Delft, The Netherlands – 12 May 2026 – Q*Bird, the Dutch leader in quantum secure communication, is proud to be part of Photonics for Quantum (P4Q), a new €50 million European pilot line launching in 2026 to industrialise the photonic chip technologies that will power the next generation of quantum systems. Coordinated by the University of Twente and spanning 12 European countries, P4Q brings together 29 leading partners from across industry, research and technology development to solve one of the most urgent challenges in quantum, how to turn high-performance photonic components from promising lab demonstrations into reliable, manufacturable building blocks at scale for real-world deployment. For quantum communication, that challenge is especially critical. From entangled photon generation to fast modulation and low-loss transmission, photonic integrated circuits are becoming foundational to the future of secure quantum networks. But to move from prototypes to operational infrastructure, these technologies must become reproducible, scalable and ready for industrial manufacturing. P4Q is designed to make exactly that transition possible. Building the missing link between photonics research and deployed quantum networks Quantum photonic chips sit at the heart of many of Europe’s most strategic emerging technologies, including quantum secure communications, quantum sensing and quantum computing. Yet despite rapid innovation, the path from design to repeatable production remains one of the sector’s biggest barriers to industrialisation. “The challenge is not building a single high-performance component,” said Dr. Joshua Slater, CTO of Q*Bird. “It is ensuring that components perform consistently, under operational conditions and are producible at high-yield. That is what will define telecom-grade quantum infrastructure.” P4Q addresses this directly by developing the manufacturing methods, design frameworks and packaging capabilities needed to produce quantum photonic chips consistently and at scale. Across the project, partners will develop Process Design Kits (PDKs) and Assembly Design Kits (ADKs), while advancing multiple photonic material platforms including silicon nitride (SiN), thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) and alumina (AlOx). The ambition is clear to bring critical technologies to TRL-8 and MRL-8, enabling large-scale demonstration and paving the way for industrial uptake across Europe’s quantum ecosystem, while reinforcing Europe’s technological sovereignty. Q*Bird drives the quantum secure communication use case Within the project, Q*Bird takes on a key role as a lead user for the quantum communication use case. In this position, Q*Bird ensures that the photonic technologies developed in P4Q are aligned with the system-level requirements of operational quantum communication networks. Its contribution spans several core activities. Together with partners including Thales, Thales Alenia Space, TNO, Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Ligentec, and the University of Twente, Q*Bird will work on the designs and perform system-level testing for photonic integrated circuits tailored to quantum secure communication. This includes evaluation of entanglement quality and quantum teleportation capability. This role places Q*Bird at the interface between component innovation and deployed quantum infrastructure, helping translate chip-level advances into technologies that can perform under real operational conditions. “Reliability and interoperability are not optional features,” added Remon Berrevoets, CTIO and Co-Founder of Q*Bird. “They are prerequisites for any infrastructure that aims to operate at a national or European level. With P4Q, we are embedding those principles directly into the hardware layer.” Field-proven quantum networks shaping next-generation hardware Q*Bird’s contribution to P4Q is grounded in real-world deployment. Q*Bird has already implemented multiple operational MDI-QKD networks across Europe in high-security environments, including government, telecom, research and critical infrastructure. These deployments include multi-node metropolitan networks using hub-and-spoke architectures, enabling secure and scalable quantum key distribution without trusted nodes. “Q*Bird is not developing technology in isolation,” said Remon Berrevoets, CTIO and Co-Founder of Q*Bird. “We are deploying systems in environments where reliability, scalability and security are critical. That experience directly informs how we design the next generation of photonic hardware.” From pilot line to industrial-grade quantum systems For Q*Bird, participation in P4Q is not only a strategic research collaboration, but a direct step toward strengthening its industrial-grade quantum communication capabilities. The project enables the advancement of photonic technologies that are critical for scaling quantum secure communication systems, supporting higher performance, improved integration and deployment across operational networks. “Quantum secure infrastructure is defined by what can be deployed, not what can be demonstrated. It requires components that can be manufactured reliably, integrated efficiently and deployed at scale,” said Dr. Joshua Slater, CTO of Q*Bird. “Through P4Q, we are helping shape the photonic hardware that future quantum communication systems will depend on. This is a vital step in turning quantum networking from bespoke engineering into an industrial reality.” Scaling quantum secure infrastructure for a sovereign Europe P4Q is supported by €25 million from Europe, matched by €25 million from national governments across the participating countries. It reflects a broader European commitment to strengthening sovereignty in quantum technologies and securing the manufacturing capabilities needed to remain globally competitive. With ever evolving threats, quantum communication systems being deployed in operational networks, the focus now shifts to scaling infrastructure. This requires increasing reliance on advanced photonic hardware that can deliver performance, interoperability and manufacturability in equal measure, ensuring resilience against both cyber and future quantum-enabled adversaries. “Europe must not only invent