IQM, Europe’s first public quantum company, admits future of the tech is uncertain

IQM, a full-stack quantum company from Finland, made its public debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday through a SPAC merger, valued at approximately $1.9 billion. However, share prices barely moved and mostly traded below the initial offering price, indicating a lukewarm reception. This lackluster performance was partly fueled by IQM’s own admission in its prospectus that “large-scale commercial traction of quantum computing technology may never occur.” While this caveat applies to all quantum companies, it has not stopped IQM from attracting customers.

IQM sells both physical quantum computers and cloud-based computing time. Its clients include VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Germany. CEO and co-founder Jan Goetz noted that IQM sells computers to advanced supercomputing centers and data centers, as well as computing time through the cloud. The company grew its customer base from 8 in 2024 to 22 in 2025, with two of the newest clients from the private sector. This growth is a positive sign, but IQM acknowledges that true demand will only scale once “quantum advantage” is achieved—when quantum chips outperform classical computers for complex tasks. No one, including IQM, can predict when that will happen.

Despite the uncertainty, investors continue to back quantum companies, encouraged by recent U.S. executive orders to accelerate quantum development. The U.S. Department of Energy has committed to deploying “the world’s first fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computer” by 2028. Similar commitments have come from France, Germany, and the UK. IQM, which already has a quantum tech center in Maryland and a computer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, stands to benefit directly, Goetz said.

IQM remains rooted in Finland, where it was founded in 2018 as a spinout from Aalto University in Espoo. Two-thirds of its 420 employees work in Finland, 100 in Munich, and the rest at various global sites. Besides its U.S. listing under ticker IQMX, IQM will debut on Nasdaq Helsinki on Friday. The SPAC deal netted approximately €198 million ($226 million) after costs, adding to the $300 million raised last September. “It always feels good to be first and to be a pioneer, but ultimately it’s about long-term success,” Goetz said.