Equal1 is making quantum computing deployable. It combines quantum research, CMOS silicon design and systems engineering to deliver quantum computing as rack infrastructure, with a new form factor and new economics built for the data centre. Its UnityQ chip, which Equal1 calls the world's first hybrid quantum-classical chip, integrates all quantum components on silicon made with standard foundry processes. Its RacQ system is already shipping to customers, including the European Space Agency. With teams in Ireland, the US, Canada, Romania and the Netherlands, Equal1 is tackling problems beyond classical compute in optimisation, simulation, materials and cryptography. Equal1 is a deep tech university spin-out from University College Dublin.

FROM A UCD LAB TO A CHIP COMPANY

Equal1 was founded in 2017 as a spin-out from University College Dublin, with the stated aim of making quantum computing accessible and affordable rather than confined to research labs. Atlantic Bridge's University Fund, which specifically backs university spin-outs, made the first institutional investment in 2019 at pre seed stage.

FROM SEED TO OVER €70 MILLION RAISED

Atlantic Bridge has invested €9.82 million in total across rounds, starting from an initial €1.8 million at seed. Equal1 has raised €73 million in total, that puts the company's total funding above $85 million. The most recent round, $60 million announced in January 2026, was led by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, with Atlantic Bridge, the European Innovation Council Fund, Matterwave Ventures, and Enterprise Ireland among the backers.

A PRODUCT ROADMAP THAT ACTUALLY SHIPS

Equal1 launched Bell-1 in March 2025, described at the time as the first Irish-made quantum computer and the world's first silicon-based quantum server built for data centres. It followed that with RacQ, a rack-mounted successor demonstrated at Dell Technologies World, built to run hybrid quantum-classical workloads inside existing data-centre infrastructure. Both are built on UnityQ, the company's quantum system-on-chip architecture, which integrates control, readout and error correction onto a single chip. The company's public roadmap scales from Bell-1's 6 qubits today toward 50 to 100 qubits by 2027-2028, and millions of physical qubits with thousands of logical qubits by 2030.

PARTNERSHIPS THAT SIGNAL REAL DEMAND

Equal1 has a research collaboration with Dell to explore hybrid quantum-classical computing inside data centres, a deployment partnership with California-based quantum infrastructure software maker Q-Ctrl, and a collaboration with French computing company Bull to advance hybrid quantum-classical technology in Europe. The European Space Agency is named as a RacQ customer, after an earlier collaboration between the two on combining quantum computing with Earth science data. Equal1 separately secured €13.7 million in Irish government funding to lead the QUBIC project, developing quantum algorithms for the energy and pharmaceutical sectors.

THE TEAM BEHIND THE CHIP

Equal1 was co-founded by Dr. Dirk Leipold (Co-founder & President), Mike Asker (Co-founder), Prof. R. Bogdan Staszewski (Co-founder), and Elena Blokhina (Co-founder and CSO). Jason Lynch was named CEO in 2022. Additionally, Gerry Maguire a Managing Partner at Atlantic Bridge serves on the board of the company.

WHAT'S NEXT

-Industry-first silicon logical qubits, proving a clear path to quantum advantage

-Scaling to 127 physical qubits with demonstrated full error correction

-Shipping the world's smallest form factor quantum system to early customers