quantum technologies, it must also build the capability to manufacture and scale them,” said Dr. Ingrid Romijn, CEO and Co-Founder of Q*Bird. “P4Q brings together the right expertise across the value chain to make that happen. For Q*Bird, it is an opportunity to help define the hardware foundations of Europe’s future quantum communication infrastructure.” By connecting research excellence with industrial execution, the initiative accelerates the transition from isolated breakthroughs to deployable systems, opening the way for resilient quantum devices in communications, sensing and computing. For Q*Bird, the project reinforces a clear mission to build secure, scalable and future-ready quantum communication systems for Europe and beyond. “With P4Q now underway, Q*Bird is helping lay the photonic foundations for the next era of quantum secure infrastructure, where industrial-grade performance, trusted security and scalable manufacturing go hand in hand,” adds Remon Berrevoets, CTIO and Co-Founder of Q*Bird. European collaboration across the full quantum value chain P4Q brings together a broad consortium spanning research institutes, semiconductor foundries, deep-tech companies and system integrators across Europe, coordinated by the University of Twente. For a full overview of the consortium and project scope, please refer to the official announcement by the University of Twente (read here). In the Netherlands, P4Q is supported by Oost NL and financially enabled by QDNL, Nanolab NL and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.   About Q*Bird:  Q*Bird is a leader in quantum-secure communication, based in Delft, The Netherlands. We provide cutting-edge solutions and expert support to ensure your data security. Our unique technology enables ultra-secure communication networks for critical infrastructure and commercial use. Q*Bird’s network technology uses the laws of quantum physics to provide proven secure cryptography keys that are immune to interception, ensuring your data remains safe from eavesdropping. Our Falqon® Series delivers a next-generation solution for Measurement Device Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDI-QKD), offering unequalled security, scalability and flexibility without relying on trusted nodes, ensuring your data stays protected in transit, now and into the quantum future. As we secure today’s networks against quantum threats, we are building toward the future, developing technologies that will enable the quantum internet, including connectivity solutions for quantum processors, modems and sensors. This ensures organisations are prepared for the advent of the quantum internet and ready to harness its full potential. Join us at the forefront of quantum innovation and learn how the Falqon® Series can protect your organisation from data breaches and future-proof your network security against quantum threats! For more information, visit www.q-bird.com, contact info@q-bird.com, or follow Q*Bird on LinkedIn. Media Relations Contact: Milu Sini Lal, MSc., Marketing & Communication Specialist milu@q-bird.com

Hamburg / Innsbruck, 07.05.2026 – A group of physicists at ParityQC and the University of Innsbruck has introduced the Parity Unfolded Distillation Architecture, a fault-tolerant quantum computing scheme that significantly lowers the required resource overhead. Achieving useful and universal quantum computation requires a combination of Clifford gates and at least one non-Clifford gate. While Clifford gates form the robust backbone of quantum error correction and are relatively easy to implement fault-tolerantly in standard schemes compatible with planar layouts, non-Clifford gates are notoriously difficult to protect. They are highly susceptible to noise and typically cannot be applied fault-tolerantly in two-dimensional architectures without significant overhead. The dominant modern approach is magic state distillation, a resource-intensive workaround where many imperfect non-Clifford states are generated and combined into a smaller number of higher-quality non-Clifford states. While the most common approach involves only a single non-Clifford gate known as a T gate, the universal gate set can be further supplemented with additional non-Clifford gates, typically sampled from levels of the Clifford hierarchy. In the latest publication “Parity-unfolded distillation architecture for noise-biased platforms”, a group of researchers at ParityQC and the University of Innsbruck (Konstantin Tiurev, Christoph Fleckenstein, Christophe Goeller, Paul Schnabl, Matthias Traube, Nitica Sakharwade, Anette Messinger, Josua Unger, and Wolfgang Lechner) devised hardware-friendly protocols for distilling various non-Clifford gates in hardware platform dominated by one type of noise. Key features of the proposed architecture include: Climbing up the Clifford hierarchy: The scheme provides a unified framework and constructive schemes for distilling rotation gates from arbitrary level of the Clifford hierarchy. Unfolding to planar layouts: The architecture is compatible with two-dimensional qubit architectures that allow for nearest-neighbor interactions only. While no-go theorems limit the fault-tolerant implementation of gates from higher levels of the Clifford hierarchy to higher-dimensional qubit connectivity, the combination of biased noise and the introduced parity-unfolding procedure allows to implement all such gates in two-dimensional layouts. Efficient gate synthesis: An arbitrary rotation of a qubit state requires decomposition into a finite sequence of discrete gates. We show that supplementing the standard Clifford+T gate set with parity-unfolded gates from higher levels of the Clifford hierarchy allows to reduce both the overall resource overheads and the total error of logical gates, hence improving two most important metrics for universal fault-tolerant quantum computing. The pre-print “Parity-unfolded distillation architecture for noise-biased platforms”, authored by Konstantin Tiurev, Christoph Fleckenstein, Christophe Goeller, Paul Schnabl, Matthias Traube, Nitica Sakharwade, Anette Messinger, Josua Unger, and Wolfgang Lechner, is now available here. The press release and additional information about ParityQC are available here.

