The agreement 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), have entered into a definitive merger agreement, which will see IQM becoming a public company listed on the US Nasdaq.
The resulting funding will support IQM’s technology and commercial development towards fault-tolerance quantum computing. IQM says it is also considering a dual listing that would see IQM’s ordinary shares traded on the Helsinki stock exchange.
IQM builds full stack, open-architecture systems that can be deployed on-premise or be accessed via the cloud. The transaction values IQM at a pre-money equity valuation of around $1.8bn.
Founded by a group of scientists back in 2018 with the aim of creating the best quantum processing units (QPUs), IQM evolved into building and delivering full-stack superconducting quantum computers. In September last year, it raised the largest ever Series B round in the quantum space anywhere outside the US, at around $320m. This brought its funding to date to $600m. The funding round was led by US cybersecurity-focused investment firm Ten Eleven Ventures.
“We built IQM from the beginning for one purpose – to put working quantum computers in the hands of the people who will use them to solve real problems,” said Jan Goetz, co-founder and CEO, IQM. “ Not someday. Now. Quantum computing is a science project no more. It is an industry where customers own, operate, and build on advanced quantum computers. That’s what IQM makes possible.”
“IQM has built and delivered more on-premises quantum systems than any other competitor – to some of the most demanding research institutions on earth,” 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 field, with real customers, running real quantum systems, today.”
“Going public is not a change of direction but is rather 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 foundational and accessible as classical computing.”
IQM says existing shareholders will not sell any shares or receive any cash consideration as part of the transaction and “all material IQM shareholders have committed to a customary lock-up agreement at close of this transaction”.
This is happening as the quantum market heats up, as the commercial applications begin to become apparent. According to Bloomberg, other quantum companies looking to go public include Canada’s Xanadu, Singapore’s Horizon Quantum Computing and Honeywell-owned Quantinuum. Earlier this month Infleqtion debuted on the New York Stock Exchange also via a SPAC.
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