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Quandela and Exaion, a subsidiary of the EDF Group, Announce an Agreement to Contribute to the Democratization of Quantum Computing in Europe and North America

We are thrilled to announce the groundbreaking partnership between Quandela and Exaion, an EDF Group subsidiary, aimed at democratising quantum computing in Europe and North America. In this strategic alliance, Quandela will produce three scalable quantum computers for Exaion, empowering an extended cloud service. Exaion and Quandela will co-design an innovative HPC/quantum hybridisation offering to…

Paris, Montreal, Denver, November 14, 2023: Quandela and Exaion, two key players in the deep tech1 ecosystem, sign an agreement for a major partnership to pave the way for the democratization of quantum computing. Their ambition: to make this new technology accessible and applicable to concrete use cases, thereby meeting the growing demand from industries.

Quandela, a European start-up specializing in photonic quantum computing, and Exaion, a subsidiary of the EDF Group specializing in deep tech services and infrastructure, have signed an agreement for a significant collaboration. As part of this collaboration, Quandela plans to produce three scalable quantum computers for Exaion to offer an extended cloud service. This service aims to deploy concrete use cases offering tangible value for user companies, such as the numerical simulation of the evolution of faults in industrial infrastructures, the simulation of combustion in thermal engines, or the optimization of vehicle fleet trajectories.

The two entities also plan to co-design an innovative offering focused on HPC2/quantum hybridization through infrastructures such as the Plateforme d’Innovation Numérique et Quantique (PINQ²) and Exaion, with the intention of deploying real applications in key sectors such as energy, cybersecurity, automotive, aerospace, and finance.

As part of this partnership, Exaion also plans to recruit quantum and Artificial Intelligence experts. In addition, Exaion’s engineers, developers, and technicians could be trained by Quandela’s teams to fully master and exploit the potential of quantum computing.

Exaion and Quandela aim to choose locations in major innovation zones in Europe and North America, such as Sherbrooke and Shawinigan in Quebec, Canada, and Val-de-Reuil in Normandy, France, to deploy the three quantum computers. These sites will ensure the availability of competitive offers close to the end users, ensuring both agility and performance.

Faced with growing needs and major challenges encountered by industries, Quandela and Exaion share the common ambition to reduce the time-to-market for quantum solutions and to ensure constant updating of equipment, thus meeting user expectations.

PINQ², as part of its strategic partnership, will play a key role in supporting Exaion in accelerating the development of innovative quantum solutions and in promoting the broader adoption of these technological advances. This collaboration aims to significantly strengthen the entire offer of the Quantum Innovation Zone, thus paving the way for new opportunities and significant growth.

François-Philippe Champagne, Canadian Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and Member of Parliament for Saint-Maurice – Champlain, stated: “In a spectacular breakthrough for technology in Canada and the heart of Quebec, Digihub Shawinigan is transforming into an epicenter of innovation thanks to the collaboration between Quandela and Exaion. This strategic union paves the way for the era of quantum computing and cloud technology in the Mauricie region, establishing a new pinnacle for economic development. Through cutting-edge solutions, Shawinigan becomes a playground for visionary industries, enhancing our competitiveness and propelling innovation.”

Valérian Giesz, COO and co-founder of Quandela, stated: “Quandela is delighted with this collaboration with Exaion, which will guarantee an increasing number of industries in Europe and North America access to quantum computing. We are convinced that this innovative offering, focused on the hybridization between HPC and quantum, will allow the resolution of increasingly complex industrial use cases.”

Fatih Balyeli, CEO and co-founder of Exaion, stated: “By joining forces with Quandela, we affirm our position as a pioneer in the advent of quantum computing serving industrial transformation. This alliance marks a major turning point: it contributes to the creation of an unprecedented ecosystem for the provision of innovative, high-performance, and proven services to all our clients.”

Olivier Gagnon-Gordillo, director of Québec Quantique, stated: “Exaion’s announcement confirms the dynamism of the sector in Quebec, reinforcing its status as a world leader in quantum technologies. Exaion’s new infrastructures increase the computational power available, accelerating the exploration of use cases for quantum computers and hybrid solutions. This announcement enhances the Quebec quantum ecosystem and adds to the partners of Distriq, Quantum Innovation Zone.”

About Quandela

Quandela, entreprise leader dans le domaine du calcul quantique, propose des solutions de niveau industriel. Quandela conçoit, construit et fournit des systèmes quantiques prêts à l’emploi pour les datacenters, des processeurs quantiques accessibles via le cloud, et des services d’accès aux algorithmes.
Fondée en 2017 par la professeure Pascale Senellart, directrice de recherche au Centre de nanosciences et nanotechnologies (C2N) du CNRS, Niccolo Somaschi et Valérian Giesz, experts de renommée internationale en physique quantique, Quandela emploie plus de 100 collaborateurs de 20 nationalités différentes, en majorité des chercheurs et des ingénieurs en optique, algorithmes et sciences de l’information.
Quandela s’engage à rendre l’informatique quantique accessible à tous pour relever les défis industriels et sociétaux les plus complexes.
Pour en savoir plus : www.quandela.com

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Quandela, a leader in quantum computing, specializes in industry-grade quantum computing solutions. Quandela designs, builds, and supplies datacenter-ready quantum computing systems, cloud-accessible quantum processors, and algorithm with industrial value.
Founded in 2017 by Professor Pascale Senellart, Research Director at the Centre for Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies (C2N) at CNRS, Niccolo Somaschi and Valerian Giesz, internationally renowned experts in quantum physics, Quandela currently has over 100 employees from 20 different nationalities, mostly researchers and engineers in optical, algorithm and data science.
Quandela is committed to making advanced quantum computing accessible and beneficial for all, empowering innovators to solve the most complex industrial and societal challenges.

