IQM is a member of the consortium led by Spanish companies Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech and GMV that was selected by Quantum Spain, an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence (SEDIA) in December 2022, to build the first quantum computer for public use in Southern Europe.
Dr. Jan Goetz, CEO and Co-founder of IQM Quantum Computers, said, “This is a significant announcement for IQM. We have the right background and experience in developing quantum processors, computers, and national quantum ecosystems. We are looking forward to working with Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech and are delighted to be part of such a strong consortium and play an important role by providing quantum processing units for this notable project.”
The integration of the quantum computer into MareNostrum 5 will have the potential to significantly increase the impact of research and innovation by enabling solutions that complement the capabilities of existing supercomputers, which will be available to the research community, companies, and public organisations, and by strengthening technological and industrial development in Spain and the creation of highly qualified jobs.
“We are delighted to include the expertise of a great player such as IQM to support us developing this innovative system, that will be purely based on Spanish and European technology. We are sure that this will be a very fruitful collaboration and we are looking forward to be partnering with IQM,” said Victor Canivell, Co-founder and CEO of Qilimanjaro.
Jani Heikkinen, Head of Business Development and Country Manager for Spain, said, “This is another example of our European leadership, demonstrating our commitment to advancing the Spanish quantum ecosystem in collaboration with both public and private institutions. Through our office in Madrid, we are also able to provide the necessary support for this project.”
About IQM Quantum Computers
IQM is the pan-European leader in building quantum computers. IQM provides on-premises quantum computers for supercomputing centres and research labs and offers full access to its hardware. For industrial customers, IQM delivers a quantum advantage through a unique application-specific, co-design approach. IQM is building Finland’s first commercial 54-qubit quantum computer with VTT, and an IQM-led consortium (Q-Exa) is also building a quantum computer in Germany. This computer will be integrated into an HPC supercomputer to create a quantum accelerator for future scientific research. IQM has over 240 employees with offices in Singapore, Paris, Madrid, Munich, and Espoo.
About Qilimanjaro
Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech is a deep-tech startup that brings practical applications of quantum computing to the market in a shorter timeframe than digital quantum computers, by using a different but complementary model of quantum computation: the analog model.
Qilimanjaro creates a coherent quantum annealer accessible via our cloud to run real-world applications such as optimisation tasks in the logistics, finance, and energy sector, among others, and quantum simulation of chemical and physical processes, very present in the materials and pharmaceutical research industries. Qilimanjaro aims at providing its clients with a faster, more accurate and sustainable solution to their computing problems.
It has closed significant customer contracts since its first year of operation and has become a key contributor to the European Commission’s AVaQus H2020 project on coherent quantum annealing. Qilimanjaro is a spin-off from the Barcelona Supercomputer Center (BSC), the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Institute of High-Energy Physics (IFAE).
About GMV
GMV is a privately owned technology business group founded in 1984 and trading on a worldwide scale in the following sectors: Space, Aeronautics, Defense and Security, Cybersecurity, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Automotive, Healthcare, Telecommunications and IT for government authorities and major corporations. In 2021, it had revenues of nearly 260 million euros. Working with a staff of over 3,000, the company now runs subsidiaries in Spain, USA, Germany, France, Poland, Portugal, Romania, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia, and Colombia. Seventy five percent of its turnover comes from international projects on all five continents. The company's growth strategy is based on continuous innovation, and it plows back 5% of its turnover into inhouse R&D. GMV has reached CMMI level 5, the world's most prestigious model in terms of enhancing an organization’s process capability, and it has numerous international patents.