China∩Quantum Industry Brief Q4 2025

Three new full-stack quantum computing contenders, IPOs, a flood of patient capital

Another China∩Quantum Brief is long overdue—today, a partial one to discuss Q4 updates from China’s quantum industry. If I have time, I will later write a separate Q4 update on policy and technical developments.

Summary and main takeaways:

• Three new full-stack quantum computing contenders: Among the funding announcements, there are three full-stack quantum computing start-ups that I had never heard of before completing their Seed/Pre-A rounds (LogicBit, MatriQ, Buchou Quantum). After some online research, I believe all three are efforts that should be taken very seriously.

• A surprisingly diverse mix of funding for Chinese quantum companies:

  • While most “patient capital” comes from state-backed funds (local provincial or district funds, SOEs, CAS, …), private VCs and IT companies also make appearances.

  • Support agreements between banks and quantum companies have also been reported (see Anhui conference below).

  • More of the big quantum start-ups are going public (CIQTEK, Origin Quantum).

  • Application competitions are becoming more prominent (see my writing here, for example).

• The Chinese policy makers are getting really serious about providing patient capital; in section (4), there are four new venture guidance funds with >50 billion RMB each. Of course, unlike the quantum-exclusive funds (of which there are also a few new ones!), only a small fraction of this money will go directly into quantum. But, for early-stage tech investments in any field, this is still a lot of money.

• There are many quantum industry conferences in China these days. I looked more closely at (what I believe were) the two most important ones in Q4 2025: Hefei and Beijing (see section (5)).

Hopefully, I can increase the frequency of these briefs in the future to make them more comprehensive. Still, despite covering only a fraction of what happened in Q4 2025, there is a lot to go with in this (hopefully representative) selection of Chinese quantum industry news. As usual, most of the news here is largely undercovered in English media (at least the quantum newsletters that I casually follow).

(1) Quantum start-ups’ funding rounds

(2025-10-14) LogicBit (逻辑比特), a superconducting quantum computing company spun off from Zhejiang University, announced its Pre-A round. The company focuses on error-correctable quantum chips and has previously released the “Mogan 1” (莫干1号) and “Tianmu 1” (天目1号) chips. I believe this company comes out of one of the best superconducting qubit research teams in China. The announcement highlights that core members participated in developing a 100-qubit superconducting quantum chip published in Nature in August 2025, and their technological route is explicitly compared to Google’s.

• Round: Pre-A

• Amount: Tens of millions RMB (数千万元)

• Investors: Mix of university-affiliated capital, state-owned platforms, and private alumni funds.¹

• Business area: Superconducting quantum computing (QEC and logical qubits)

(2025-10-15) Beijing-based QBoson (北京玻色量子) announced it will use fresh capital from its Series A++ to construct the first domestic manufacturing facility for scalable special-purpose optical quantum computers in Nanshan District, Shenzhen. The funding will also support the development of “quantum computing + AI” applications and, more broadly, the company's research and development of both "dedicated" coherent optical quantum computers and "general-purpose" optical quantum computers

• Round: Series A++

• Amount: Hundreds of millions RMB (数亿元)

• Investors: Mix of government-guided funds (Shenzhen and Hunan), private equity affiliated with major financial institutions, and a listed technology company.²

• Business area: Optical quantum computing (coherent Ising machines; currently, they seem to be mostly focusing on specialized “dedicated” coherent optical quantum computers)

(2025-10-28) CIQTEK (国仪量子), a quantum precision measurement company spun off from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), completed its Series D. This financing is described as a pre-IPO stabilization round; see the separate paragraph on CIQTEK’s IPO below.

• Round: Series D / Strategic Financing

• Amount: 131 Million RMB (1.31亿元)

• Investors: Local state-owned capital.³

• Business area: Quantum sensing and scientific instrumentation

(2025-11-07) MatriQ (原子矩阵), a full-stack neutral atom quantum computing company utilizing dynamic optical tweezer arrays, completed its Seed round. The announcement is (deliberately?) very vague: Core team from renowned universities, successfully developed a neutral atom quantum computing prototype with internationally advanced key indicators.... I have no proof, but I think this is the follow-up commercialization of the “2024-atom array paper” that made news not long ago and was described as a world record.

