QBN initiates, CM-Equity seeds: Munich’s ​​Black Quant launches €100 million quantum technology fund

Both hailing from Munich, CM-Equity and Quantum Business Network (QBN) have announced the launch of a €100 million fund, aptly named Black Quant to support pre-seed, seed, and Series A and later investments in startups working to commercialise their offers in the quantum technology and quantum enabling technology sectors.

On the same day that Switzerland's Quantum-as-a-Service provider Terra Quantum announces the influx of $60 million in investment capital, Munich’s Black Quant emerges with a €100 million fund to back the deep tech sector? And lest we forget that the Dutch/American VC firm Cottonwood just stepped forward with $75 million to help drive deep tech innovations.

So what’s going on here?

With the U.S. and China leading the pack in the deep tech investment space, since 2018, the European Innovation Council has pledged to pour billions into the deep tech sector, namely via the Horizons project. The pilot phase concluded in 2020 and is now in full swing.

Couple this pan-EU money with national governments, led primarily by Germany and France, now also looking into, and investing in the sector, institutional and private equity money can’t be far behind.

And so it is with Black Quant. And Cottonwood, and Lakestar, and Amadeus Capital, and, and, and, the list goes on.

As we’ve already seen, and will presumably continue to see, the role that deep tech technologies will play in the continued development of society will touch almost every aspect of our soon-to-be daily lives. Quantum computing alone has the potential to impact healthcare, industry, transport, climate, security, and again, the list goes on and on.

"The commercialisation of quantum technologies and its enabling technologies is crucial for Europe to tackle our global and societal challenges and strengthen our industrial competitiveness and sovereignty," explained QBN CEO Johannes Verst. "Therefore, I am super happy that QBN could initiate and now support Black Quant to bridge the critical gap in quantum technology innovations and empower people driving their quantum ventures from lab to leading, sustainable and profitable businesses. "