Invest in Finland team upbeat about Finnish quantum ecosystem following a visit to IQM  

Finland and Finnish companies are investing a lot in quantum computing thanks to the country’s stable business environment for start-ups, strong pool of researchers, highly educated tech workforce, best in know-how technologies, and strong venture capital community.   

Invest in Finland wants to support quantum innovation by identifying and working with quantum tech or industrial companies who we could attract to Finland to help build the quantum ecosystem,” Janne Kari, the Head of Industry, ICT and Digitalisation at Invest in Finland, made this known when the Invest in Finland team visited the headquarters of IQM, the cornerstone of the quantum ecosystem in Finland.   

Markets including Japan, India, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Scandinavia are all covered by the members of Invest in Finland, a division of Business Finland.   

IQM is a truly interesting scaleup and a major part of the Finnish ICT story in general,” said Kari, who led the team for the visit.

He added that his team is optimistic about the climate and prospects of the Finnish quantum computing ecosystem.   

He noted that IQM and Invest in Finland’s collaboration is important for Finland.

Quantum computing will impact several areas in ICT, like supercomputing or cybersecurity, but also several vertical industries.”   

Kari believes that Europe can take a leading role in the development of quantum computers with the help of IQM's world-class quantum experts and partners. “We could say that the evolution of quantum computing has been very much technology-driven, which is understandable.   

Now, the industry in the EU needs to identify and implement the real-life applications demonstrating the quantum benefits and get the winning cycle going. In that, I see IQM playing a major role.”   

Looking ahead, Kari sees positive growth for IQM three years from now.

I am optimistic. One reason is that the management and team members are clearly enthusiastic about the technology and the opportunity, yet realistic. And also, e.g., the cryogenics know-how forms a solid basis for IQM."   

During the visit, the team toured IQM’s quantum laboratory in Espoo for practical insight into quantum computing.

The visit exceeded our expectations by far. We were given a very interesting but pragmatic presentation, also highlighting the extremely hard international competition and how the quantum industry is evolving along the timeline,” said Kari.   

In his presentation, the Head of Marketing and Communications at IQM, Raghunath Koduvayur, said:

Finland and Europe had many decades of research on quantum, which IQM and Invest in Finland should capitalise on to make Finland the quantum capital of the world – creating the quantum valley.”   

We will continue to build the best quantum team on the planet to accelerate research and pioneer new products and development, achieve our product and business milestones, and deliver world-class quantum computers to our customers," said Dr. Juha Vartiainen, COO and Co-founder of IQM.   

He concluded that IQM will expand its international business operations and deliver on-premises quantum computers to high-performance computing centres, national laboratories, and industrial customers.    

The foundation for quantum innovation has been established, and the technology's potential is undeniable, but for the Finnish quantum ecosystem to be fully functional, further investments must be made, and it must also be open to increased collaboration and knowledge sharing. This is a joint vision that is shared by Invest in Finland team and IQM.