ESPOO, FINLAND-- December 22, 2021 -- IQM France will collaborate closely with customers in the aviation, space, and cybersecurity verticals using IQM’s co-design approach. IQM is also part of Atos’s Scaler program, and this subsidiary will focus further on HPC integration and offer quantum accelerators to supercomputing centers worldwide.

Through this new subsidiary, IQM joins the French quantum ecosystem that consists of world-renowned universities and research institutes and a fast-growing start-up scene and provides excellent industry infrastructure. IQM’s expertise and reach, combined with this vibrant ecosystem, will create significant opportunities for partnerships and collaboration in Europe and across the globe.

In the first phase, IQM France aims to tap into the extended talent pool of quantum students, postdocs, and experienced professionals. The plan is to start with a core team of business developers, products managers, quantum scientists, and engineers in 2022. The aim is to create a center of excellence in specific industry verticals and systematically grow in subsequent years.

IQM France’s office will be in the central hub at Spaces Les Halles on 40 rue du Louvre, Paris. Dr. Björn Pötter will take on the role of Country Manager for France in addition to his role as Global Head of Products at IQM. Dr. Pötter, who recently joined IQM, holds a PhD in physics and has extensive experience with digital technologies in the Aerospace and Cybersecurity industries. Dr. Pötter has held several international leadership positions with a focus on technology and innovation, among others at Airbus.

“I am excited to see IQM start its French operations in the Paris region, where I have been working for several years. The Paris team will build the bridge between the various IQM teams around Europe and the high-quality French quantum ecosystem. The team will enable local operations for collaborative IQM projects in strategic industrial areas,” said Dr. Pötter.

Speaking about this announcement, Dr. Jan Goetz, CEO and cofounder of IQM, said, “France plays an integral role in the quantum scientific research and has been on our roadmap for a while. I’m extremely pleased to announce the operations of our French entity today, especially at a time when the French quantum plan is gaining momentum. This French subsidiary together with our co-design teams in Bilbao and Munich and the quantum hardware and software teams in Espoo, Finland, will strengthen European quantum leadership.”

“The Paris region is proud to welcome a major European quantum computing player to the epicenter of the French quantum ecosystem. We support IQM’s local setup and growth to help them make the most of the excellent research and talent available. We are also convinced that IQM will thrive in France’s #1 aerospace region,” said Alexandra Dublanche, President of Choose Paris Region and Vice President in charge of Recovery, Attractiveness, Economic Development, and Innovation of the Paris Region.

“We are very thankful to Choose Paris Region and also Business France for the active, pragmatic, and timely support, which allowed us to set up IQM France in a very short time,” Dr. Pötter added.

In March 2021, Dr. Goetz presented on deep tech and building global tech leaders’ topics at the Scale-Up Europe event, where President Emmanuel Macron was an attendee. This presentation was part of the Scale-up Europe initiative facilitated by Sifted.