boundaries of what is possible - both in the field of data processing and in sensors," says Jens Fabrowsky, the Bosch board member responsible for semiconductors.