Barcelona's Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech has secured €19.6 million ($21.9 million) in what the startup describes as the first close of a Series A round, with Spain's defense giant Indra Group taking the lead and state-backed SETT (Spanish Society for Technological Transformation) joining in. The company expects to wrap up the raise in the fourth quarter of 2026, aiming to bring total capital to somewhere between €40 million and €50 million, according to the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia.
The funding represents a calculated sovereign bet on quantum computing, with Indra deploying €10 million through a convertible instrument managed by its IndraMind division. When the round closes in December, Indra will hold roughly 5 percent of the company, Spanish financial newspaper Cinco Días reported. SETT, which had backed Qilimanjaro in an earlier seed round, added €9.6 million this time. Regional investor Avançsa and existing backers are expected to participate in the final close.
It's a pairing that underscores Spain's effort to build quantum infrastructure without depending on foreign technology. "The renewed commitment from SETT and the entry of Indra are sovereign capital and industrial capital working together to protect, but also accelerate, national technological autonomy," CEO Marta P. Estarellas said in the company's Spanish-language announcement. "With them we join forces to bring quantum computing to strategic industrial sectors, and so that the quantum technology built in Spain continues to grow in Spain."
Ignacio Martínez, who runs IndraMind, framed the investment in broader terms. Quantum computing "will mark a decisive leap in the evolution of artificial intelligence and in its capacity to solve problems of enormous complexity," he said. For Indra, which competes across Europe and Latin America in radar systems, cybersecurity, and air-traffic control, the stake offers a foothold in what the contractor called "sovereign and differential solutions for defense, security and industry."
Hardware Built on Fluxonium
Qilimanjaro's technology hinges on superconducting fluxonium qubits, which the company configures in both analog and digital architectures. The startup argues this approach sidesteps some of the error-correction burdens that plague conventional gate-based quantum systems, though whether that advantage holds at scale remains an open question in the field.
So far, Qilimanjaro has deployed eight quantum systems. Three of those are integrated into MareNostrum 5, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center's flagship machine. In May, the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and Spain's government inaugurated EuroQCS-Spain, an analog quantum computer at BSC that Qilimanjaro supplied under a €9.8 million procurement contract, according to official communications.
The startup, which now employs around 80 people, brought in €5.5 million in revenue last year, La Vanguardia reported. That figure is expected to hold steady through 2026 as the company scales up manufacturing. Qilimanjaro plans to expand its workforce, though no specific timeline has been announced.
Defense Channels and Cloud Access
The Indra partnership opens a path to defense and critical-infrastructure customers. Qilimanjaro already lists Repsol and Italy's Enel among its clients, according to company materials, and announced a collaboration with Telefónica Tech in March aimed at folding quantum capabilities into AI workflows.
The company runs SpeQtrum, a cloud platform that entered beta in the third quarter and offers remote access to its multimodal data center in Barcelona. For institutions preferring on-premises hardware, Qilimanjaro sells systems ranging from 20 to 64 qubits. It also markets turnkey quantum labs to universities under the EduQit brand, according to product pages.
Competing in Europe's Quantum Field
Qilimanjaro operates in a crowded European superconducting-qubit market alongside Finland's IQM Quantum Computers and France's Alice & Bob, though each pursues a distinct technical path. IQM focuses on transmon qubits, Alice & Bob on bosonic cat qubits, and Qilimanjaro on fluxonium. The Spanish startup spun out in 2019 from the Institute of High Energy Physics, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and the University of Barcelona. Its initial funding round closed in December 2022, led by Repsol Ventures, Axis Participaciones, and Grow Venture Partners, Cinco Días reported.
In September, Qilimanjaro won selection for the EuroHPC Quantum Grand Challenge. The program carries a STEP Seal, which could unlock access to as much as €30 million in European Investment Bank venture debt if the company advances to Phase 2.
The broader question is whether sovereign-focused quantum efforts can keep pace with deeper-pocketed competitors in the United States and China. For now, Spain's strategy appears to be threading industrial capacity with public funding, betting that strategic sectors will adopt the technology before it matures into a commodity. Whether Qilimanjaro can scale fast enough to justify that wager will likely become clearer once the company closes its full round and begins expanding production.
