Quantum Computing in Germany: From Research Lab to Industry
7 min Read Time
Germany has invested nearly €3 billion in quantum computing over the past few years. 2025 marked the first year in which research promises matured into tangible commercial projects – including a Munich-based startup winning the German Founder Award, Europe’s fastest supercomputer launching in Jülich, and an industrial consortium tackling concrete logistics and mobility challenges. But how close is the real economic breakthrough?
The Key Takeaways
- The German federal government is funding quantum technologies with around €3 billion through 2026 – one of the world’s largest public quantum computing (QC) programs.
- Munich startup planqc won the 2025 German Founder Award and is building a 1,000-qubit quantum computer at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre.
- IQM Quantum Computers (Munich/Espoo) aims to go public on the Nasdaq in 2026 – the first European QC company to do so – with a valuation of $1.8 billion.
- JUPITER in Jülich has been Europe’s fastest supercomputer since September 2025 and is being integrated with a D-Wave quantum annealer.
- German corporations including BMW, Volkswagen, and SAP are collaborating within the QUTAC consortium to develop concrete applications.
What Actually Happened in 2025
The United Nations declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science – commemorating 100 years since the foundational work that made quantum mechanics possible. Yet while scientists and policymakers celebrate, decision-makers at German companies ask a different question: When will this start generating or saving money?
The honest answer is: Not tomorrow – but sooner than many expect. And any organization that delays preparing its own infrastructure and talent pipeline today will face steep catch-up costs in three to five years.
Germany’s public quantum strategy stands out for its ambition and scale. The federal government has earmarked approximately €3 billion for quantum technologies through 2026 – distributed across several ministries, with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as the largest funder. The goal: technological sovereignty, a homegrown ecosystem bridging research and industry, and ultimately a globally competitive universal quantum computer “Made in Germany.”
Whether that full vision will be realized by 2026 remains debatable. What is indisputable: the ecosystem is real, and the first economically relevant projects are already underway.
The German Players: Who’s Building What
Three companies deserve special attention in Germany’s quantum ecosystem – not because they’re merely researching, but because they’re delivering, or nearly there.
planqc (Garching near Munich) spun out of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in 2022 as the first startup from the Munich Quantum Valley Initiative. It develops quantum processors based on neutral atoms – an approach distinct from the superconducting chips used by major U.S. players and, in theory, more scalable.
In July 2024, planqc closed a €50 million Series A round led by CATRON Holding and DTCF, with participation from Bayern Kapital and the BMBF. By late 2024, it secured a €20 million publicly funded project at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) in Garching: a universally programmable quantum system with over 1,000 qubits is scheduled for completion around 2027. In 2025, planqc was awarded the German Founder Award as the year’s top startup.
Concurrently, planqc is partnering with consultancy d-fine in the QCMobility program run by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), tackling real-world optimization problems in intermodal freight transport – precisely the kind of highly complex planning tasks where classical computers hit their limits.
IQM Quantum Computers, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, maintains its European R&D hub in Munich. The company builds superconducting quantum processors and closed a €315 million Series B round in September 2025. Its valuation exceeded $1 billion. In February 2026, IQM announced plans to list on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger – at a $1.8 billion valuation. That would mark the first public listing of a European quantum computing company.
Forschungszentrum Jülich launched JUPITER – Europe’s fastest supercomputer – in September 2025. Ranked #4 on the global TOP500 list, JUPITER is the first system in Europe to exceed one exaFLOP. In February 2025, the center integrated a D-Wave quantum annealer – set to operate in direct hybrid mode with JUPITER. This isn’t theoretical anymore: it’s live infrastructure – classical high-performance computing and quantum systems working together on the same calculation.
“The practical application of quantum computing in industry is still in its infancy – but anyone who fails to invest in preparation now will miss the window entirely.”
– BMW Group, Quantum Computing Annual Report 2025
QUTAC: When DAX Companies Experiment Together
The Quantum Technology and Application Consortium (QUTAC) illustrates how German blue-chip companies are approaching quantum computing: collaboratively, not competitively – because the market is still too early for proprietary, siloed solutions.
