Quandela Wins DIGITALEUROPE 2026 Future Unicorn Award

Quandela was honored with the 2026 Future Unicorn Award by DIGITALEUROPE, recognizing its leadership in photonic quantum computing, deployment of five quantum computers across Europe and North America, and launch of Europe’s first open-source quantum cloud. The award highlights Quandela’s contribution to Europe’s innovation ecosystem and digital sovereignty. The Future Unicorn Award jury included representatives from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund), among other European investment and innovation leaders.

Brussels, 25th February 2026 – Quandela was awarded the 2026 Future Unicorn Award by DIGITALEUROPE in recognition of its technological excellence and contribution to Europe’s innovation ecosystem. The award was presented during Masters of Digital 2026 (#MoD2026) in front of Europe’s digital and industrial leaders.

The Future Unicorn Award recognizes Europe’s most promising tech scale-ups and emphasizes the importance of supporting European innovation and digital resilience. Quandela was selected for its pioneering photonic quantum technology, the deployment of five quantum computers across Europe and North America, and the launch of Europe’s first open-source quantum cloud. These milestones provide researchers and industry with scalable quantum computing resources and a path toward fault-tolerant, energy-efficient quantum systems.

Quandela’s COO, Valérien Giesz received the award on behalf of the company. During the ceremony he commented “This recognition reflects the dedication, expertise, and vision of our teams. Europe has the scientific talent and industrial depth to lead in quantum computing, and at Quandela, we are committed to turning this potential into real-world impact.”

The Future Unicorn Award jury comprised leaders from Europe’s investment and innovation ecosystem, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund), Bridgepoint Group, Invest Europe, Temasek, DIGITALEUROPE, and Atomico.

Other finalists for the Future Unicorn Award included Canatu and Sparrow Quantum. Sateliot, meanwhile, was the winner of the Dual‑Use Technology Award.

About Quandela

Quandela develops and deploys photonic quantum computers designed for real-world environments, with room-temperature operation, data-center compatibility, and a full software stack for programming and running workloads via cloud and on-prem access. Beyond hardware, Quandela works with corporations, research teams, and public institutions to identify, prototype, and integrate quantum use cases through training, technical support, and joint pilot projects. Founded in Europe, Quandela pursues a progressive path from usable systems to fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Building on Seoul’s efforts to strengthen its position as a global quantum hub, Quandela entered into a MoU with the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) to support the establishment of a Quantum Technology Development Center in Seoul.

The signing took place at Seoul City Hall on November 12, 2025, and the MoU was signed by Kim Tae-Kyun, Administrative First Deputy Mayor of Seoul, and Niccolo Somaschi, CEO of Quandela. Under the MoU framework, SMG outlined an investment plan of up to ₩80 billion, subject to applicable review, approval, and administrative processes, to support the center and related initiatives.

The ceremony was attended by Philippe Bertoux, French Ambassador to Korea, and Kim Yoo-seok, head of Quandela Korea.

Under the agreement, Quandela plans to build a public–private, academia-linked R&D network in Seoul to support quantum talent development and the local ecosystem, including component manufacturers and startups in the quantum sector.

“This MoU is a major milestone in Quandela’s global strategy,” said Niccolo Somaschi, CEO of Quandela. “Our goal is to help create an ecosystem in Seoul where innovation, research, and industrial applications of quantum technologies are closely connected and made accessible.”

Kim Tae-Kyun, Administrative First Deputy Mayor of Seoul, stated that the city will provide comprehensive support to global companies investing in Seoul, including Quandela.

About Quandela

Quandela develops and deploys photonic quantum computers designed for real-world environments: room-temperature operation, data‑center compatibility, and a full software stack for programming and running workloads (cloud and on‑prem access). Beyond hardware, Quandela helps corporations, research teams and public institutions identify, prototype and integrate quantum use cases through training, technical support and joint pilot projects. Founded in Europe, Quandela pursues a progressive path from usable systems to fault‑tolerant quantum computing.

At the international Adopt AI event in Paris, Quandela and OVHcloud announce a strategic initiative to bring closer AI and quantum computing thanks to MerLin, Quandela’s quantum machine learning environment. This collaboration will enable researchers and companies to prototype and simulate hybrid models on NVIDIA GPUs before testing them on Quandela’s photonic quantum computers, directly accessible from OVHcloud’s cloud platform.

Paris, Roubaix (France), November 25, 2025 – Quandela, European leader in photonic quantum computing, and OVHcloud, a major European cloud provider, announce that MerLin – the first programming language and environment dedicated to quantum machine learning – will be made available on OVHcloud’s platform starting mid-2026. This unified approach will accelerate the development of hybrid applications within a sovereign cloud environment.

A bridge between AI and quantum

Unveiled in summer 2025, MerLin lays the groundwork for a new generation of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) tools, integrated into standard AI frameworks such as PyTorch and scikit-learn.
Now, thanks to its integration into the OVHcloud platform, users will be able to design, simulate, and test their hybrid AI-Quantum neural networks in a unified cloud environment powered by NVIDIA GPUs, a shared partner of both companies.

This approach will accelerate the development of industrial quantum applications: users will first be able to run their simulations on GPUs, then test and validate their models on Quandela’s photonic quantum computers, hosted and operated within OVHcloud.

A clear quantum roadmap

As part of this partnership, OVHcloud has published its quantum roadmap, announcing that Quandela’s quantum computers will become available on its cloud platform in mid-2026. The first systems to be offered will be BELENOS, a 12-qubit photonic processor, and CANOPUS, a 24-qubit photonic processor.

This deployment will be a major milestone in integrating quantum computing into the cloud, paving the way for democratized and sovereign access to European quantum power.

“This partnership with OVHcloud perfectly embodies our vision: to make quantum accessible and useful for AI experts. With MerLin, we provide a seamless environment – from GPU to quantum processor – allowing the exploration of new hybrid algorithms and accelerating the journey from concept to real-world application,” says Jean Senellart, Chief Product Officer at Quandela.

“With MerLin, data scientists finally have an accessible framework that does not require quantum computing skills – an actual tool that democratizes its use for the most innovative function in companies: data science,” says Fanny Bouton, Quantum Lead and Product Manager at OVHcloud.

Toward a sovereign European quantum cloud

By combining their expertise – photonics and hybrid algorithms for Quandela, cloud and sovereign infrastructure for OVHcloud, GPU acceleration for NVIDIA – the two partners are laying the foundations of a competitive and open European quantum ecosystem. An ecosystem expected to foster the emergence of hybrid applications in fields such as cybersecurity, finance, energy, healthcare, and logistics.