Maud Vinet leads Quobly to build quantum chips

French Quantum Physicist Maud Vinet Sets Sights on Global Tech Race

Maud Vinet leads Quobly, a Grenoble-based startup building silicon-based quantum processors, with firm commercial targets that include delivering a 100-qubit transistor-controlled chip by 2027 and a 1,000-logical-qubit quantum computer by 2032. The scientist shifted from directing the quantum program at the CEA’s Laboratory for Electronics and Information Technology to co-founding the venture, securing a 19 million euro funding round in 2023 and an additional 115 million euros in the spring of 2026.

Bridging Fundamental Research and Industrial Production

Unlike many academic researchers who avoid business planning, Vinet spent her professional career forging links between basic physics and industrial manufacturing, spending time working with IBM in the United States alongside her European research. In 2022, she left her position at the CEA in Grenoble to launch Quobly alongside colleague Tristan Meunier and CNRS researcher François Perruchot. The company’s early backing included Bpifrance and Charles Beigbeder’s Quantonation fund, providing the capital necessary to triple staffing over a two-year window.

Quobly builds its quantum chips on existing semiconductor and silicon manufacturing lines. Vinet argued that this reliance on established fabrication infrastructure provides an immediate cost and speed advantage when scaling production. Lionel Martellini, director of the Edhec Quantum Institute, described quantum computing as the foundation of the fifth industrial revolution, following steam power, electricity, computing, and artificial intelligence.

State Backing and European Ambitions

France has established a steady pipeline of public support through targeted defense initiatives. Modeled on the DARPA, the French Ministry of Armed Forces launched the Proqcima program in 2024 with an initial 500 million euro envelope to build two prototypes by 2032. The Directorate General for Armament selected five projects, including Quobly, to compete through rigorous evaluation milestones. Former Digital Secretary Cédric O praised the long-term consistency of French state funding in the sector. Under the terms of the defense procurement process, the field will narrow to the top three projects after four years and down to two finalists at the eight-year mark.

International Rivalries Across the Atlantic and Asia

While valuing the intellectual openness and speed of development she observed in the United States, Vinet expressed concern regarding recent policy shifts under the American administration that could weaken scientific exchange and research funding. Meanwhile, the United States has poured nearly 2 billion dollars into nine startups. Regarding China’s research efforts, Vinet maintained a measured outlook, noting she has not maintained direct contact with Chinese researchers since 2019 and expressing doubt that potential clients would adopt Chinese quantum hardware given its critical national security implications.