Quandela, founded in 2017 in Massy as a spin-off of France's CNRS and its C2N nanoscience centre, builds quantum computers whose qubits are single photons produced by semiconductor quantum dots. Its EIC project set out to make these photon sources brighter and more reproducible, build faster optical modules to "increase the number of quantum bits to several dozen", develop software and prepare sales, according to the final report on CORDIS.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,499,000 towards a €3.57 million project from January 2023 to December 2024, as shown on CORDIS. The report says Quandela doubled the brightness of its fibre-coupled sources from 9% to 18%, built two prototype systems for routing photons and installed a photonic quantum computer in an industrial data centre. In November 2023 the EIC Fund joined a round of more than €50 million. Quandela has since sold computers to OVHcloud, Exaion and Europe's EuroHPC programme. Its current machines have 12 qubits, and its revenue since 2021 is not public.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Quandela SAS, SIREN 830 721 098, Massy
- Founded
- June 2017
- Co-founders
- Pascale Senellart, Niccolo Somaschi (President), Valérian Giesz (Managing Director)
- Staff
- 50 to 99 (2022 register data)
- Investors
- Bpifrance, OMNES Capital, Quantonation, Serena, Crédit Mutuel Innovation, EIC Fund
- EIC project
- SEPOQC, 1 Jan 2023 to 31 Dec 2024
- EIC funding
- Blended finance: grant plus EIC Fund equity
Where Quandela Stands Now
In 2025 Quandela launched Belenos, a 12-qubit machine it says has 4,000 times the computing power of its 2022 generation and is used by more than 1,200 cloud users in 30 countries. It delivered Lucy, a 12-qubit computer, to the CEA's TGCC supercomputing centre for EuroHPC, which will be coupled to the Joliot-Curie supercomputer, according to The Quantum Insider. In 2026 OVHcloud added Belenos to its quantum platform and Quandela signed a simulation project with Safran, according to its May 2026 press kit.
"To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of installation of a photonic quantum computer in an industrial datacenter."
Quandela, final report to the EICThe Technology: Qubits Made of Light
Quandela's photon sources reached 18% brightness at the end of a fibre while keeping indistinguishability above 95% and purity above 98%, the report says. One demultiplexer prototype split a beam into eight outputs; another routed two pulses within 20 nanoseconds at 98.5% efficiency. Its Ascella cloud computer ran with more than 90% availability. In its October 2024 roadmap Quandela promised the first logical, error-corrected qubits in 2025 and fault-tolerant computing by 2030. Its May 2026 press kit lists no logical qubit demonstration.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The source and routing improvements, the software work and the first commercial installation were delivered. The aim of several dozen qubits was not reached within the project or since: Quandela's newest delivered machines have 12. CORDIS still lists the project as signed.
- Brighter photon sourcesDelivered9% to 18%.
- Fast optical routingPrototypesTwo demultiplexers.
- CommercialisationDeliveredOVHcloud, Exaion, EuroHPC.
- Several dozen qubitsNot reached12 qubits.
The Money
Quandela's last detailed public accounts are for 2021: revenue of €440,000 and a net loss of €493,000, according to Pappers. Its 2022 accounts were filed with a confidentiality declaration and its 2024 accounts in simplified form, according to the official gazette BODACC, so its revenue from selling computers is not public. The Series B also included France 2030 support through the Première Usine programme for its Massy factory.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How much the EIC Fund invested, what Quandela earns from its computers, what EuroHPC paid for Lucy and whether the 2025 logical qubit milestone was met are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Quandela's Lucy was assembled in the EU with 80% European components and is now part of Europe's public supercomputing infrastructure. The EU has backed Quandela as a grant maker, an investor and a customer, which makes independent evidence of its commercial progress more important, not less.
What the project promised
Brighter photon sources, faster optics, several dozen qubits and a path to commercial sales.
What the record shows
Doubled source brightness, machines sold to OVHcloud and EuroHPC, 12 qubits and no public revenue since 2021.
The Verdict
Selling machines, still small ones
Quandela turned its EIC project into computers that paying customers installed. The qubit count it aimed for has not arrived, and without public accounts its commercial scale cannot be measured.
Quandela and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
