QScale Wins €5.5 Million to Scale Quantum Computing Beyond 1,000 Qubits
Updated
Updated · The Quantum Insider · Jun 2
QScale Wins €5.5 Million to Scale Quantum Computing Beyond 1,000 Qubits
1 articles · Updated · The Quantum Insider · Jun 2
€5.5 million from Business Finland will fund QScale, a VTT-led project with Tampere and Aalto universities, to build more scalable, energy-efficient quantum computing technology over three years from September 2026.
The project targets a key bottleneck in superconducting quantum computers: current systems become difficult to scale beyond 1,000 qubits, while million-qubit machines would need power comparable to an entire nuclear reactor.
QScale will combine optical control, telecoms-grade photonics and superconducting signal-generation systems to deliver near-noise-free signals and lower-energy architectures for large-scale quantum machines.
The total budget is about €6.9 million, and the team aims to commercialize the technology in the 2030s for quantum-computer control and other low-temperature electronics applications.
Researchers also say the approach could better link quantum and supercomputers, potentially improving computing efficiency for fields such as chemistry, bioscience and AI.
As rivals aim for quantum advantage with fewer qubits, is Finland's project chasing a goal that could soon be obsolete?
Can a hybrid optical-superconducting computer truly outpace the purely photonic systems now backed by major government funding?
QScale Project: Pioneering Optical Control to Overcome Quantum Scaling Bottlenecks and Achieve 1,000+ Qubit Systems
Overview
Announced in June 2026 and starting in September, QScale is a major Finnish initiative designed to overcome the scaling bottleneck in quantum computing. By bringing together expertise in radiofrequency engineering, photonics, superconductivity, packaging, and cryogenics, QScale aims to build an industrially viable technology platform. Its multidisciplinary approach targets the critical challenge of scaling up quantum computers to achieve quantum advantage and fault tolerance, which requires a dramatic increase in operational qubits. Through this effort, QScale seeks to establish new expertise in Finland and lay the foundation for large-scale, next-generation quantum systems.