Quantum computing is rapidly transitioning from pioneering work in the lab to the era of industrial development. This new benchmark shows that growth not only continues but accelerates. Innsbruck / New York, April 16, 2026 — The European quantum architecture company ParityQC today announced a new record benchmark implementation of the largest Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT), a cornerstone algorithm with applications in cryptography, financial modeling, and materials science. The achievement was realized using an IBM Quantum Heron processor. This latest showcasing of the ParityQC Architecture processed 52 superconducting qubits, nearly doubling the previous benchmark of 27 trapped-ion qubits, set just 24 months earlier. “This milestone was only possible through the synergy of IBM’s latest quantum hardware and the ParityQC Architecture, which unlocked an exponential improvement in efficiency,” say Wolfgang Lechner and Magdalena Hauser, Co-CEOs of ParityQC. “What we are witnessing is European quantum innovation taking a global lead in translating theoretical potential into real-world performance.” Industrialization of a Pioneering Academic Field Until recently, advances in quantum computing were driven by pioneering academic groups. Today’s announcement proves that quantum computing capabilities continue increasing exponentially. The near doubling of the QFT benchmark indicates that quantum computing progress could be following similar early dynamics of Moore’s Law in classical computing, a development that transformed a research discipline into a global industry.  Quantum computing is undergoing the same transition, becoming a standardized and scalable industrial sector. “Just as the doubling of transistor density once brought the era of the integrated circuit, the doubling of quantum computing capacity marks quantum computing’s entry into its own era of exponential scaling,” says Hermann Hauser, ParityQC investor and co-founder of Acorn and ARM. “ParityQC’s demonstration of their Parity Twine application achieving this QFT benchmark — using IBM quantum hardware — is a promising example of how the application could also extend to enabling hardware-aware implementations of algorithms solving complex, industry-useful optimization problems as our hardware improves along our roadmap,” said Scott Crowder, Vice President, IBM Quantum Adoption. “We’re incredibly proud of this achievement due to the excellent work of hardware and architecture team on both sides. Advancements like these show that progress in quantum technologies begins to follow a predictable path,” comment Wolfgang Lechner and Magdalena Hauser, Co-CEOs of ParityQC. What this Means in Practice ParityQC’s Parity Twine architecture can be used for a wide range of quantum applications. It could help accelerate the simulation of molecular interactions critical to drug discovery, and support highly complex portfolio optimization and risk modeling in finance. In materials science, this opens new possibilities for understanding and simulating highly complex physical systems. As quantum technologies transition into real-world deployment, these capabilities could translate into solving problems that would take today’s most powerful supercomputers years – if they could be solved at all. ParityQC takes a unique approach to quantum computing. The company develops blueprints and the enabling software environment based on the ParityQC Architecture for scalable quantum computers. The recent record underpins their goal to build highly performant quantum devices with hardware developers worldwide in a co-design approach. The ParityQC Architecture reduces the complexity of the hardware design, includes error correction, and simplifies the connectivity. By leveraging the benefits of the architecture in combination with different hardware platforms, ParityQC is working actively together with the quantum ecosystem to continue the path of exponential growth. Key innovations Record implementation of QFT on IBM Heron processor: When applied to the QFT on an IBM Heron r3 processor, the teams achieved the highest process fidelity ever reported for the unitary QFT reaching 52 qubits. Crucially, the team also showed that the performance advantage of Parity Twine scales exponentially (exp(N2)) over the best previously known alternatives, where N is the number of qubits. Substantially reduced gate count and circuit depth: Parity Twine is a circuit compilation approach that substantially reduces both gate count and circuit depth when implementing quantum algorithms – critically, without requiring SWAP gates, which are a major source of overhead and error on many hardware platforms. By eliminating this overhead, Parity Twine allows algorithms to run in fewer steps, with less accumulated noise, and at significantly higher fidelity. Impact of QFT as cornerstone subroutine on quantum computing applications: The end-to-end tested algorithm shows significant improvement towards process fidelity compared to previous implementations. The team selected the Quantum Fourier Transform as their benchmark as it is a cornerstone subroutine that underpins a broad range of quantum computing applications, making it a measure of real-world quantum performance. The results are published on arXiv:2604.12465 About ParityQC As quantum architecture company, ParityQC’s focus is on developing blueprints and operating systems for quantum computers. ParityQC solves the challenges in the scalability of quantum devices by a fundamentally new paradigm which allows for fully programmable quantum chips with simplified design and control, as well as integrated error correction. ParityQC collaborates with hardware partners all over the world to jointly build highly scalable quantum computers for applications ranging from solving optimization problems on NISQ devices to general-purpose, error-corrected quantum computing. parityqc.com   Press contact: Gabriel Hining and Thomas Reiter parityqc@reiterpr.com +43 670 1895066

