Beyond the Qubit

The cryo-CMOS market may still look early. But the leaders may already be starting to emerge.

In this episode, I explore my biggest takeaways from my Beyond the Qubit interview with Eric W. Cao, Co-Founder and CEO of Qifrost. Eric believes the scaling bottleneck that cryo-CMOS aims to solve could become critical around 2030, give or take a couple of years. But companies cannot wait until then to prepare. The next 24 months could be when the leaders begin to separate themselves from the rest of the market.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand where value may emerge in the quantum hardware supply chain. Cryo-CMOS aims to address the scaling challenges of controlling quantum processors at cryogenic temperatures. But laboratory validation is only the first step. The next challenge is proving that the technology works inside commercial quantum processing units, alongside real architectures and roadmaps.

That is what makes Qifrost interesting. The progression is clear: laboratory validation, commercial validation, standardization, and eventually mass manufacturing. The race may not be won by the company with the most impressive laboratory demonstration, but by the one that integrates its technology with commercial quantum hardware first.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why cryo-CMOS could become a critical quantum scaling technology

• Why the next 24 months may help determine the market leaders

• How cryogenic control electronics could reduce wiring complexity

• Why laboratory validation is no longer enough

• How commercial validation differs from proving technology in the lab

• Why co-development with quantum processor companies matters

• How standardization and mass manufacturing fit into the roadmap

• What investors should watch as Qifrost moves toward commercial adoption

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why Qifrost matters for quantum investors

01:00 Why existing quantum control infrastructure will not scale

02:30 Why the next 24 months matter for cryo-CMOS

04:30 From laboratory validation to commercial validation

11:00 The physical scaling bottleneck in quantum hardware

36:30 Why cryo-CMOS is a strategic opportunity

43:00 Why commercial execution matters more than the technology alone

65:30 Building relationships with quantum hardware developers

72:30 What it takes to prove cryo-CMOS commercially

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

The most important scaling unit in quantum may not be the qubit.

It may be the tile.

In this episode, I continue my conversation with James, CEO of Quantum Motion, to explore why the company’s tile architecture could change how investors think about quantum scaling. Most quantum discussions start with qubit count. But the semiconductor industry taught us a different lesson: scaling happens when you prove the repeating building block and then replicate it.

That is the idea behind Quantum Motion’s tile architecture.

A tile is not just a place where qubits sit. It is designed as a functional unit containing the key ingredients needed for a scalable architecture: shuttling, readout, single-qubit operations, and interfaces for interactions between neighbouring tiles.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand why manufacturability may matter more than impressive qubit numbers. The question is not only whether Quantum Motion can make more qubits. It is whether they can prove a manufacturable tile that can be repeated at scale.

Because if the tile works, the scaling problem changes.

It moves from invention risk toward replication risk.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why the tile may be more important than raw qubit count

• How semiconductor scaling principles apply to quantum computing

• Why a repeatable building block changes the scaling challenge

• What Quantum Motion’s tile architecture contains

• Why manufacturing yield and control are critical

• How shuttling and readout fit into the architecture

• Why the TV pixel analogy helps explain quantum scaling

• What investors should watch beyond qubit numbers

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why qubit count may not be the right metric

00:41 Manufacturing yield as a key KPI

02:37 Why control is the real bottleneck

05:26 The quantum tile architecture explained

17:12 The TV pixel analogy for quantum scaling

27:32 Shuttling, readout and the functional tile

31:00 Why replication could change the scaling equation

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

The real spin-qubit question is not:

Can you make one?

It is:

Can you control millions?

In this episode, I explore my biggest takeaways from my Beyond the Qubit interview with James, CEO of Quantum Motion. Spin qubits have one of the most interesting scaling stories in quantum because they build on something the semiconductor industry already understands: CMOS manufacturing.

But CMOS does not make quantum easy.

It changes where the hard problem sits.

Instead of removing complexity, spin qubits move the challenge toward control, tuning, automation, and manufacturing. A single electron spin can hold quantum information, but scaling that into a useful quantum computer means controlling millions of slightly different qubits with high precision.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand why semiconductor-style manufacturing could matter in quantum. Quantum Motion’s approach is built around making qubits fit the factory from day one. The question is not only whether spin qubits work. It is whether they can become manufactured systems.

Density creates the opportunity.

