Local quantum start-up lands record seed funding
Copenhagen Science City-located start-up Sparrow Quantum Aps. announced the largest investment to date in a Danish quantum technology company on May 11th, 2023. The start-up secured 31 million DKK (€4.1m). It is going to market with hardware that allows fully secure quantum communication, a quantum internet for wiring up the world with quantum entanglement and even a scalable quantum computer based on photons.
Making quantum researchers more productive
Sparrow Quantum’s first product is an on-chip single-photon source which provides long strings of more than 100 single photons at a rate of more than 20 million single photons per second. According to the company, the photon emitters could enable photonic quantum technology researchers to conduct their experiments more efficiently and cost-effectively.
Provider for fledgling industry
Sparrow Quantum also hopes to become a trusted component provider in the quantum industry supply chain by teaming up with developers of quantum technology systems to incorporate its single-photon sources into large-scale commercial quantum systems. This makes them an important actor in Copenhagen Science City.
Copenhagen has a long history as a global hotspot for research into quantum phenomena. Our innovation district is now developing into a centre for commercialising quantum insights. A company like Sparrow Quantum, with a technology which other companies can build upon, is an important part of our innovation ecosystem”: Kristoffer Klebak, Head of Secretariat, Copenhagen Science City
Backed by two decades of excellent research
The seed funding round was led by the venture capital firm 2xN and includes co-investment from LIFTT and the European Innovation Council (EIC). Sparrow Quantum’s technology is a product of more than two decades of pioneering research by founder Prof. Peter Lodahl and his quantum photonics research group at the prestigious Niels Bohr Institute which is part of Copenhagen Science City-partner University of Copenhagen. Sparrow Quantum licensed the technology from the university in a deal brokered by the University of Copenhagen Tech Transfer Office.
Controlling light with nanostructures
Lodahl was the first to demonstrate that light emission can be fully controlled using intricate photonic nanostructures. He currently heads a research centre, which is developing fundamentally new quantum hardware for the emergent field of quantum-information science.
We are thrilled to see the commercial potential of our research at NBI realized through Sparrow Quantum’s groundbreaking technology. Their development of deterministic single-photon sources is a significant step forward in advancing quantum technologies, and we are proud to support their efforts to bring this technology to market.” Jan Thomsen, Head of Department, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.
Accelerating product development and expanding the team
With this seed investment, Sparrow Quantum will accelerate the development of its products and services, expand its team, and strengthen its position as the market leader in quantum light-matter interfaces and next-generation single-photon sources for commercial quantum technologies.
We firmly believe that photonic quantum technologies have the potential to revolutionize how we process and communicate information in the future, and we are excited to be providing the specialized components that will drive this field forward.” Kurt Stokbro, CEO of Sparrow Quantum
About Sparrow Quantum
Sparrow Quantum is a Danish quantum technology company dedicated to advancing light-matter interfaces for quantum technologies. The company is widely recognized as a leader in single-photon sources, demonstrating the world’s highest light-matter coupling efficiency.
About 2xN
2xN is a London-based VC firm focused on early-stage investments, e.g., in quantum technology. The firm was co-founded by Niels Nielsen, a Danish entrepreneur, tech investor, and pioneer investor in quantum (Quantinuum board member and early investor). The investment in Sparrow Quantum is its second investment into a Danish Quantum business and is made by 2xN Venture Fund I, SCSp, in which the Danish sovereign wealth fund, Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund, is the cornerstone investor. The other investors include Nordic institutions and large family offices. Learn more by visiting www.2xn.vc
About LIFTT
LIFTT supports the creation of businesses, development, employment, and economic growth, through the implementation of an ethical and transparent governance model, based on the participation of all the actors involved. To learn more, please visit www.liftt.com
About EIC Fund
The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is an agnostic Fund: it invests across all technologies and verticals and all EU countries and countries associated with Horizon Europe. It provides the investment component of the EIC Accelerator blended finance.
Find out about EIC funding opportunities by visiting www.eic.ec.europa.eu
About Copenhagen Science City
Copenhagen Science City is a two square kilometre innovation district in the heart of the Danish capital. Here, University of Copenhagen, University Hospital Rigshospitalet and University College Copenhagen are working to create optimal conditions for students and researchers dreaming of starting a business, and for companies who need to develop, validate or test their products in collaboration with the knowledge institutions.
