Quantum Computing's Next Frontier: Inside Coherence Quantum's $3M Bet on Scaling Infrastructure

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-20

Quantum computing has a dirty secret: it's not just about adding more qubits. The real bottleneck? The infrastructure that keeps those qubits alive and kicking. That's exactly where Coherence Quantum, a Finnish startup, is placing its bets—and investors are taking notice. ### The $3 Million Seed Round Coherence Quantum just closed a €2.78 million ($3 million) seed round to build the cryogenic signaling and control platform that future quantum computers will need. The round was led by Lifeline Ventures, with participation from tech entrepreneur Mårten Mickos. Not bad for a company founded in 2026 (yes, you read that right—they're thinking ahead). ### Why Infrastructure Matters Here's the thing: quantum computers are notoriously fragile. They need extreme cold (think near absolute zero) and isolation from any electromagnetic noise. As you add more qubits, the wiring and control hardware needed to manage them grows exponentially. It's like trying to fit a growing city's traffic into a single-lane road. Petteri Koponen of Lifeline Ventures put it this way: "The quantum industry has proved that increasingly capable processors can be built. The next challenge is building the infrastructure that allows them to scale." And that's precisely the problem Coherence Quantum is tackling. ### The Team Behind the Tech The founding team isn't your average startup crew. CEO Aashish Sah is a quantum physicist specializing in superconducting qubits. CTO Suman Kundu helped build Aalto University's 20-qubit quantum computer. CPO Erkki Soininen has a PhD in physics and previously led product development at Bluefors, a major player in cryogenics. They're backed by founding advisor Mikko Möttönen, a professor of quantum technology at Aalto. > "Quantum computers won't scale by adding qubits alone. The infrastructure around them has to scale too." – Aashish Sah, CEO ### The Road Ahead With the fresh cash, Coherence Quantum plans to set up its lab in Espoo, Finland, build prototypes, and grow the team. Their first focus is cryogenic signal conditioning—essentially, protecting the qubit environment from noise. From there, they'll work on higher-density interfaces and integrated control systems. The goal? To give quantum computer builders an architecture that can support larger systems without the wiring and cooling requirements growing at the same rate. If they succeed, they could become a key enabler of the quantum computing revolution. For those of us watching the space, it's a reminder that the next big breakthrough might not be a faster processor, but the infrastructure that makes it possible.