Control determines whether it becomes a computer.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why spin qubits are attractive from a semiconductor perspective

• How CMOS manufacturing changes the quantum scaling challenge

• Why millions of qubits create a control problem

• Why manufacturing discipline matters for quantum computers

• How automation and scalable readout become critical

• Why Quantum Motion started with a 300mm CMOS approach

• Why density alone does not create a useful quantum computer

• What investors should watch in spin-qubit platforms

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why Quantum Motion and spin qubits matter

01:12 Why CMOS is the foundation of the strategy

03:18 Why semiconductor manufacturing creates an advantage

05:10 The challenge of manufacturing quantum devices

11:12 Why controlling millions of qubits is the real problem

12:17 Why scalable readout matters

17:34 Why yield and automation determine success

27:34 Why 300mm CMOS matters for quantum scaling

31:28 From individual qubits to scalable systems

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

The quantum technology worked.

Then the real problems started.

In this episode, I continue my conversation with Ingrid Romijn from Falqon® Systems to explore what happens when deep tech moves from demonstration into real-world deployment. One of my biggest takeaways was that the hardest problems often appear after the technology works.

For Falqon®, the challenge was no longer simply whether quantum key distribution works. The challenge became integration: how do you connect quantum security technology with existing infrastructure, telecom networks, fibre providers, and customer security systems?

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand how deep-tech companies move from technology development to commercial adoption. Real customers create real constraints. Government deployments push reliability requirements. Telecom customers push deployability. Enterprise users demand visibility into performance and operations.

That customer feedback loop is where companies mature.

The strategic question is not only whether a technology works.

It is:

How quickly can each customer make the next deployment easier?

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why real-world deployment creates new bottlenecks after the technology works

• What Falqon® Systems learned from customer deployments

• How the Port of Rotterdam exposed integration challenges

• Why quantum security needs to work with existing infrastructure

• How customer requirements shaped the Quantum Domain Controller

• Why telecom customers care about deployability and operations

• Why early customers become part of the innovation engine

• How field experience can become a long-term competitive advantage

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why deployment creates new challenges

01:27 The Port of Rotterdam customer lesson

02:50 Integrating quantum keys into existing infrastructure

12:16 Learning from early customer deployments

15:13 Building the Quantum Domain Controller

31:13 What customers need to trust the system

34:00 Why customer feedback creates a competitive moat

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

Europe is focused on which cryptography to use.

But the bigger question may be:

Who controls it?

In this episode, I explore my biggest takeaways from my conversation with Ingrid Romijn of Falqon® Systems and why post-quantum security is not only a cryptography question. Moving from vulnerable cryptography to quantum-safe solutions does not automatically create technological sovereignty. The question is also who controls the implementation, key management, orchestration, and security infrastructure around it.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand the emerging quantum security market. Ingrid explains why the future may not be about choosing only one technology. A layered approach combining post-quantum cryptography, QKD where appropriate, and existing security infrastructure may become the more realistic path.

That creates a new strategic layer: the control plane. As quantum security becomes more complex, the companies that can manage and orchestrate different technologies may become just as important as the companies building individual components.

The investor question is not only:

Who creates the cryptography?

It is also:

Who controls how the entire security stack works together?

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why quantum security is also a sovereignty question

• Why adopting post-quantum cryptography does not automatically remove dependencies

• How PQC, QKD, and existing cryptography can work together

• Why key management and orchestration could become strategic layers

• How Falqon® Systems is moving beyond QKD hardware

• Why control planes may become valuable in quantum security

• The role of European technology independence

• Where investors should look for value in the quantum security stack

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why quantum security is a sovereignty question

02:08 Why Europe matters in the quantum security landscape

04:28 Building infrastructure for quantum-safe communications

08:20 Why Falqon moved beyond QKD hardware

09:08 Combining QKD, PQC, and PKI

11:41 Why the control plane matters

18:13 The future of quantum key management

29:10 Why orchestration may become the strategic layer

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

Transduction is “everybody’s problem and nobody’s problem.”

That line from Vijoy Pandey, SVP/GM of Outshift by Cisco, stayed with me after Part 2 of my Beyond the Qubit interview because it points to one of the most important value layers in quantum.

In this episode, I explore why connecting quantum computers may become just as important as building them. In classical networking, information can be inspected, routed, and forwarded. Quantum information is different. If you inspect the quantum state, you risk destroying the information you are trying to preserve.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand the infrastructure that quantum computing will need to scale. The challenge is not only building better qubits. It is creating the interfaces, switches, and protocols that allow different quantum systems to communicate.