• Round: Seed

• Amount: Undisclosed

• Investors: A mix of specialized deep-tech VCs and strategic incubators.⁴

• Business area: Full-stack neutral atom quantum computing

(2025-11-19) e-Spin (易思旋磁), a company developing “magnetic quantum computing” (磁性量子计算) chips based on spintronics, completed its Seed round. Their technology operates at room temperature and might more accurately be described as quantum-inspired computing. The company focuses on specialized computing for combinatorial optimization, not universal gate-based quantum computing (similar business model to D-Wave?).

• Round: Seed

• Amount: Several Million RMB (数百万元)

• Investors: Government-backed district fund.⁵

• Business area: Spintronics / Ising machine (specialized optimization hardware)

(2025-11-21) Scale Quantum (标度量子), a manufacturer of atomic-precision surface imaging equipment, completed its Series A. The company develops Scanning Tunneling Microscopes (STM), Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM), and related probes. I would categorize this as "picks and shovels" for characterizing quantum chips and nanomaterials.

• Round: Series A

• Amount: Undisclosed

• Investors: Government-backed science park fund.⁶

• Business area: Quantum-enabling hardware (STM/AFM Metrology)

(2025-12-03) Buchou Quantum (不筹量子), a neutral atom quantum computing company spun off from Fudan University, completed its Angel round. They use optical tweezers to trap neutral atoms (Rubidium/Cesium) and have reportedly developed a prototype with 1,000 atomic qubits. The startup is a notable outcome of Shanghai’s “Grant-Investment Linkage” (拨投联动) policy, where venture capitalists are invited to evaluate government-funded research milestones. Reportedly, during the milestone evaluation of a project by the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, the investors were so impressed that they promptly advised the team to spin out a company. There is a cool story on the website of Fudan University about the team behind this. I think the strong quantum algorithm background is quite notable.

• Round: Angel

• Amount: Tens of millions RMB (数千万元)

• Investors: Hard-tech focused VCs (incl. CAS-affiliated) and university-affiliated funds.⁷

• Business area: Neutral atom quantum computing (full-stack hardware & algorithms)

(2025-12-12) Origin Quantum (本源量子), China's best-known full-stack superconducting quantum computing “national champion,” received an indirect equity investment. The investment comes from Tianyang Technology (天阳科技), a listed banking IT solutions provider, which invested 30 million RMB into a special purpose vehicle to acquire an indirect equity stake. The structure of this investment seems interesting: A Banking IT vendor indirectly acquiring a stake in a quantum hardware start-up that has been pitching quantum for finance.

• Round: Strategic (Indirect Equity Investment)

• Amount: 30 Million RMB

• Investors: Tianyang Technology (天阳科技) via the Qingdao Hongma Jinxin Fund (青岛红马金鑫基金).

• Business area: Quantum Computing for finance / Banking IT

(2025-12-23) ArcLight Quantum (弧光量子), a quantum software company spun off from the Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS, 中国科学院软件研究所), completed its Series A. The company’s products include quantum EDA, quantum program development platforms, quantum machine learning platforms, and quantum measurement and control systems.

• Round: Series A

• Amount: Tens of millions RMB (数千万元)

• Investors: A government-guided fund⁸

• Business area: Quantum software

(2) IPO news

(2025-12-10) CIQTEK’s (国仪量子) application for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the STAR Market (科创板) was successful.

• The company plans to raise around 1.169 billion RMB. This is estimated to correspond to a valuation of around 11.69 billion RMB. CIQTEK is one of the “big three” quantum start-ups from Hefei, besides QuantumCTek (国盾量子, already public), Origin Quantum (本源量子, also planning to go public, recently valued at 6.9 billion RMB).

• CIQTEK is best known for measurement instruments and quantum sensing⁹; it is one of the Chinese quantum start-ups I respect the most [this is NOT investment advice]. This article about its background is worth a read; it leans extensively into the self-reliance angle of the story that is as relevant now as ever: “make Chinese instruments with Chinese technology.”

• [Warning: On my device, Google Translate sometimes mistranslates 国仪量子 as QuantumCTek instead of CIQTEK/Guoyi.]

(2025-10-13) Zhongke Fuhai (中科富海) registered for IPO tutoring with the local bureau, aiming for a future STAR Market listing. This CAS spin-off is not a pure-play quantum company, but its business includes cryogenic equipment of high relevance to the quantum supply chain (e.g., helium separation and purification).