The Munich-based startup Peak Quantum has secured €2.2 million in fresh capital, bringing its total funding to around €5 million. The capital increase is intended for the development of error-resilient quantum processors and the establishment of a European pilot manufacturing line. The focus is on scalable hardware and industrial applicability. Munich, April 14, 2026 – The Munich quantum computing startup Peak Quantum has closed a €2.2 million pre-seed funding round. Lead investor is Cloudberry Ventures (UK). Additional investors include United Founders, QAI Ventures, Golden Egg Check, as well as several business angels with industry experience. This brings the company’s total funding to more than €5 million, including public funding, among others from the EU Chips Act. The funds will be used to further develop the technology and to establish a European pilot manufacturing line for superconducting quantum processors. Scientific foundation and development expertise The startup was founded in 2024 as a spin-off from the research group of Stefan Filipp at the Walther-Meißner-Institute (WMI), one of Europe’s leading research institutions for superconducting quantum chips. The WMI is part of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and is located on the Garching research campus of the Technical University of Munich. Peak Quantum’s team combines expertise across the entire value chain, from chip design and fabrication to integration into quantum systems. Peak Quantum is part of Munich Quantum Valley, a Bavarian research and innovation initiative connecting academia and industry in quantum computing. The startup is also supported by UnternehmerTUM, one of Europe’s largest centers for innovation and entrepreneurship. At the core of its technological approach is the development of quantum bits (qubits) whose physical architecture suppresses errors already at the hardware level. Conventional quantum processors are considered highly error-prone and therefore require complex post-processing error correction. Peak Quantum follows a fundamentally different approach: error protection is built directly into the hardware design rather than applied afterward. This reduces overall system complexity and may accelerate the path toward practically usable quantum computers. Robust and scalable quantum processors “The quantum computing industry has focused for too long on scaling the number of qubits,” says CEO Leon Koch. “But more qubits do not help if each individual one is unreliable. We are developing processors where error resilience is an intrinsic physical property of the hardware itself.” A key building block is the planned European quantum chip pilot line SUPREME under the EU Chips Act. Peak Quantum has been selected to operate this line, with operations scheduled to start in April 2026. The goal is to establish an industrial infrastructure for the development and manufacturing of quantum chips in Europe. In the long term, this is intended to evolve into a scalable production environment that can also be used by external partners. COO Thomas Luschmann emphasizes: “If Europe wants to play a leading role in quantum computing, it must develop and manufacture the hardware itself. With the pilot line, we are helping ensure that this key technology is built in Europe.” Mahir Sahin, Founder and General Partner at lead investor Cloudberry Ventures, adds: “Europe has a real opportunity to lead in the development of quantum hardware. Peak Quantum is making a decisive contribution.” The former Lead Advisor at Alphabet’s “Moonshot Factory” X notes: “The company is not only developing chips – it is building the infrastructure for a comprehensive European quantum computing ecosystem. These are exactly the kinds of foundational investments we need.” The development of high-performance quantum processors is considered a key enabling technology for numerous applications, including materials research, logistics, security, and industrial optimization. Within this landscape, Peak Quantum positions itself as a provider of core hardware components. “The founding team stands out for its focused, performance-driven mindset, combining strategic vision with attention to detail,” says Bettina Scheibe, Managing Partner at United Founders. “That is the kind of ambition required to become a global market leader. In quantum computing, those who move from theory into practice – and choose to compete internationally – will win.” “With the current financing, we are accelerating our technological development and laying the foundation for industrial manufacturing,” adds CEO Leon Koch. “Our focus is on advancing our chip designs and launching initial pilot projects with partners from industry and research.”   About Peak Quantum Peak Quantum is a Munich-based quantum computing company developing error-resilient superconducting quantum chips for scalable industrial applications. It combines chip design, fabrication, and system integration, and is building a European pilot manufacturing line for superconducting qubits. The focus is on technological sovereignty and enabling practically usable quantum processors. The company was founded in 2024 by a team of scientists with backgrounds at the Technical University of Munich and the Walther-Meißner-Institute, together with experienced entrepreneurial founders. The founding team includes Leon Koch (CEO), Alexander Schult (CFO), Dr. Thomas Luschmann (COO), Dr. Max Werninghaus (CSO), Ivan Tsitsilin (Head of Design), and Kedar Honasoge (Head of Production). Peak Quantum is a spin-off of the Walther-Meißner-Institute – one of Europe’s leading research institutions for superconducting quantum chips – and, as part of Munich Quantum Valley, is embedded in one of Europe’s key innovation ecosystems for quantum computing, connecting academia and industry. Further information: https://peakquantum.de/ Press contact PIABO Communications Maria Urban Executive Unit Director Deep Tech peakquantum@piabo.net