Finland’s IQM is the first European quantum company to go public through a SPAC
The deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Real Asset Acquisition values IQM at around $1.8bn.
Finland’s IQM Quantum Computers and Real Asset Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), has entered into a definitive merger agreement, which will see IQM become a public company listed on the US Nasdaq.
The resulting funding will support IQM’s technology and commercial development of fault-tolerance quantum computing. IQM says it is also considering a dual listing that would see IQM ordinary shares traded on the Helsinki exchange.
IQM builds full-stack, open architecture systems that can be deployed on-premises or accessed through the cloud. The transaction values IQM at a cash equivalent of approximately $1.8bn.
Founded by a group of scientists back in 2018 with the goal of building the best quantum processing units (QPUs), IQM evolved into building and delivering full-stack quantum computers. In September last year, it raised the largest Series B round ever in the quantum space anywhere outside the US, at around $320m. This brought its funding to $600m. The funding round was led by US cybersecurity-focused investment firm Ten Eleven Ventures.
“We built IQM from the ground up with one goal – to put functional quantum computers in the hands of people who will use them to solve real-world problems,” said Jan Goetz, founder and CEO, IQM. “Not another day. Now. Quantum computing has become a science. It’s a field where customers own, operate, and build on advanced quantum computers. That’s what IQM makes possible.”
“IQM has built and brought more quantum systems on-premise than any other competitor – to some of the most demanding research centers in the world,” said Peter Ort, CEO and co-chairman, Real Asset Acquisition. “This transaction will accelerate the growth of a company that has already earned its position in the industry, with real customers, using real quantum systems, today.”
“Going public is not a change of direction but an acceleration,” said Sierk Poetting, chairman of IQM’s Board of Directors. “The board stands fully behind IQM’s mission and goals to make quantum infrastructure as basic and accessible as classical computing.”
IQM says that existing shareholders will not sell shares or receive any cash consideration as part of the transaction and that “all IQM shareholders are bound by a customary closing agreement at the end of this transaction”.
This is happening as the quantum market heats up, as commercial applications start to appear. According to Bloomberg, other quantum companies that want to go public include Canada’s Xanadu, Singapore’s Horizon Quantum Computing and Honeywell-owned Quantinuum. Earlier this month Infleqtion went public on the New York Stock Exchange again through a SPAC.
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