(4) New quantum(-related) funds

Quantum-only

(2025-11-20) A MoM for cooperation on the China Telecom Quantum Industry Venture Capital Fund (中电信量子产业创业投资基金合) was signed at a Hefei quantum industry conference.

• Not many details, so let me quote directly: “the first central enterprise quantum industry venture capital fund initiated and established by China Telecom, will work with quantum fund partners to invest in early-stage, small-scale, long-term, and hard-tech industries in line with the national “15th Five-Year Plan,” accelerate the cultivation of future industries, help build an internationally influential quantum industry ecosystem cluster, and promote quantum technology as a new economic growth point.”

(2025-11-24) A small 10 million RMB quantum proof of concept fund (武汉量子概念验证基金) was established in the Wuhan Optics Valley. Announced during the Wuhan Quantum Technology Conference 2025 (武汉量子科技会议·2025).

(2025-12-13) The Beijing Future Open Source Quantum Venture Capital Fund (北京未来开源量子创业投资基金) with a capital of 500 million RMB was announced.

• Jointly established between the Beijing Municipality (and Haidian district) and two professional (but state-linked) institutions (Guorong Gongfa, 国融工发 and CAS Star, 中科创星).

• Operating model: "Investment + Service + Synergy" (投资+服务+协同)

  • Service: Links portfolio companies to incubators and industrial parks, specifically the new "Quantum Bay" (Zhongguancun Quantum Science Future Industry Park, 中关村（海淀）量子科技未来产业园).

  • Synergy: Translation of IP from Beijing’s top universities.

• The Open Source (开源) in the name here is interesting, suggesting a focus specifically on quantum open source software (think: Chinese Qiskit), possibly inspired by the success of Chinese open source AI.

Quantum-related

(2025-10-29) The Central Enterprise Strategic Emerging Industry Development Special Fund (中央企业战略性新兴产业发展专项基金) launched on October 29 with an initial scale of 51 billion RMB.

• Initiated by SASAC, the commission that oversees China’s SOEs. Mostly financed by big SOEs, focuses on SEIs (strategic emerging industries) and future industries (“9+6”), including quantum.

• The operating strategy is “integrating production and investment, and promoting production through investment” (产投结合、以投促产) — I think this means that when the fund invests in start-ups, it simultaneously seeks to integrate the startup’s technology into the partnering SOE’s production.

• Up to 15-year time horizon (5-year investment period, 8-year management and exit, option to extend by 2 years).

(2025-12-11) CAS Star announced the completion of fundraising for the CAS Star Pioneer Venture Capital Fund (中科创星先导创业投资基金), having raised 4.08 billion RMB.

• Focus appears to be on early-stage hard tech (not exclusively quantum). By December 2025, the fund had already made decisions on 46 projects, 90% of which were Seed or Angel rounds.

(2025-12-26) Nearly on time for Christmas, three fat >50 billion RMB Venture Captial Guidance Funds were announced, one each for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Below is based on the English Xinhua readout.

• Goal: Mobilize more patient capital for innovative and future industries.

• At least 70 percent of the funds’ capital will go to seed-stage and early-stage enterprises.

• The funds have already signed preliminary investments at launch, including in quantum.

(5) Reporting from the big quantum industry conferences

(2025-12-13) In Beijing: The 2025 Zhongguancun Quantum Conference (2025中关村量子大会) was held in December.

• “16 achievements” were presented, including:

  • Compiling for quantum computing, BAQIS (Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences) & Tsinghua: AshN Quantum Instruction Set Architecture, primary innovation said to be the hardware-level direct execution of arbitrary two-qubit gates (instead of decomposing them into a fixed universal gate set);

  • Neutral atoms scaling, Tsinghua: Optical tweezer array capable of 78,400 trapped atoms;

  • Metrology, Peking University: Michelson laser interferometer with picometer-level resolution. This is targeted at lithography and ultra-precision manufacturing and reportedly improves on existing international benchmarks by an order of magnitude.

• Five industrial applications in the power sector launched by State Grid (国家电网), including: Quantum-encrypted communication, precision measurement and monitoring (quantum current transformers), and power grid simulation calculations.

