The quantum wave is sweeping in! Finnish quantum computing leader IQM goes public in the US with over $100 million in orders.

A Finnish-based quantum computing startup and global leader in quantum systems research, IQM, plans to merge with Real Asset Acquisition (RAAQ.US) and go public on the US stock market. IQM has signed a definitive agreement with the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Real Asset to list American Depositary Shares (ADS) on one of the two major US stock exchanges. According to IQM, the deal values the company at $1.8 billion and will make IQM the first European quantum computing company to go public on the US stock market. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund recently disclosed a long position in several quantum computing companies' stocks, including IonQ (IONQ.US), Rigetti (RGTI.US), and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS.US), three leading quantum concept stocks in the US market. The risk exposure to IonQ is the widest, and combined with IQM's listing in the US, it is a significant signal of the "accelerated financing and capitalization of the quantum computing industry" that may set off a new wave of "quantum computing frenzy" in the global stock market. After the transaction is completed, IQM's cash position is expected to exceed $450 million. This includes approximately $175 million in cash from Real Asset's trust account, as well as approximately $134 million raised from a significant financing provided by major new and existing investors at $10 per share, which will be completed simultaneously with the business merger. IQM also mentioned considering a dual listing, listing its common stock on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in Finland after completing the US listing, with the plan expected to proceed after the US listing. IQM has sold 21 sets of its exclusive quantum computing systems to 13 customers, including four of the world's top ten supercomputing centers. The company reported generating at least $35 million in unaudited revenue from cutting-edge quantum computing technology in 2025. By the end of the 2025 calendar year, the company's backlog of quantum computing business orders/revenue visibility exceeds $100 million. IQM's co-founder and CEO Jan Goetz said, "Quantum computing is no longer just a scientific research project. It has become an early industry - where customers own, operate, and build projects on advanced quantum computers. This is what IQM can achieve." The boards of IQM and Real Asset have both approved the proposed business merger. As one of the core players in European quantum computing, CNBC reported that Quantinuum, based in the UK, raised $800 million through two rounds of funding last year, while Multiverse Computing, based in Spain, raised 189 million in Series B funding. IQM's core business focuses on superconducting quantum computing hardware/systems (to some extent, a "quantum computing full stack") built on superconducting circuits, delivering quantum processors (QPUs) that can be deployed locally on quantum computers (for HPC centers, etc.) and also support cloud-based high-speed access. As the "quantum supremacy era" approaches, with IonQ announcing achieving 99.99% double qubit gate fidelity and IBM deploying classical decoders for quantum error correction on commercial AMD FPGA for real-time response in nanoseconds, it is widely predicted that the industrial quantum advantage and key quantum turning points, such as "quantum supremacy," are only three to five years away. The imminent technological threshold is transforming quantum computing from an academic topic to an urgent national security issue, especially the "practical quantum advantage" is likely to appear within 2-5 years in the form of "narrow scenario + hybrid computing + verifiable benefits." The CEO of global quantum computing leader IonQ recently stated that major breakthroughs and transformations in the field of quantum computing are rapidly approaching, and the so-called "quantum supremacy era" is imminent. With the continuous increase in the number of quantum hardware bits and gate fidelity, the concept of "quantum supremacy", marking an important threshold where quantum processors complete calculations at speeds unreachable by classical supercomputers within a reasonable time for a specific defined task, is being used. Quantum computing systems use the properties of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to provide a new computing paradigm that theoretically can significantly surpass the computing power of traditional binary computers in certain specific areas. According to a statement from Alphabet Inc. Class C on December 9, 2024, the Willow quantum chip demonstrated impressive performance in benchmark tests, completing a "standard benchmark calculation" in less than 5 minutes, while traditional supercomputers would take 10-25 years to complete the same task. Although quantum computing technology is still in its nascent stage, it is developing rapidly, and the Norwegian central bank has identified investment opportunities in quantum technology. Looking at the evolution of technology, quantum computing is still in the transition phase of "high noise - early error correction validation": hardware scale and availability are increasing, but the main battlefield has shifted from "physical bit count competition" to "pushing errors below the error correction threshold, and weaving physical bits into stable logical bits for long-term operation." Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's "ASC Quantum Report 2026" explicitly mentioned that the mainstream path is widely shifting towards fault-tolerant architecture, and all mainstream bit technologies have demonstrated quantum error correction elements; the most aggressive public roadmap even sets the latest goal of providing hundreds of logical bits by the end of the 2020s, emphasizing the high progress risk. Quantum computing, along with other cutting-edge technologies, is one of the core focuses of Wall Street's strategic funds led by J.P. Morgan. In October 2025, J.P. Morgan announced the "Security and Resiliency Initiative" - a ten-year total investment of $15 trillion to "promote, finance, and invest" in core industries related to the US economy and national security. The initiative focuses on four key directions: the US core supply chain and advanced manufacturing (including critical minerals such as rare earths, pharmaceutical precursors, Siasun Robot & Automation, etc.), defense and aerospace, energy independence and diversified resilience, as well as the latest and core strategic technology trends (AI, nuclear fusion, network security, and quantum computing, etc.). Antoine Legault, a senior analyst at Wedbush Securities, a renowned Wall Street investment firm, said that the recent significant investment by the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund in the global quantum computing leader IonQ (IONQ.US) could mark the beginning of a landmark super investment wave in the quantum computing industry by the world's largest active asset management institutions. The Norwegian central bank's investment management institution (NBIM), responsible for managing the fund, previously disclosed a long position in stocks of several quantum computing companies in the fourth quarter of 2025, involving IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave Quantum, three leading quantum concept stocks in the US market. In a recent research report to clients, Legault wrote, "In addition to significantly increasing their initial position in IONQ, we also observed that the Norwegian central bank added new investments in Rigetti and D-Wave Quantum in the fourth calendar quarter, indicating that this sovereign wealth fund believes that the future of the quantum field will thrive, and similar to the current AI boom, there will be more than one super winner; moreover, in the long run, there are likely to be more than one successful quantum technology path (modality) - a view that we also agree with." According to a recent portfolio disclosure by the Norwegian government, the size of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund has reached $2.2 trillion and remains the world's largest sovereign wealth fund managed by the Norwegian central bank for investment management. According to its recent 13-F US stock holding filings, by the end of the fourth quarter, the Norwegian central bank held IonQ shares worth approximately $200 million, Rigetti shares worth approximately $39 million, and D-Wave Quantum shares worth approximately $4 million. Legault emphasized that although these holdings are relatively small compared to the respective total market values of the relevant quantum computing companies and the total managed assets of the Norwegian central bank, he considers them as a "significantly influential" mega-scale asset management institution's long-term bet on the growth potential of this forefront technology. Legault emphasized the milestone significance of the Norwegian central bank's latest investment in the three leading quantum computing concepts in the US stock market, potentially becoming a "milestone investment starting point" for other large active asset management institutions and Wall Street financial giants to enter this field; so far, data compiled by institutions shows that the technology sector is mainly dominated by retail investors and some passive ETF fund power.