Founding members include BASF, BMW Group, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bosch, Infineon, Merck, Munich Re, SAP, Siemens, and Volkswagen. Deutsche Telekom and Lufthansa Industry Solutions have recently joined. The consortium has developed a QC Monitor – a model featuring 24 regularly updated indicators designed to make progress in industrial quantum applications measurable.
BMW, for example, uses QUTAC for projects in materials science, aerodynamic simulation, and robotic path planning. Concrete collaborations are underway with Classiq and Nvidia (powertrain and cooling system optimization) and with Airbus (Quantum Computing Challenge). Deutsche Telekom is developing quantum algorithms for network optimization and quantum cryptography platforms.
BMW’s candid assessment: industrially relevant results remain elusive – but the direction is unmistakable.
The Elephant in the Room: Post-Quantum Cryptography
While most quantum computing discussions revolve around the “When will the breakthrough arrive?” narrative, one quantum-related issue is already urgent for every organization: post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
The BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) has taken a clear stance: classical asymmetric encryption must be replaced with quantum-resistant methods by the end of 2031. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) finalized its first standardized post-quantum algorithms in 2024: FIPS-203, FIPS-204, and FIPS-205. The BSI, together with 17 European partners, has called for the migration of the most sensitive applications by 2030.
The problem? “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later.” State actors and well-resourced adversaries can intercept and store encrypted data today – banking on future quantum computers to decrypt it later. Health records, contracts, intellectual property encrypted today with RSA or ECC could become readable within a decade.
That means the deadline isn’t 2031. It’s now. Any organization handling sensitive data with long-term confidentiality requirements – banks, insurers, pharma firms, government agencies – must begin auditing its cryptographic systems immediately. This isn’t a quantum computing project. It’s IT security hygiene.
What Decision-Makers Can Do Right Now
Quantum computing isn’t something executives can delegate to R&D and revisit in five years. McKinsey pegged 2024 quantum tech startup investments at $2.0 billion – up 50% year-on-year. Starting today builds an information advantage that pays off.
Three concrete action areas:
1. Launch a cryptography inventory. Which internal systems rely on RSA or elliptic curve cryptography? Which datasets require long-term protection? These are the critical entry points for PQC migration. Both the BSI and NIST have published implementation guides – and the migration itself takes years, not months.
2. Observe the QUTAC model. The consortium demonstrates how companies can jointly build quantum competence without bearing the full R&D cost alone. Industry associations, chambers of commerce, and research institutions offer similar on-ramps – especially for SMEs.
3. Identify use cases. Quantum computers solve certain optimization problems more efficiently than classical systems – route planning, portfolio optimization, molecular structure simulation. Organizations that understand their own optimization bottlenecks can target pilot projects with precision.
Waiting for the “big breakthrough” before acting is a strategic error. Competitive advantage doesn’t lie in owning the quantum computer – it lies in understanding, early and precisely, where and when it matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will quantum computers be usable for ordinary companies?
Functional pilot projects already exist for specific optimization problems – logistics, financial portfolios, molecular simulations. Universally programmable quantum computers aren’t expected until the mid-to-late 2030s. Still, starting now pays off – through cryptography migration and targeted use-case scouting.
What is post-quantum cryptography – and why is it urgent?
PQC refers to encryption methods resistant to attacks by quantum computers. The BSI recommends replacing classical asymmetric encryption by 2031. Urgency stems from “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later”: adversaries are collecting encrypted data today for decryption later. NIST ratified its first official PQC standards in 2024.
How does Germany’s quantum approach differ from the U.S. model?
U.S. players like IBM, Google, and IonQ focus heavily on superconducting qubits and rapid scaling. German startups such as planqc are experimenting with neutral atoms – a potentially more scalable architecture. Germany also emphasizes consortia and public funding, aiming squarely at technological sovereignty.
How can SMEs without in-house quantum expertise get started?
The lowest-barrier entry point is the cryptography inventory – requiring no quantum expertise, only standard IT security know-how. Beyond that, the Fraunhofer Competence Network for Quantum Computing and chamber-of-commerce networks provide guidance. Cloud providers like IBM Quantum (via Fraunhofer Ehningen) or Microsoft Azure Quantum enable initial pilot experiments – no hardware required.
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