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Alice & Bob

Category: AI in Hardware / Semiconductors

French quantum computing company building the first universal fault-tolerant quantum computer using proprietary cat qubit technology with built-in error correction. Alice & Bob was founded in 2020. The company is led by Théau Peronnin. Based in Paris, France (with Boston, US office). Team size: 251-500. Total funding raised: $143.0M. Latest round: Series B. Key investors include Future French Champions (FFC); AXA Venture Partners (AVP); Bpifrance; Elaia Partners; Breega; Supernova Invest; European Innovation Council; NVentures (NVIDIA); Sopra Steria Ventures.

Founded
2020
Headquarters
Paris, France (with Boston, US office)
Team size
251-500
Total funding
$143.0M

Value proposition

Building the first universal fault-tolerant quantum computer with cat qubits — superconducting qubits that are inherently protected from bit-flip errors, reducing the quantum error correction overhead by up to 200x compared to competing approaches. This enables useful quantum computing with dramatically fewer physical qubits (thousands instead of millions).

Products and solutions

Cat qubit-based quantum processors; Helium (first error-corrected system, coming soon); Graphene (100-logical-qubit fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2030); Dynamiqs (open-source quantum simulation library); The Box (quantum consulting unit); Cat qubit emulator (in partnership with Equinix)

Unique value

Cat qubits with built-in bit-flip error protection — the only company developing quantum computers exclusively with this architecture, enabling fault-tolerant quantum computing with up to 200x fewer qubits than conventional approaches.

Target customer

High-performance computing (HPC) centers; enterprises in healthcare, agriculture, finance, energy, and materials science; government defense and research institutions

Industries served

Healthcare (drug discovery/molecular simulation); Agriculture; Energy (rare-earth-free magnet discovery); Finance; Materials science; Cybersecurity; Defense

Technology advantage

Cat qubit technology pioneered by founders (later adopted by Amazon); bit-flip protected by design leaving only phase-flip errors to correct; demonstrated experimental results surpassing Google and IBM; 200x reduction in hardware requirements vs competing approaches; integrated with NVIDIA CUDA-Q, cuQuantum, NVQLink, and DGX Quantum; open-source Dynamiqs library for HPC simulation

How they differentiate

Only quantum startup exclusively using cat qubit technology; bit-flip errors eliminated at the hardware level (not just corrected), dramatically reducing the number of physical qubits needed for fault tolerance; selected for France's PROQCIMA national program alongside just 4 other companies; strong IP portfolio with patent compensation program for employees

Main competitors

Pasqal (France, neutral atoms); IonQ (US, trapped ions); PsiQuantum (US, photonics); Quandela (France, photonics); Quobly (France, silicon spin); C12 Quantum Electronics (France, carbon nanotubes); IQM (Finland, superconducting); Google Quantum AI; IBM Quantum

Key partnerships

NVIDIA (CUDA-Q, cuQuantum, NVQLink, DGX Quantum); Equinix (quantum emulator deployment); Eviden/Atos (Qaptiva integration); Horizon Quantum (emulator integration); ENS de Lyon & Mines Paris-PSL (academic research); Sopra Steria (strategic investment & partnership); Los Alamos National Laboratory & GE Vernova (ARPA-E grant)

Notable customers

Equinix (as emulator partner/customer); Sopra Steria (strategic partner); French Ministry for Armed Forces (PROQCIMA program)

Major milestones

2020: Founded and raised seed round; 2022: Raised €27M Series A; 2023: Partnership with Equinix; demonstrated cat qubit with bit-flip times exceeding 10 seconds (Nature); 2024: Selected for France's PROQCIMA program (€500M), won €16.5M Bpifrance grant, launched Dynamiqs; 2025: Raised €100M Series B, hired 100+ employees; 2026: NVentures/NVIDIA investment, expanded workforce to 251 employees, announced $50M quantum lab in Paris

Growth metrics

Headcount grew from ~90 (2024) to 251 (April 2026); raised €130M+ total funding; 31 nationalities in workforce; 79 employees hold PhDs; completed hiring plan 30% faster than scheduled

Market positioning

Global leader in fault-tolerant quantum computing; one of 5 companies selected for France's €500M PROQCIMA national quantum program; ranked 2nd in total funding among 15 active competitors per Tracxn; positioned as European champion competing with US tech giants (Google, IBM) and quantum startups (IonQ, Rigetti, PsiQuantum)

Geographic focus

Global — HQ in Paris with Boston office; competing for global quantum talent (31 nationalities); key partnerships in Europe and US

Patents and IP

Cat qubit technology patented; IP compensation program for employees driving core patents; patented cat qubit technology licensed via Eviden Qaptiva platform; multiple foundational papers published in Nature and other leading journals

About Théau Peronnin

PhD in quantum physics from ENS Lyon; Master's degree from École Polytechnique (X2012); researcher in quantum circuit and quantum electronics groups prior to founding Alice & Bob.

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