ABOUT EXAION

Exaion, a subsidiary of the EDF Group, was co-founded in 2020 by Fatih Balyeli and Laurent Bernou-Mazars, who became respectively its CEO and CTO. Aligned with the Group’s raison d’être, Exaion supports industries in their digital transformation with a responsible and sustainable approach: upgrading old supercomputers, using largely decarbonized electricity3, and recovering waste heat. Its mission revolves around data: accelerating its processing, ensuring its security, and facilitating access and control for users. Its experts develop efficient, innovative, and sovereign solutions and services. Exaion Inc., its subsidiary based in Montreal, Canada, serves the needs of North American stakeholders. For further information: exaion.edf.fr/en

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June 17, 2025

[VIVATECH] AdvanThink and Quandela demonstrate the ability to integrate Quantum Artificial Intelligence into proven payment fraud detection models

Paris – Saclay, June 17, 2025 AdvanThink, Europe’s leading expert in real-time payment fraud detection, and Quandela, a leader in quantum computing, have established a strategic partnership aimed at transforming […]

[VIVATECH] AdvanThink and Quandela demonstrate the ability to integrate Quantum Artificial Intelligence into proven payment fraud detection models

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Paris – Saclay, June 17, 2025

AdvanThink, Europe’s leading expert in real-time payment fraud detection, and Quandela, a leader in quantum computing, have established a strategic partnership aimed at transforming the future of payment fraud prevention.

The Promise: By leveraging the complementary strengths of AI and quantum computing, the two companies aim to develop high-performance fraud detection models designed for real-world deployment. These systems will be capable of identifying payment fraud faster and with greater accuracy than existing solutions.

Detecting payment fraud in real time remains one of today’s most significant technological, operational, and strategic challenges. In response to constantly evolving fraud techniques, AdvanThink has spent 35 years building strategic tools powered by artificial intelligence that continuously learn and adapt to emerging threats. In this ongoing race to improve performance, artificial intelligence has become an essential tool, capable of detecting subtle warning signs across large volumes of data with unprecedented precision and speed.

Future requirements will be even more demanding. Fraud detection models will need to be faster, more accurate, more energy-efficient, and more resilient against increasingly sophisticated attacks. It is within this context that AdvanThink and Quandela have joined forces to explore the potential of quantum computing and push the boundaries of state-of-the-art fraud detection.

The first phase of this partnership will focus on developing a proof of concept that demonstrates the value of integrating quantum machine learning algorithms into AdvanThink’s industrial pipelines.

“For 35 years, AdvanThink has placed technological innovation at the heart of its development strategy. Quantum AI holds a significant promise when it comes to fraud detection. It serves as a powerful catalyst for innovation in building the secure payment solutions of tomorrow – and financial institutions need to begin acknowledging this transformation today. We have already successfully integrated Quandela’s technology into an AdvanThink pipeline, meeting all the requirements of an industrial-grade system ready for deployment. This first demonstrator holds great potential for experts in fraud detection,” says Brice Perdrix, CEO of AdvanThink.

“Quandela has already developed a quantum machine learning model that enhances credit risk assessment. The algorithm also shows strong potential in payment fraud detection. Quandela’s partnership with AdvanThink facilitates the integration of this model into an industrial workflow and enables benchmarking against the best products on the market,” adds Niccolo Somaschi, co-founder and CEO of Quandela.

June 11, 2025

MerLin Unveiled: The First Quantum Layer for Data Scientists, Optimized for NVIDIA Accelerated Computing

Launching at GTC Paris, MerLin democratizes quantum machine learning by integrating with classical AI tools—backed by GPU-accelerated performance Paris, France – June 11th – Today, Quandela announces MerLin, a groundbreaking […]

MerLin Unveiled: The First Quantum Layer for Data Scientists, Optimized for NVIDIA Accelerated Computing

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Launching at GTC Paris, MerLin democratizes quantum machine learning by integrating with classical AI tools—backed by GPU-accelerated performance

Paris, France – June 11^th – Today, Quandela announces MerLin, a groundbreaking quantum computing framework designed for and by AI data scientists. Set to debut at NVIDIA GTC Paris, MerLin redefines quantum machine learning (QML) with a GPU-first approach, enabling researchers to simulate and benchmark algorithms beyond the limits of today’s quantum hardware.