(2025-11-21) In Anhui (Hefei): The 2025 Quantum Technology and Industry Conference (2025量子科技和产业大) was held on November 21. A total of 117 exhibiting companies were reported to attend, more than double the exhibitors of the previous year. Some notable reports from the conference:

• China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) released the liquid helium-free XS1000 dilution refrigerator for superconducting quantum computers (XS1000型稀释制冷机).

• Hefei National Lab (China’s national quantum lab), together with 36 other institutions, launched the Quantum Cryptography Infrastructure Standardization Technology Alliance (量子密码基础设施标准化技术联盟).

• National High-tech Zone Quantum Industry Collaborative Innovation Network (国家高新区量子产业协同创新网络) was established, comprising Hefei, Beijing Zhongguancun, Shanghai Zhangjiang, Shenzhen, Suzhou Industrial Park, Wuhan East Lake, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Jinan¹⁰. This is interesting twofold:

  • First, I would see this among a broader push to coordinate and specialize in the different quantum Hubs (e.g., Beijing for open source quantum software, Wuhan for optics, Jinan for standards, … ) to reduce excessive duplication and overcompetition among the clusters.

  • Second, does the order of the list represent a kind of ranking of the different clusters on a national level? Hefei at the top, followed by Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen definitely makes a lot of sense to me; less sure about the follow-ups.

• Financial measures, including MoM on China Telecom Quantum Industry Venture Capital Fund (separately covered above) and financial support agreements between quantum enterprises and banks (not sure what kind of support, maybe favorable loans, special credit lines, guarantees, or debt-equity swaps).

• The Quantum Industry Application Action Plan was presented, and Anhui launched its "Thousands of Scenarios" initiative about which I wrote extensively here.

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That’s it for this one. Have a great start to the new year!

1. Led by Zheda United Innovation (浙大联创) with participation from Oriental Jiafu (东方嘉富), Huaxia Hengtian (华夏恒天), Westlake Science and Technology Innovation Investment (西湖科创投), and Oufang Angel (藕舫天使). Shanghai Zhihui Investment (上海至辉投资) joined as a new shareholder.

2. Led by Huade Kechuang (华德科创) and Nanshan Zhanxintou (南山战新投) with participation from GF Xinde (广发信德), Hunan Caixin Industry Fund (湖南财信产业基金), and Weide Information (纬德信息).

3. The round was exclusively invested by the Hefei Co-creation Relay Venture Investment Fund (合肥市共创接力创业投资基金), which is managed by Hefei Xingtai Capital (合肥兴泰资本).

4. The round was invested in by L2F Light to Future (L2F光源创业者基金), who also acted as the “full-process incubator”, Qiancheng Capital (千乘资本), and Oriza Seed (元禾原点).

5. Jiaxing Nanhu District Sci-Tech Innovation Fund (嘉兴南湖区科创基金)

6. Zhongguancun Collaborative Innovation Fund (中关村协同创新基金), a government-guided fund affiliated with the Zhongguancun Development Group (state-owned).

7. Led by CAS Star (中科创星), a leading "hard technology" investor affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Participating investors include Furong Investment (复容投资), which is the investment arm of Fudan University, and Oriental Fortune Capital (东方富海), a prominent private VC.

8. The sole investor is the Beijing Information Industry Development Fund (北京信息产业发展投资基金), a 10-billion RMB state fund managed by Beijing State-owned Capital Operation & Management (北京国有资本运营管).

9. More specifically (AI-summarized from this): Quantum Information Technology and Spin Resonance [量子信息技术与自旋共振], which leverages NV-center [氮-空位色心] and EPR [电子顺磁共振] technologies for precision measurement; Electron Microscopy [电子显微镜], focusing on high-resolution scanning [SEM] and transmission [TEM] systems; Gas Adsorption Analysis [气体吸附分析] for material surface characterization; and Measurement While Drilling [随钻测量] for the energy and petroleum exploration sector. While the company is deeply rooted in quantum-enhanced sensing, it has increasingly pivoted its commercial focus toward the broader high-end scientific instrument market to facilitate domestic substitution [国产替代] and scale its revenue base.

10. 合肥高新区, 北京中关村园区, 上海张江高新区, 深圳高新区, 苏州工业园区, 武汉东湖高新区, 杭州高新区, 成都高新区, 济南高新区