That is where transduction becomes strategically important. It is the translation layer between quantum computers and quantum networks. Without it, the industry risks creating isolated compute islands where every system speaks its own language.

Cisco’s approach is interesting because it is not built around betting on one winning quantum modality. Instead, the focus is on building a network layer that can connect different architectures. If quantum becomes a distributed computing platform, the companies controlling the interfaces and connectivity layers could become important control points.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why quantum networks cannot copy classical internet architecture

• Why transduction is the interface problem between quantum computers and networks

• How quantum switches differ from classical switches

• Why different quantum modalities create a connectivity challenge

• How Cisco’s universal quantum switch approaches translation between encodings

• Why ecosystem collaboration matters for quantum networking

• Why the network layer could become a valuable control point

• What investors should watch as quantum infrastructure develops

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why transduction matters in quantum networking

01:35 Why quantum needs a network layer

02:39 The NIC card analogy for quantum

03:24 Why transduction is harder than classical networking

04:51 Why quantum networks cannot inspect information

07:05 Building a universal quantum switch

08:45 Translating different quantum encodings

10:48 Why ecosystem collaboration matters

12:47 Keeping the network simple and complexity at the edge

14:48 Why transduction could become a strategic control point

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

The internet was built by reading packet headers.

Quantum networks cannot do that.

In this episode, I explore my biggest takeaways from Part 1 of my Beyond the Qubit interview with Vijoy Pandey, head of Outshift at Cisco. The key difference is simple but profound: classical networks scale by inspecting and forwarding information, while quantum networks have to preserve information they cannot directly inspect.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand what infrastructure quantum computing will need beyond the QPU itself. If quantum systems are going to scale beyond isolated machines, they will need a network layer that can connect processors, sensors, and resources while preserving fragile quantum states.

Cisco’s approach is interesting because the company is not trying to build the quantum computer itself. It is exploring the networking layer around quantum systems, using photonics, telecom frequencies, room-temperature components, and existing fiber infrastructure. The goal is not to recreate the classical internet, but to build the architecture needed for quantum scale.

The strategic question is not only who builds the best qubits.

It is also:

Who builds the network that connects them?

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why quantum networks cannot simply copy classical internet architecture

• Why quantum information cannot be inspected like classical packets

• How quantum switches and entanglement sources could enable scaling

• Why networking between QPUs may become a major bottleneck

• Why Cisco is focusing on the infrastructure layer around quantum computers

• How photonics and existing fiber infrastructure could improve deployability

• Why quantum networks may also connect sensors and shared resources

• What investors should watch in the quantum networking stack

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why Cisco is exploring quantum networking

00:50 Why quantum needs a network layer

03:22 Quantum clusters and the need for connectivity

04:47 What quantum networking actually means

05:23 The quantum switch challenge

08:01 Why classical networking cannot be copied

10:03 Why quantum networks cannot inspect information

12:29 Building networks without destroying quantum states

14:42 Why Cisco focuses on photonics and fiber

17:39 Connecting quantum computers and sensors

27:14 The current state of quantum networking

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

Quantum will not scale by optimizing hardware, software, and testing independently.

The winners will have to make the entire system work.

In this episode, I continue my conversation with Adriaan van Rol from OrangeQS to explore why quantum testing may become one of the most important infrastructure layers in the industry. OrangeQS looks like a hardware company at first. Its OrangeQS MAX platform combines cryogenics, electronics, cabling, control systems, and data acquisition to test quantum chips.

But one of the more interesting parts of the system is the software layer underneath: OrangeQS Juice. What started as the software environment around OrangeQS MAX evolved into a broader platform for multi-user workflows, instrument control, structured data, and scalable test operations.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand what it takes for quantum to move from research toward manufacturing. At scale, testing is not just about measuring a chip. It is about turning measurements into diagnosis, validated insights, and better manufacturing decisions.

