OrangeQS completes a €15 million seed funding round.

      The Dutch startup, which is the sole provider of a specialized commercial solution for testing quantum chips, has secured a €3M extension to its seed round from the European Innovation Council Fund, raising total funding to €15 million. This extension follows a €12 million first tranche that was completed in June 2025 and led by Icecat Capital, with contributions from Cottonwood Technology Fund, QBeat Ventures, QDNL Participations, and InnovationQuarter Capital, marking the largest seed round in the Dutch quantum sector to date.

      As part of this investment, EIC Fund investor Zeina Chebli will join the OrangeQS board. The addition of this funding coincides with the launch of the OrangeQS MAX Partnership Programme, which provides quantum chip manufacturers with a structured opportunity to influence various aspects of the MAX product and technology roadmap in exchange for a commitment to the platform.

      The founding members of this partnership include Rigetti Computing, a US-listed company specializing in superconducting quantum technology; QuantWare, a Dutch startup focused on superconducting quantum processor chips; and Peak Quantum, which has recently raised €5 million in total funding. Each partner collaborates independently with OrangeQS while maintaining their intellectual property, collectively guiding the development of a testing platform that must remain compatible with multiple hardware architectures.

      OrangeQS addresses a significant yet often overlooked challenge in quantum chip testing. Quantum chips, whether constructed from superconductors or semiconductors, cannot function at room temperature; they need millikelvin cryogenic conditions, ultra-low electromagnetic noise, and meticulous microwave signal management. Currently, testing a single chip can take weeks, requiring both costly equipment and highly skilled operators. As the production of quantum chips transitions from academic settings to more manufacturing-oriented processes, the testing bottleneck becomes increasingly problematic: it hinders scaling efforts if the characterisation of each chip consumes more time than the production of the chips themselves.

      The MAX, OrangeQS’s flagship product, is designed as high-throughput industrial testing equipment that can evaluate chips within days instead of weeks. This technology is already in use at IQM’s facility in Espoo, Finland. Additionally, the FLEX, the company’s second product, offers a customizable R&D-focused system currently utilized by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Napoli, Chalmers Next Labs, Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Quantum Testbed, and QuTech in Delft. The open-source operating system, OrangeQS Juice, operates on both systems.

      Initially, the partnership programme will emphasize parallel and non-destructive testing technologies, enabling multiple quantum chips to be characterized simultaneously without causing damage, thereby addressing throughput and yield challenges. Along with the announcement, OrangeQS has released a white paper detailing the technical roadmap. The company aims to avoid direct competition in building quantum computers and instead focuses on creating the essential equipment required by all quantum computer manufacturers, regardless of future hardware advancements.

      OrangeQS currently employs around 30 staff members with backgrounds in experimental physics, systems engineering, and aerospace engineering. With the additional funding, the company plans to boost production capabilities, expand its workforce, and enhance the MAX to accommodate increasingly intricate multi-qubit chips.