IQM, the first European quantum company, admits that the future of the technology is uncertain

IQM, a complete quantum computing company based out of Finland, went public on Thursday on the Nasdaq in a SPAC merger valued at approximately $1.9 billion. But the share prices did not appear. They spent most of the day below the IPO price – a lukewarm reception.

SPAC mergers are generally not immediately popular with retail investors these days. But this fizzle was fueled by IQM’s admission of its view that “large-scale commercialization of quantum computing technology may not be possible.”

In fairness, this caveat applies to all quantum companies. However, that hasn’t stopped the industry, including IQM, from finding customers, who use the technology as it is today for tasks such as simulation and optimization. IQM, which sells virtual reality computers, as well as a cloud service, has customers such as the VTT Technical Research Center in Finland and the Leibniz Supercomputing Center in Germany.

“We sell computers in supercomputing centers and data centers, and we sell computing time in the cloud,” its CEO and co-founder Jan Goetz told TechCrunch.

As we have grown from eight clients in 2024 to 22 in 2025 it is great cause for celebration in IQM circles, especially when the two latest clients are from the private sector. But it also suggests that demand will not grow until the “quantum advantage” – when quantum chips begin to outperform traditional computers in a larger series of complex and long-term tasks, opening up use cases from biotech to fintech, while improving encryption.

But no one, not even the company that makes quantum computers, can say when that might be.

This has not stopped investors from doubling down on public and private quantum companies, also encouraged by President Trump’s recent orders to accelerate the quantum timeline. In response, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has committed to deploying “the world’s first fault-tolerant, quantum computer” by 2028.

Although this follows similar announcements from France, Germany, and the UK, Trump’s orders have added weight to IQM, which recently established a quantum tech center in Maryland and installed a computer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is part of the DOE. “We can directly benefit from it,” Goetz said.

Unlike other European unicorns, however, IQM does not shift its center of gravity to the other side of the Atlantic. Along with its IQMX ticker in the US, where most of its quantum peers are listed, it will be listed tomorrow on Nasdaq Helsinki, where it expects continued support from Tesi, a Finnish private equity fund.

The story of IQM is inseparable from Finland. It was founded there in 2018 as a spinout from Aalto University in Espoo, a tech and quantum hub near Helsinki where two-thirds of its employees still work. But another group of 100 people out of 420 are based in Munich, and the rest are divided in different locations to help the company on its global road map.

In its article, IQM noted that the two attracted RAAQ, the blank check company that helped IQM go public with the SPAC. “As evidenced by more than 200 million euros in public support of IQM, European private countries and companies have supported the emergence of IQM as a leading quantum computing company in Europe. IQM has also demonstrated its ability to operate outside of Europe,” according to the RAAQ board.

Despite international ambitions, Goetz expressed pride that IQM is becoming the first European company to be listed in the US – within a hair’s breadth, as French rival Pasqal also announced plans to go public through a SPAC. “It’s always nice to be first and pioneer, but ultimately it’s about long-term success,” Goetz said.

The operation will generate new revenue for IQM – about 198 million euros after expenses, or 226 million dollars. But the company had already raised $300 million last September. “It’s a great achievement to step up right after Series B,” Goetz said. This also shows that IQM’s main goal was to put itself first in a race that is still full of unknowns.