QDNL Participations launches €15 million early-stage Dutch quantum fund

2023 is turning out to be the year that would have made Richard Feynman smile. The year that quantum took a quantum leap forward. From the UK’s Quantum Motion raising £42 million in support of its development of silicon quantum processors to Switzerland’s Terra Quantum welcoming a private equity investment, times might be tough, but the future is looking anything but bleak for quantum.

As of today, the sector received another shot in the arm with Quantum Delta-based QDNL Participations launching a €15 million fund aimed at supporting early-stage quantum technology startups in the Netherlands.

Covering quantum hardware, communications, and sensing technologies, as well as companies that ‘supply components essential to the growth of the sector’, the fund is offering to lead rounds in early-stage Dutch startups with tickets ranging up to  €1.5 million. 

Representatives of the fund also noted that the vehicle will also help research teams launch startups based on their technology, as well as offer up to €50,000 to teams developing promising quantum technologies, before they have even incorporated as a startup. This funding will then convert to an equity investment if and when the team is ready to move forward with a viable business model via a SAFE note agreement.

QDNL Participations managing director, Ton van 't Noordende comments, “We want to get in very early and make sure that we protect and support founders by making sure the first check into the company is one of patience and support because that's actually where the problems typically originate already.

Dutch deeptech startups led by passionate researchers are revolutionizing industries with objectively assessed, cutting-edge technology that surpasses their global competitors. However, what's truly baffling is that despite their brilliance, these startups are undervalued and severely underfunded.

QDNL Participations sits deep inside the quantum category and we’re keen to fix this inertia, break the status quo and unleash the enormous potential and economic value hidden in the country's top academic research centers."

According to QDNL Participations, the majority of its deal flow will be sourced from research being conducted at leading Dutch universities: TU Delft, Eindhoven University of Technology, Leiden University, the University of Twente, and the University of Amsterdam.