ETH Spin-off ZuriQ Raises 22.4 Million Euros for Scalable Quantum Computers

The Zurich-based quantum computing startup ZuriQ, a spin-off of ETH Zurich, has closed a seed funding round totaling 22.4 million euros (25.5 million U.S. dollars). The round was led by Quantonation. FORWARD.one, Extantia, Firgun Ventures, and all existing investors also participated.

Startbase had already reported on ZuriQ’s previous funding round back in January 2025. At that time, the startup raised 3.8 million Swiss francs to further develop its novel quantum computer architecture. Just about a year and a half later, this significantly larger seed round follows, with which the company aims to take the next step toward industrially viable quantum computers.

New Architecture Aims to Solve Scalability Problem in Quantum Computing

ZuriQ was spun off in 2024 by Dr. Pavel Hrmo, Dr. Tobias Sägesser, and Dr. Shreyans Jain from Professor Jonathan Home’s lab at ETH Zurich. The company is developing a novel architecture for quantum computers based on so-called trapped-ion qubits.

As early as its first funding round, ZuriQ adopted an innovative approach that combines electric and magnetic fields to make the movement of individual ions significantly more flexible. With the technology now unveiled, the startup is consistently advancing this approach: Instead of traditional one-dimensional ion chains, ZuriQ is relying on a natively two-dimensional trapped-ion architecture that can be scaled much more easily to hundreds or thousands of qubits.

First Demonstrator Already Successfully Built

According to the startup, a functioning demonstrator featuring a 3×3 array of nine individually controllable ions was built in just 18 months. The chips used for this were manufactured in partnership with Infineon and developed in collaboration with researchers at ETH Zurich.

The two-dimensional architecture is expected to enable significantly more powerful quantum processors in the future, thereby paving the way for industrial applications.

Funding to Accelerate Growth and Chip Production

With the 22.4 million euros, ZuriQ plans to further expand its team, hire additional researchers, and scale up chip production. The goal is to develop quantum processors with hundreds of qubits in the coming years and advance the technology toward commercial applications.

Since the last funding round, the company has already grown from four to 18 employees—a sign of the rapid pace of development at this ETH spin-off.

Europe’s quantum ecosystem is gaining momentum

The new funding underscores Europe’s growing importance in the international race to develop high-performance quantum computers. With its own hardware architecture, ZuriQ is pursuing an alternative approach to established trapped-ion systems and aims to overcome one of the industry’s biggest technical hurdles: scaling up to powerful, industrially viable quantum computers.