Quantum Meets AI: A Collaborative Future

MerLin positions itself as the “quantum layer for data scientists” – contrasting with other quantum machine learning tools that target quantum scientists. By abstracting quantum complexity into familiar workflows (e.g., PyTorch/scikit-learn integrations), MerLin empowers AI practitioners to prototype hybrid quantum-classical models in hours, not months. Early adopters – including teams from the Perceval Quest, and researchers from Mila, NYUAD’s QML Lab and Scaleway – are collaborating with us to leverage MerLin and bridge classical and quantum workflows.

“Quantum shouldn’t demand a PhD to use,” said Niccolo Somaschi, co-founder & CEO of Quandela. “MerLin gives data scientists a GPU-accelerated gateway to quantum advantage while ensuring their work remains compatible with real hardware today—and tomorrow. By integrating benchmarks and noise-aware validation, we’re addressing a critical gap: the lack of reproducible metrics in hybrid algorithm research.”

“Powerful simulation tools are essential to develop better algorithms and accelerate the path to broad quantum advantage”, said Sam Stanwyck, Group Product Manager for quantum computing at NVIDIA. “MerLin solves a critical ecosystem need by opening the door for the broader research community to develop with photonic quantum circuits.”

Key Innovations

GPU-Optimized Simulators:

Leveraging NVIDIA CUDA-Q, MerLin delivers high-performance simulation for photonic quantum circuits, enabling tests for hardware that doesn’t yet exist (e.g., 24+ qubit systems).

Benchmark-Driven Progress:

MerLin establishes reproducible metrics for hybrid algorithms, addressing the “benchmarking gap” in QML research—where thousands of papers lack standardized comparisons.

Integrated with Quandela Cloud, it enables immediate validation of GPU-optimized algorithms on real photonic hardware, studying noise impact and scalability.

Targets pragmatic use cases like quantum-enhanced kNN, GANs, and variational algorithms—backed by hardware-aware compilation.

Photonic-First, Future-Proof:

Designed for today’s photonic QPUs (e.g., Perceval-based systems) but architected to adapt to next-gen hardware.

Features like dynamic circuit recompilation ensure code scalability across hardware generations.

Who Uses MerLin?

AI/ML Practitioners: Prototype quantum layers without rewriting classical pipelines.

Quantum Researchers: Access photonic-specific tools (e.g., boson sampling) with GPU-accelerated simulation.

Enterprises: Pilot hybrid quantum-AI workflows with clear ROI benchmarks.

“MerLin allowed us to adapt existing algorithms to a photonic-native format within a short timeframe. The platform offered useful comparative insights that contributed to our ongoing research and publication efforts”, said Dr. Louis Chen, an early user, Research Associate at the Quantum Centre of Imperial College London (Imperial QuEST) and participant in the most recent Perceval Quest.

Availability & Strategic Vision

MerLin will be freely accessible to accelerate adoption, with enterprise tiers for advanced features. The roadmap includes:

Q2 2025: Stable PyTorch/scikit-learn APIs.

2026+: Support for 24+ qubit photonic systems.

Learn More: merlinquantum.ai

June 6, 2025

French-German cooperation advances Europe’s quantum computer Lucy

WITTENSTEIN and Quandela underscore European innovative strength Two leading technology companies from Germany and France are joining forces to help shape Europe’s future in quantum computing: attocube systems GmbH, a […]

French-German cooperation advances Europe’s quantum computer Lucy

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WITTENSTEIN and Quandela underscore European innovative strength

Two leading technology companies from Germany and France are joining forces to help shape Europe’s future in quantum computing: attocube systems GmbH, a company of the WITTENSTEIN group and specialist in nanotechnology, and Quandela, a pioneer in photonic quantum computer technology. The companies have been working together on the development of the European quantum computer Lucy. Representatives of the owners, Management Board and senior management of the WITTENSTEIN group took advantage of a visit to Paris to meet with the Quandela team and assess the status of the joint project.

Lucy is no ordinary computer. It is based on light particles – known as photons – and belongs to a new generation of quantum computers that are opening up completely new possibilities in areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, and materials research. The quantum computer was commissioned by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) following a competitive tender process won by the Quandela-attocube consortium.

The collaboration between Quandela and attocube demonstrates how European companies can work together to achieve technological excellence. While Quandela is developing the photonic quantum platform, attocube is supplying high-precision cryogenic systems—technology that generates the extremely low temperatures required for quantum processes.

The visit to France focused on technical progress and system integration. The participants discussed how quantum and classical computers can be combined even more effectively in the future—for example, for hybrid applications in AI or complex simulations.

“Lucy is more than a technical project – she is a symbol of European innovation,” said Dr. Bertram Hoffmann, CEO of WITTENSTEIN SE. Niccolo Somaschi, co-founder and CEO of Quandela, added: “Lucy stands for technological excellence and for the common goal of making Europe a world leader in quantum computing.”

Lucy is scheduled to go into operation later this year. It will be based at the French supercomputer center CEA TGCC, where it will serve as the cornerstone of a sovereign European quantum ecosystem.