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📊Bloomberg Technology•#quantum-computing #unicorn-funding #europe-startup•Feb 18, 2026Freshcollected in 14m

Pasqal Targets €200M Raise at Unicorn Status

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📊Read original on Bloomberg Technology

💡Quantum unicorn raise: €200M for Pasqal could unlock new compute for AI optimization tasks.

⚡ 30-Second TL;DR

What changed

€200 million ($237 million) funding talks

Why it matters

Successful funding could accelerate Pasqal's quantum hardware development, benefiting AI researchers in quantum machine learning applications. It signals growing investor confidence in quantum tech.

What to do next

Monitor Pasqal's funding outcome and test their quantum processors via AWS Braket for hybrid ML workloads.

Who should care:Researchers & Academics

🧠 Deep Insight

Web-grounded analysis with 6 cited sources.

🔑 Key Takeaways

•Pasqal is negotiating a €200 million ($237 million) funding round at over $1 billion pre-money valuation, aiming for unicorn status in quantum computing.
•Pasqal, founded in 2019 and co-founded by 2022 Physics Nobel Prize winner Alain Aspect, specializes in neutral atom quantum computing with over $215 million raised previously from international investors.
•On February 17, 2026, Pasqal delivered a 140-qubit neutral atom quantum computer to Italy's CINECA in Bologna, marking Italy's first such system and integrating with the Leonardo pre-exascale supercomputer.

🛠️ Technical Deep Dive

Pasqal develops neutral atom quantum processors using optical tweezer arrays and Rydberg atoms for scalable quantum computing.
Recent 140-qubit QPU delivered to CINECA, engineered for hybrid integration with pre-exascale HPC like Leonardo for optimization, materials simulation, and ML workloads.
Research includes pulse-based optimization of many-body states, local detuning of neutral-atom Rydberg Hamiltonians for attributed-graphs kernels, and hybrid quantum-classical simulation of 2D Fermi-Hubbard models.
Publications cover hardware-informed applications, efficient emulation of neutral atom hardware, and resource assessment for post-quench dynamics on quantum vs classical hardware.

🔮 Future ImplicationsAI analysis grounded in cited sources

Successful €200M raise at unicorn valuation would accelerate Pasqal's industrialization of neutral atom quantum tech, expand Europe's sovereign hybrid HPC-quantum infrastructure, and enhance access for SMEs and researchers to tackle intractable problems in optimization, simulation, and AI, reinforcing Pasqal's leadership among EuroHPC providers.

⏳ Timeline

2019-01

Pasqal founded in France, co-founded by Nobel laureate Alain Aspect.

2022-10

Alain Aspect awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for quantum entanglement work.

2025-07

Published research on pulse-based optimization with Rydberg atoms in optical tweezer arrays.

2025-09

Research on attributed-graphs kernels using neutral-atom Rydberg Hamiltonians.

2025-11

Arxiv papers on post-quench dynamics and 2D Ising model simulations.

2026-02

Delivered 140-qubit neutral atom QPU to Italy's CINECA, powering three EuroHPC sites.

📎 Sources (6)

Factual claims are grounded in the sources below. Forward-looking analysis is AI-generated interpretation.

French quantum startup Pasqal is negotiating a €200 million funding round. The raise would value the company at over $1 billion pre-money. This positions it as a unicorn in the quantum sector.

Key Points

1.€200 million ($237 million) funding talks
2.Over $1 billion pre-money valuation
3.French quantum computing startup
4.Aiming for unicorn status

Impact Analysis

Successful funding could accelerate Pasqal's quantum hardware development, benefiting AI researchers in quantum machine learning applications. It signals growing investor confidence in quantum tech.

#quantum-computing #unicorn-funding #europe-startuppasqal

📊Read original article on Bloomberg Technology

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Original source: Bloomberg Technology ↗