That is where the strategic opportunity becomes interesting. The potential moat is not only the hardware or the software individually. It is the integrated system: hardware + software + data + domain knowledge. Because in quantum manufacturing, the ability to create a faster feedback loop may become just as important as the ability to build the device itself.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why quantum testing needs to evolve beyond laboratory workflows

• How OrangeQS MAX combines hardware infrastructure for quantum chip testing

• Why OrangeQS built Juice instead of relying on simple lab scripts

• How software enables repeatable, traceable, multi-user testing

• Why testing becomes inseparable from manufacturing at scale

• How measurement data can become manufacturing insight

• Why integrated systems may create stronger moats than individual products

• The importance of data governance in quantum manufacturing

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why quantum testing needs a complete system

01:50 What OrangeQS is building for quantum chip testing

08:10 Why testing and manufacturing need feedback loops

14:40 Turning test data into manufacturing learning

29:33 Why OrangeQS Juice became a hidden gem

30:54 Moving from lab scripts to scalable workflows

35:00 Hardware, software, data and domain knowledge together

42:15 The future of quantum manufacturing infrastructure

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

Why is building a great deep-tech product only half the battle?

In this episode, I explore one of my biggest takeaways from my conversation with Adriaan Rol from OrangeQS. OrangeQS is building test solutions for quantum chips, but the challenge is not only technical. When a product costs millions, the company also has to solve a different problem: how customers actually buy.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone interested in deep-tech commercialization. Adriaan shares an honest lesson from OrangeQS’s journey: they underestimated not the physics or engineering, but the complexity of corporate decision-making, CapEx budgets, procurement processes, and internal risk.

A strong technical story is not enough. A great product is not enough. At some point, deep-tech companies need to make the buying decision easier. That means understanding the customer’s internal process, creating the right milestones, reducing risk step by step, and turning technical interest into a purchase order.

The lesson is bigger than quantum. In deep tech, product-market fit is only part of the equation. Companies also need procurement-market fit.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why deep-tech companies need more than product-market fit

• Why expensive hardware requires a different sales approach

• How OrangeQS learned to navigate CapEx decisions and procurement

• Why technical validation does not automatically lead to purchases

• How partnership programs can reduce customer risk

• Why customers need a buying process they can defend internally

• How deep-tech founders can turn interest into purchase orders

• Why adoption is often as difficult as the technology itself

Chapters

00:00 Why deep tech needs procurement-market fit

08:34 Why million-euro hardware changes the buying process

17:32 Building a partnership program to reduce risk

22:19 The hidden challenge of CapEx decisions

40:29 Why procurement can make or break adoption

Share this episode with someone building or investing in deep tech, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.

When quantum computers scale out, the algorithm has to know where the weak links are.

In this episode, I continue my conversation with Enrique Solano from Kipu Quantum to explore why modular quantum computing is not only a hardware challenge. Most people think modularity means more chips, more qubits, and more scale. But Enrique highlights a deeper issue: once quantum computers become distributed systems, the algorithm has to understand the physical reality of the machine.

This episode is for investors, founders, and anyone trying to understand where quantum software value may emerge. When computation moves across multiple chips, not every connection is equal. Some gates may have very high fidelity inside a chip, while connections between chips can introduce weaker operations. Small differences in fidelity can determine whether an algorithm survives long enough to become useful.

That is where Kipu’s hardware-aware approach becomes interesting. The software cannot treat every quantum backend as identical. It needs to understand connectivity, topology, fidelities, and the weak points of the architecture. In quantum, scaling hardware creates a new software problem. The winning software layer may be the one that understands the machine well enough to extract value from its imperfections.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• Why modular quantum computing changes the software challenge

• Why more qubits do not automatically mean more useful computation

• How inter-chip connections can create new fidelity bottlenecks

• Why algorithms need to understand quantum hardware topology

• Why hardware-aware software may matter more than hardware-agnostic approaches today

• How Kipu thinks about extracting value from imperfect quantum systems

• Why scaling quantum hardware creates new algorithmic challenges

• What investors should watch in quantum software companies

  
  

Chapters

00:00 Why Kipu Quantum focuses on hardware-aware software

01:29 Why algorithms must adapt as hardware changes

03:26 Why architecture matters in quantum systems

06:46 Fidelity limits inside quantum architectures

08:03 Why modularity changes the algorithm

09:01 Building quantum systems beyond single chips

15:04 Why inter-chip connections create new challenges

15:21 Why small fidelity differences matter

16:30 Why algorithms must know the machine

Share this episode with someone investing in or building in quantum, and subscribe or follow Beyond the Qubit for more conversations on quantum technology, markets, and investing.

📌 Disclaimer:This is not investment advice.This post is shared on a personal basis and I do not represent any company.