What Is Quobly: The Silicon-Based Quantum Computing Startup

Nobody talks about quantum computing the way they talk about AI. It does not trend on X. It does not get breathless coverage on every tech blog. And yet, quietly, in a lab in Grenoble, France, a company called Quobly is doing something that could matter more than most things happening in tech right now. Not because it is flashy. Because it is practical. And in deep tech, practical is everything.

What Is Quobly? The French Quantum Computing Startup Explained

Quobly is a deep-tech startup based in Grenoble, France, building silicon-based quantum computing hardware. Founded in 2022, it is not some garage project. It is the product of 15 years of serious scientific collaboration between two of France’s most respected research institutions: CEA Leti and CNRS.

The name itself tells you where it came from. Quantum plus Grenoble. Simple.

Originally called Siquance, the company rebranded to Quobly after closing a record-setting €19 million seed round, the largest seed raise ever by a European quantum startup at that point. That alone should tell you something.

Today, Quobly has 76 employees, a presence in Canada, and over $242 million raised. For a company most people have never heard of, that is a serious number.

How Quobly Uses Silicon Chips to Build Quantum Computers

Here is the thing about most quantum computing companies. They want you to build a new world for them. New materials. New factories. New supply chains that do not exist yet. It is like asking someone to cook dinner but first asking them to build the kitchen from scratch. Quobly does not do that.

The core bet here is simple. Encode qubits in silicon using the exact same fabrication techniques already used to make conventional chips. That is it. That is the idea. And the reason it matters is because the semiconductor industry has spent decades figuring out how to make silicon cheap, reliable, and scalable. Quobly wants to ride that wave instead of fighting it.

Technically, they use silicon spin qubits fabricated on FD-SOI substrates. But you do not need to understand what that means to understand the strategy. The strategy is: use what already works.

Quobly is building a full-stack quantum processor. That means hardware, control systems, and software tools to monitor qubit performance. They also have a software emulator that lets developers simulate quantum circuits on regular computers, compatible with existing quantum programming standards.

So developers do not need to wait for physical quantum hardware to start building. That is smart product thinking, not just science.

Quobly Raises $133M: Who Is Funding It and Why

Let’s be honest. When a pre-revenue deep-tech company raises this kind of money, you pay attention.

In 2026, Quobly closed a €115 million Series A, roughly $133 million, making it one of the largest quantum funding rounds in European history. The round was co-led by Bpifrance, France’s state-backed investment bank, STMicroelectronics, one of Europe’s biggest chipmakers, and SEALSQ, a NASDAQ-listed semiconductor and cybersecurity company.

Others joined too. The European Innovation Council Fund, French investors Blast and Innovacom, and Aliad, the venture arm of Air Liquide, all participated. Total raised to date: $242 million.

Now here is the kicker. STMicroelectronics is not just writing a check. They are a strategic partner. Their entire business is making silicon chips at scale. The fact that they are backing Quobly is not just validation. It is a signal that the manufacturing thesis actually holds up under scrutiny from people who manufacture for a living.

The $133 million is not going back into research. It is going into industrialization. That distinction matters more than most people realize.

Quobly vs Traditional Quantum Computing: What Makes It Different

Most of the big names in quantum computing right now use approaches that have one thing in common. They are extremely difficult to scale.

Superconducting qubits, used by companies like IBM and Google, require cooling to near absolute zero. Trapped ion systems need complex laser setups and ultra-high vacuum conditions. Photonic qubits are still largely experimental. Each of these paths demands infrastructure that does not exist at commercial scale yet.

Quobly takes a different road entirely.

Because silicon spin qubits use standard semiconductor fabrication, they can theoretically be built in existing chip foundries. No exotic cooling required at the fabrication stage. No entirely new supply chain. The reality is, this approach could dramatically lower the cost of producing quantum chips at scale compared to other methods.

And Quobly is specifically designing toward fault-tolerant quantum computing. That is the point where quantum computers can correct their own errors in real time, making them actually reliable for real-world problems. Most systems are nowhere near this yet. But Quobly’s architecture is built with this goal baked in from the start, not bolted on later.

That is a meaningful difference.

Who Can Use Quobly? Target Industries and Use Cases

The short answer is: industries that run on hard math.

Quobly is targeting industrial companies that need serious computing power for complex problems. The sectors they are going after include pharmaceuticals, where drug discovery requires simulating molecular behavior at a level that breaks classical computers. Energy, where grid optimization and battery chemistry modeling need more compute than exists today. Transportation and logistics, finance, and materials science are also in the picture.

But here is what people miss. Quobly’s software emulator is already usable. Right now. Researchers and developers can start building quantum applications on classical hardware today using Quobly’s tools, before physical quantum devices are widely available.

That is how you build a developer ecosystem before the hardware is ready. You do not wait. You give people something to work with now.

Quobly’s Roadmap: When Will It Be Commercially Available?

The timeline for Quobly is more concrete than most quantum companies are willing to commit to publicly.

In 2023, they raised their record seed round and started developing a 100-qubit chip. In 2024, they were selected for France’s Proqcima programme, a government initiative to build a large-scale quantum computer by 2032. Between 2025 and 2026, they generated roughly €10 million in early revenues, mostly from that government programme. They also expanded to Canada and received recognition at the American Physical Society meeting as a company to watch.

By the end of 2026, Quobly plans to make its first quantum computer available commercially through the cloud.

In 2027, they plan to start deploying physical quantum devices directly into customer infrastructure.. And 2032 is the target for large-scale deployment under Proqcima.

The cloud-first approach for 2026 is the right call. It removes every barrier that comes with physical hardware. Companies can access Quobly’s quantum computing power without building anything. Same playbook as cloud computing in the 2000s.

So the question is not whether Quobly is serious. The roadmap answers that.

Is Quobly the Future of Quantum Computing in Europe?

The honest answer is: it might be.

Europe’s quantum sector is moving faster than most people outside the industry realize. Five rounds exceeding $100 million were raised in the quantum space in Europe in 2026 alone. UK-based Oxford Quantum Circuits raised a record $350 million Series C. The competition is real.

But Quobly has a few things going for it that others do not.

Fifteen years of foundational research from CEA Leti and CNRS. A silicon-first manufacturing strategy that fits into existing chip infrastructure. Sovereign backing from Bpifrance and the French government’s Proqcima programme. Strategic investors who actually make semiconductors for a living. And a commercial timeline that is not vague.

Quobly recently announced expansion into Taiwan, eyeing semiconductor and academic partnerships there. That is not a company thinking small.

The reality is, quantum computing’s impact on most industries is still years away. Nobody should pretend otherwise. But the companies that will lead when that moment arrives will be the ones that solved the manufacturing problem early. That is what Quobly is working on right now, before most people are paying attention.

And that, historically, is exactly when the most important companies get built.

Quobly Raises $133M

Quobly Business Model