Orange Quantum Systems and the EIC Accelerator: Testing Qubits

Orange Quantum Systems, known as OrangeQS, is a Delft company that builds automated systems to test superconducting quantum chips, replacing weeks of work by physicists in a cryogenic laboratory with a machine that runs standard diagnostics after a chip is inserted. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's March 2023 cut-off and received an EU grant of €2.50 million for HTQC-Diagnostics, a €3.57 million project that ran from August 2023 to June 2025, according to CORDIS. The aim was to move from a single-chip research prototype, testing two chips of five qubits a week, towards multi-chip testing with a hundred times the throughput.

The final report says the project ran in three phases: a demonstrator testing two five-qubit chips per cycle, a prototype for larger and more complex chips, and a qualification phase in which OrangeQS MAX "was publicly launched and tested at the site of a pilot customer", according to the CORDIS reporting page. Test time fell from about a day per qubit to two to three hours. The pilot customer required a throughput of 150 qubits in ten days; because a 150-qubit processor was hard to obtain, readiness was shown on the customer's 20-qubit test chips.

Where OrangeQS Stands Now

In April 2026 OrangeQS closed its seed round at €15 million, up from €12 million at the first close in summer 2025, with the extra money coming from the EIC Fund, whose investor Zeina Chebli joined the board, according to The Quantum Insider. It launched a partnership programme with Rigetti, QuantWare and Peak Quantum; IQM Quantum Computers joined in September 2026, and OrangeQS expanded into testing spin-qubit chips with Equal1 and Quobly, according to its news page. Revenue and the number of systems sold are not public.

The Technology: Automated Chip Characterisation

Before a quantum chip goes into a computer, each qubit's frequencies, coherence times and gate quality must be measured at temperatures near absolute zero. OrangeQS combines cryogenics, control electronics and its own software to run these measurements automatically. Its roadmap runs from multi-chip testing to wafer-level testing, which it says would raise throughput ten thousand-fold. As chipmakers move towards larger production volumes, the test step becomes a bottleneck, which is the market OrangeQS is betting on.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The award promised a high-throughput diagnostics system tested at industrial scale. The system was built through three phases, launched as a product and qualified with a pilot customer. The 150-qubit target was demonstrated only on 20-qubit chips, and the hundredfold throughput goal is not quantified in the report.

1. Multi-chip demonstratorDeliveredTwo chips per cycle.
2. Product launchDeliveredOrangeQS MAX.
3. Pilot qualificationDeliveredAt customer site.
4. 150-qubit scalePartialShown on 20-qubit chips.

The Money

The EU paid 70% of the project. The seed round is six times the EIC grant, and the EIC Fund invested ten months after the grant project ended. The size of the EIC Fund's stake was not disclosed.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Europe has strong quantum research and a growing group of chipmakers, including IQM, QuantWare and Quobly. Test equipment is part of the supply chain that decides where quantum chips are made. OrangeQS, a Dutch supplier that has partnered with several of them, is the kind of company the EIC was set up to back.

The Verdict

Orange Quantum Systems and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.