‘Fundraising is uncapped here’: Why Europe’s quantum founders are bullish about building homegrown champions

I have spent a lot of time talking to founders who think the only way to build something massive is to move to Palo Alto and chase a check from Sequoia. For a long time, that was the only playbook that worked. But something is shifting in the hard tech space, specifically in quantum computing, and it is happening in Europe of all places. While we usually associate the EU with heavy regulation and a slower pace, their quantum founders are starting to sound a lot more like builders and a lot less like researchers.

The Sovereignty Play

In the past, a European startup was seen as a feeder system for American giants. You build a cool piece of IP, you hit a certain valuation, and then Google or IBM buys you to fold your tech into their own stack. That cycle is breaking. Founders in the quantum space are now talking about building "homegrown champions." This isn't just about pride; it is about strategic necessity. Quantum isn't just a faster way to process data; it is a fundamental shift in how we handle cryptography, drug discovery, and logistics. If a continent doesn't own its own quantum infrastructure, it doesn't own its future.

What is interesting here is the shift in funding. We are seeing a move away from purely private venture capital toward a mix of sovereign wealth and state-backed initiatives. Governments have realized that quantum is a matter of national security. This means the pressure to exit early is decreasing. When your lead investor is a state fund focused on 20-year sovereignty goals rather than a 7-year VC fund cycle, the way you build changes. You stop looking for a quick flip and start looking at how to build a lasting institution.

From Labs to Factories

For a long time, quantum computing was mostly academic theory. It was a bunch of guys in white coats talking about qubits and superposition in university basements. The current wave of European founders is moving past that. They are focused on scalability and industrial application. They aren't just trying to prove that quantum works; they are trying to prove that it can be manufactured. This is the "builder-first" mentality I always talk about. It is one thing to have a breakthrough in a lab; it is another thing entirely to build a supply chain that can support a commercial quantum processor.

This transition is where the real money is going. Investors are no longer just betting on the science; they are betting on the engineering. Can you maintain the cooling systems? Can you reduce the error rates? Can you integrate this with existing classical high-performance computing (HPC) centers? These are the questions being asked now. The founders who win won't necessarily be the smartest physicists, but the best operational engineers.

The Capital Paradox

There is a weird thing happening with fundraising in this sector. Founders are reporting that for the right projects, fundraising is effectively "uncapped." That sounds like hyperbole, but in the context of deep tech, it makes sense. If you are building the foundation for the next century of computing, the price tag is irrelevant compared to the cost of not having the technology. However, this creates a high bar for entry. If you aren't building at the absolute frontier, you won't get a cent. The middle ground is disappearing.

I am naturally skeptical of the word "uncapped." It usually precedes a bubble. But in quantum, the capital requirements are so high that only the most serious players even get to the table. This isn't like building a SaaS app where two kids in a garage can compete. You need hundreds of millions of dollars just to get the hardware to a baseline level of utility. The fact that European investors are finally willing to write those checks is a signal that they are ready to compete on a global scale.

What This Means for Builders

If you are a builder in the AI or crypto space, you might think quantum is a distant problem. It isn't. The intersection of these technologies is where the next decade of value will be created. AI requires massive compute; quantum provides it. Crypto requires secure encryption; quantum threatens it. Understanding the hardware layer is becoming mandatory for software founders.

• Long-term over short-term: The era of the 18-month exit is dying in hard tech. If you want to build in quantum, prepare for a decade-long grind.
• State-level alignment: Founders need to learn how to navigate government relations as much as they navigate product-market fit.
• Infrastructure is king: The money is flowing to the people building the pipes, not just the people using them.

The skepticism I usually hold for European tech is starting to fade here because the incentives are finally aligned. Europe has the talent—some of the best physicists in the world are in Delft, Munich, and Paris. What they lacked was the aggression and the capital. Now that they are viewing quantum as a "sovereign" asset, the aggression is showing up. They aren't building to be bought anymore; they are building to win.

The biggest mistake a founder can make right now is assuming the US will always lead in hardware. The geopolitical shift toward localized tech stacks is creating massive opportunities for those willing to build outside the traditional hubs.

We are watching the decentralization of innovation in real-time. It isn't just about crypto; it is about where the physical machines that run our world are built. If Europe can actually follow through on these "homegrown champions," the global tech landscape will look very different by 2030. For builders, the takeaway is clear: stop looking at the exit and start looking at the foundation. The people who own the hardware own the rules.

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