The most interesting part of a quantum computer is the one you can’t see. It’s not the sleek cabinet or the blinking lights, but the dense, frozen tangle of wires inside the cryogenic refrigerator. For a team of physicists in Espoo, that wiring is the entire business.
Coherence Quantum, an Aalto University spinout, is building an integrated cryogenic signalling and control platform. In plain terms, they make the hardware that connects the room-temperature electronics, which tell the quantum bits what to do, to the processors themselves, which operate at temperatures colder than deep space. The company’s bet is that this unglamorous plumbing will become the critical bottleneck, and a lucrative one, as quantum computers scale from hundreds to thousands of qubits [The Quantum Insider, October 2026].
The physics of scaling
The problem is one of simple arithmetic. CEO Aashish Sah frames it this way: moving from hundreds to 1,000 qubits would require at least 3,000 individual control lines [The Next Web, October 2026]. Each of those wires carries heat and noise into the cryogenic chamber, degrading the fragile quantum states they are meant to control. It’s a thermal and logistical nightmare that gets exponentially worse with scale. Coherence Quantum’s approach aims to consolidate and condition these signals, reducing the heat load and wiring burden to make larger, more stable quantum processors possible [Tech.eu, October 2026]. Their technology is designed for the developers and manufacturers building solid-state quantum computers, whether based on superconducting or spin-qubit systems.
A team built in the cold
The company’s origins are deeply embedded in the Finnish quantum research community. It spun out of Aalto University’s Quantum Computing and Devices (QCD) group, and its leadership reflects a blend of deep academic research and practical cryogenics experience.
| Role | Name | Key Background |
|---|---|---|
| CEO & Co-founder | Aashish Sah | Quantum physicist; research underpins company tech [Runtime Wire, October 2026]. |
| CTO & Co-founder | Suman Kundu | Experimental physicist; helped build Aalto’s 20-qubit Q20 computer [The Quantum Insider, October 2026]. |
| CPO & Co-founder | Erkki Soininen | Previously in product leadership at cryogenics firm Bluefors [The Quantum Insider, October 2026]. |
| Founding Advisor | Mikko Möttönen | Associated with Aalto University’s quantum research [The Next Web, October 2026]. |
This is not a team betting on a distant theory. Kundu’s hands-on experience with a 20-qubit system gives them a clear view of the scaling pain points, while Soininen’s background at Bluefors, a leading maker of cryogenic refrigeration systems, provides crucial insight into the industrial ecosystem they are selling into.
The seed and the path ahead
In October 2026, the company secured a €2.78 million (approximately $2.96 million) seed round led by Lifeline Ventures, with participation from technology entrepreneur Mårten Mickos [The Next Web, October 2026]. The capital is earmarked for establishing a laboratory in Espoo, developing initial prototypes and manufacturing processes, and expanding the team [The Quantum Insider, October 2026]. It follows earlier research-to-business funding received around 2024 to turn university work into first prototypes [The Next Web, October 2026].
The funding signals confidence in a deeptech bet with a long horizon. The market for cryogenic control hardware is nascent, existing only because companies like IBM, Google, and a host of startups are pushing qubit counts higher. Coherence Quantum’ traction, for now, is measured in prototypes and research partnerships, not shipped units. The company has not publicly named commercial customers or deployments, placing it firmly in the R&D and business-development phase typical of hardware-focused quantum infrastructure startups.
Where the bet gets cold
The risks here are the classic ones for a frontier hardware play. The sales cycle will be long, tied to the roadmap of quantum computer builders who are themselves racing for elusive milestones. The technology must prove it doesn’t just work in a lab but can be manufactured reliably and integrated into other companies’ complex systems. Furthermore, they are betting on a specific architectural future for quantum computing,solid-state processors requiring extensive cryogenic control,which, while dominant today, is not the only path being explored.
Their success hinges on a few critical, near-term proofs:
- Prototype performance. Demonstrating a clear signal-integrity and thermal advantage over existing wiring methods in a partner’s system.
- Manufacturing readiness. Moving from lab prototypes to a repeatable production process.
- First design win. Securing a commitment from a quantum hardware developer to integrate their platform into a future system.
The unit economics, at this stage, are a thought experiment. If a 1,000-qubit quantum computer requires 3,000 control lines, and Coherence Quantum’s system can reduce that count or the associated cooling cost by a significant fraction, the value captured per processor could be substantial. But that value is only realized when those processors are being built at scale, which is still years away for most of the industry.
The company they must ultimately beat isn’t a direct startup competitor,none are named in their space yet. It’s the in-house engineering teams at the quantum giants and the status quo of hand-soldered, bespoke wiring solutions. Coherence Quantum is betting that their integrated, physics-aware platform will become the obvious, superior choice before the scaling problem becomes a crisis. It’s a quiet bet on the guts of the machine, which is often where the real money in tech is made.
Sources
- [The Next Web, October 2026] Exclusive: Coherence Quantum raises €2.78M to cut the heat inside quantum computers | https://thenextweb.com/news/coherence-quantum-raises-2-78m-cryogenic-quantum-control
- [The Quantum Insider, October 2026] Coherence Quantum Raises €2.78 Million in Seed Round | https://thequantuminsider.com/2026/10/20/coherence-quantum-raises-e2-78-million-in-seed-round/
- [Tech.eu, October 2026] Coherence Quantum raises €2.78M to tackle quantum computer scaling challenges | https://tech.eu/2026/10/20/coherence-quantum-raises-eur278m-to-tackle-quantum-computer-scaling-challenges/
- [Runtime Wire, October 2026] Coherence Quantum raises €2.78M to reduce quantum computers’ wiring burden | https://runtimewire.com/article/coherence-quantum-seed-round-cryogenic-control