Paris-based Alice & Bob raises €100M to build a useful quantum computer; here’s how

Alice & Bob, a quantum computing company based in Paris, has raised €100M in its Series B funding round. The proceeds will support the company’s goal of building a fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2030.

Future French Champions (FFC), AVP (AXA Venture Partners), and Bpifrance led the Series B funding round for Alice & Bob. FFC is a partnership between QIA and Bpifrance. 

All Series A investors—Elaia Partners, Breega, Supernova Invest, and Bpifrance—participated again, along with new investors including the European Innovation Council (EIC).

Théau Peronnin, CEO of Alice & Bob, says, “Having established performance records with our cat qubits, Alice & Bob now enters a new phase focused on building a quantum computer that can deliver valuable results.”

“Cat qubits are unique, as they make scaling quantum computers practical: where conventional approaches would require millions of qubits, we would need only thousands.”

Cat qubits suppress bit-flip errors, one of the two types of errors in quantum computing. This property supports architectures for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers (FTQCs) that resist errors and enable practical applications. 

Alice & Bob has focused exclusively on this qubit type since its founding in 2020.

Capital utilisation

Alice & Bob will use the funds to develop its system, improve error correction, and create its first error-corrected logical qubit. 

Nearly half of the funds will support the construction of a new lab and production facility, while additional funds will go toward team expansion.

Elie Girard, Executive Chairman of Alice & Bob, says, “Quantum computing is poised to transform industries, but the engineering complexity has remained a major hurdle. Alice & Bob’s cat qubit innovation offers a clear path forward, combining efficiency and reliability to unlock quantum’s full potential.”

“This funding allows for Alice & Bob to continue to grow as a company and a leading player in the industry.”

Designing chips with fault tolerance in mind

Alice & Bob is a quantum computing company based in Paris and Boston. It is working to develop a universal, fault-tolerant quantum computer. The company focuses on cat qubits, a technology developed by its founders and later adopted by Amazon.

The French company has shown that its approach can reduce hardware requirements for large-scale quantum computing by up to 200 times compared to other methods. Its cat qubit is available for testing through cloud access.

Alice & Bob have secured €130M in total funding, grown to over 110 employees, and conducted experiments with results exceeding those of major technology firms such as Google or IBM.

What do the investors have to say?

Future French Champions is a partnership between QIA and Bpifrance, established in 2014. QIA, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, was founded in 2005 to manage the state’s reserve funds. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds globally, investing across various asset classes and regions. 

QIA partners with institutions worldwide to build a diversified investment portfolio to generate long-term returns and support Qatar’s economic growth.

Speaking about the investment in Alice & Bob, Antoine Emmanuelli, President at FFC, says, “In investing in Alice & Bob, Future French Champions recognises the company as a French leader in quantum computing. We are eager to see Alice & Bob achieve fault-tolerant quantum computing in this highly competitive, evolving field using unique and innovative technology to make France a champion in quantum tech.”

François Robinet, Managing Partner at AVP, adds, “We have been following the field of quantum computing for a long time at AVP and we are now convinced that quantum computing is leaving the pure R&D space and is entering into an ’industrial’ phase to soon address ’real-life’ use cases, thanks to the technology that Alice & Bob has been developing.”

“AVP is therefore proud to support the company in their mission to reduce the hardware requirements for building a practical, large-scale quantum computer.”

AVP is a venture capital firm managing over $2B in assets across four investment strategies: Venture, Early Growth, Growth, and Fund of Funds. Since 2016, AVP has invested in over 60 technology companies in the US and Europe. The firm helps companies expand internationally and provides business development opportunities to support growth.

Bpifrance Investissement manages Bpifrance‘s equity investments. Bpifrance, the French national investment bank, supports businesses at all stages through loans, guarantees, equity investments, and export insurance. It also offers training and consultancy to help entrepreneurs with innovation, international expansion, and other challenges.

François Charbonnier, Investment Director, Bpifrance, says, “We are thrilled to once again contribute to the groundbreaking work that Alice & Bob is doing to scale quantum computers for real-world applications.”

“Bpifrance’s continued investment in Alice & Bob reflects our goal to establish France as an international leader in quantum computing and bolster the growth of the French economy by investing in technology that will disrupt industries and solve problems globally.”