insider brief
- QDNL Participations has announced new hires to become the definitive investor in global quantum technology.
- This ambition builds on the company’s current €15 million fund focused on the Dutch quantum ecosystem.
- The new investment director and special advisor follows last year’s appointment of quantum computing pioneer Chad Righetti.
press release – Participation in QDNLa venture capital firm launched with €15 million in funding to accelerate the flourishing of the Dutch quantum technology ecosystem, has signaled broader ambitions for the future with a significant expansion of its team.
New Investment Director, Dr. Chris Kaczmarek Previously, he spearheaded quantum investment activities at 2xN, a London-based venture fund co-founded by Niels Nielsen, an early backer and former chairman of Cambridge Quantum Computing (now Quantinuum). There, he backed a number of prominent quantum startups including Sparrow Quantum and QSimulate, and served on the board of Kvantify. Prior to joining venture, Chris was the Director of Product at ORCA Computing, a full-stack photonic quantum computing company spun out of his PhD research.
He will be based in London, UK and will expand QDNL participants’ ability to access the best quantum technology startups in Europe and the US. Chad Righetti, founder of quantum computing pioneer Righetti Computing, joined QDNL Joining as a venture partner in summer 2023, giving the company a notable foothold in Silicon Valley.
New special advisor
Joining Chris as new additions to the QDNL participation team are two special advisors who will help guide the fund’s investment activities.
nadia carsten spans two of the most promising areas of technology today: quantum technology and AI. She is the CEO of the Danish AI Innovation Center A/S, which was founded to own and run Denmark’s first AI supercomputer, Gefion, built in partnership with NVIDIA.
Nadia previously served as Vice President of Products at SandboxAQ, where she was responsible for managing product development across the company’s business lines, including quantum security, quantum sensing, AI, and simulation.
charles marcus He has a strong background in quantum technology research and development. After an academic career at Stanford University, Harvard University, and the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, he became Scientific Director of the Microsoft Quantum Institute in Copenhagen in 2016.
In April 2023, Charles joined the faculty of the University of Washington’s School of Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, with the Boeing Johnson Endowed Chair.
Broaden your ambitions in fields with high potential
QDNL Participations was launched in March 2023 by Quantum Delta NL. Its current fund has already invested in many of the Netherlands’ most promising quantum startups, including Qblox, QuantWare, QphoX and Q*Bird.
The company’s ultimate goal is to become the definitive investor in quantum technologies around the world, at a time when fields such as quantum computing and quantum security are increasingly expanding beyond the lab and into early commercialization. is.
“Our aim is to invest in and help shape category-defining quantum technology companies,” said Ton van ‘t Noordende, general partner at QDNL Participations. “Our expansion reflects our global ambitions to build a team with a strong academic and entrepreneurial track record.
We at QDNLP believe now is the perfect time for early-stage quantum investing, as mature technologies and markets, combined with significant tailwinds of non-dilutive capital, create ideal conditions for new and early-stage ventures. I believe that. Our goal is to help identify and build the next wave of global leaders in quantum technology and the best-performing quantum-focused ventures.
“And you really need that level of expertise. The quantum space is so specialized, and the companies and markets so unique, that generalist, hands-off investment models just don’t work.”
Dr. Chris Kaczmarek said: “I am excited to join the team at QDNLP as we extend our proven active VC model in the Dutch quantum ecosystem and build a world-leading quantum fund. Now is the time to support the next generation of founders who not only understand the science, but also know where to apply it to create real value.”
