Pasqal, the Dutch-founded startup focused on neutral-atom quantum computers, born in 2019 in the wake of the work led by Nobel laureate Alain Aspect, has announced a funding round of at least €340 million. This amount instantly catapults it into the realm of the world’s leading unicorns in the quantum sector.
The financing round is as clever as the technology it supports. The round is split into two roughly €170 million legs: on one side, a conventional private round; on the other, convertible financing backed by a merger with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II, a US-listed SPAC. In total, Pasqal has raised nearly €600 million since its inception, a figure that underscores the breadth of its ambitions.
A $2 Billion Valuation
The deal values Pasqal at $2 billion, making the Palaiseau-based startup one of the rare “quantum unicorns” in the world. This accelerates quickly, and can be explained by both the maturity of its offering—quantum processors accessible on site or via the cloud—and its impressive customer roster: CMA CGM, OVHcloud, Thales, IBM, NVIDIA, Sumitomo.
The investor round brings together a spectrum of industrial and financial players that reflect the international scale Pasqal has reached: Parkway, Quanta Computer, LG Electronics, Temasek, the European Innovation Council Fund, Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures, and ISAI join alongside longstanding backers such as Bpifrance, which has remained a pillar of the cap table since 2021.
Nasdaq First, Then Euronext
The stock-market strategy is doubly ambitious. Pasqal plans an initial listing on Nasdaq in 2026 through the merger with the SPAC Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II, followed by a listing on Euronext Paris between 2026 and 2027. This dual listing aims to capture the liquidity of American markets—essential for a deeptech that competes head-to-head with giants like IBM Quantum or IonQ—while preserving a European shareholder base and governance.
The operation, subject to the usual regulatory approvals and the filing of a Form F-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is not without risk. The SPAC market has seen turbulence in recent years, and competition in the race for industrial quantum capabilities is intensifying. Pasqal bets on the uniqueness of its approach—the use of neutral atoms—to differentiate itself from architectures based on trapped ions or superconducting qubits.
Essonne, the Global HQ of Quantum
Despite the operation’s American scale, Pasqal intends to invest the majority of the funds in France, and more specifically in Palaiseau, in Essonne, where its main site is already located.
The company announces plans to double its production capacity within 24 months and to recruit 50 additional people over 18 months, a roughly 20% increase in staff to surpass 325 employees. R&D will also be strengthened, with a stated objective: to have a fault-tolerant quantum computer by the end of the decade.
A message that is as political as it is industrial, aligned with the national quantum plan and Europe’s ambitions for technological sovereignty. The future entity emerging from the fusion with Bleichroeder will remain a French-law entity, led by a French national, and Bpifrance will retain its seat on the board.
A Grand-Scale Test for European Deeptech
Pasqal’s trajectory will be scrutinized far beyond the quantum sector. For the entire European deeptech ecosystem, this dual listing represents an unprecedented test: whether a continental champion can raise capital at the scale demanded by today’s technologies without sacrificing its anchor and its values.
If the operation succeeds, it will demonstrate that it is possible to compete with American and Asian powerhouses from Palaiseau, and that European quantum is no longer merely a lab promise. The ball is now in the markets’ court.