Quantum computing scale-up eleQtron secures €57 million in one of the largest Series A funding rounds worldwide   One of the largest Series A funding rounds in quantum computing worldwide. Companies of Schwarz Group as lead investor. Additional participation from new and existing investors, including Earlybird. More than €54 million in signed contracts underline strong commercial demand.   Siegen/Hamburg, May 5, 2026 – Deep-tech company eleQtron, a developer of trapped-ion quantum computers, has successfully closed a €57 million Series A funding round. This funding round marks a significant step towards the industrial scaling of eleQtron’s technology and underscores the growing momentum in the global race to commercialise quantum computing. It ranks among the largest Series A funding rounds in quantum computing worldwide and clearly positions eleQtron as one of the most ambitious European players in the international arena. The round is led by Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group, an international leader in the retail industry. The EIC Fund of the European Innovation Council (EIC) is also among the key investors. Additional participation comes from existing investors such as Earlybird, as well as new investors including French VC firm Ankaa Ventures, laser equipment specialist Precitec, and development banks NRW.BANK (Düsseldorf) and IFB Hamburg. The funding package also includes individual grants. eleQtron already has an order backlog of more than €54 million, underlining growing commercial demand and placing the company among the few quantum computing players with meaningful commercial traction. The new capital will be used to build scalable production capacity, expand cloud-based access to eleQtron’s systems, and further advance development its hardware platform. In parallel, eleQtron is advancing its proprietary MAGIC technology (Magnetic Gradient Induced Coupling), which enables highly precise control of trapped ions using miniaturized microwave technology — providing a clear path toward scalable quantum computers. “Quantum computing is transitioning from a research-driven technology to an industrially usable infrastructure. With this funding, we are accelerating that transition and building systems that will solve real-world industrial problems,” said Jan Henrik Leisse, CEO and Co-founder of eleQtron.   Scaling technology for industrial applications Founded in 2020, eleQtron combines research-based technology development with a strong focus on industrial scaling and commercialization. Quantum computing is increasingly being recognized as a critical component of digital infrastructure — comparable to data centers, networks, or AI platforms. This investment strengthens eleQtron’s position as a provider of scalable quantum computing systems for industrial applications. With the capital from the consortium around the companies of Schwarz Group as lead investor, the commercialization of the product’s transition from the laboratory environment to industrial practice will now be significantly accelerated. “Digital sovereignty is a top priority for us and our partners. Following our strategic decisions in the areas of cloud and artificial intelligence, the investment in eleQtron is a logical building block. We want to ensure that we remain independent in key technologies and actively shape forward-looking, secure IT infrastructures right here in Germany,” says Christian Müller, Co-CEO of Schwarz Digits. “eleQtron combines a clearly differentiated technology with a compelling approach to scaling and commercializing quantum computing. In particular, the combination of proprietary technology and cloud-based access demonstrates how research can translate into real-world applications. We are excited to continue supporting the company in its next phase of growth,” said Dr. Hendrik Brandis, Co-Founder & Partner, Earlybird. “Quantum computing is entering a crucial phase of industrialisation. Companies such as eleQtron, which combine scientific excellence with a clear focus on scalable systems, are key to translating Europe’s strengths into globally competitive technologies,” emphasises Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board.   About eleQtron eleQtron was founded in 2020 as a spin-off from the University of Siegen and develops quantum processors based on trapped ions. Its proprietary MAGIC technology (Magnetic Gradient Induced Coupling) enables highly precise and scalable control of qubits using microwaves. eleQtron employs more than 100 people and partners with leading European research and computing centers to advance the industrial use of quantum computing. About Schwarz Digits Schwarz Digits is the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group and offers impressive digital products and services that meet the high German data protection standards. With the aim of achieving the greatest possible digital sovereignty, Schwarz Digits provides the IT infrastructure and solutions for the extensive ecosystem of Schwarz Group’s companies and develops it for the future. Schwarz Digits’ sovereign core services include Cloud, Cyber Security, Data and AI, Communication and Workspace. In addition, Schwarz Digits creates optimal conditions for the development of trend-setting innovations for end customers, companies, and public sector organizations. About EIC Fund The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is a deep tech investor across all technologies. The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap, to support companies in the development and commercialisation of disruptive technologies. With its large network of capital providers and strategic partners it shares risk and crowds in market players. More information: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-fund   Press contact Anja Bräuning Corporate Communications & Marketing +49 163 8070609 anja.braeuning@eleqtron.com Andreas Grafemeyer Public Relations, The Trailblazers +49 170 9150679 andreas@thetrailblazers.de   Website Klicken Sie auf den unteren Button, um den Inhalt von eleqtron.com zu laden. Inhalt laden