NVIDIA doubles down on quantum computing: its venture arm NVentures invests in French quantum computing startup Alice & Bob

The quantum computing sector has secured another major round of funding. On Friday, French quantum computing company Alice & Bob announced that it has received investment from $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$NVentures, the venture capital arm of NVIDIA, bringing its Series B funding total to €100 million to support its roadmap for building large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

Headquartered in Paris and Boston, Alice & Bob specializes in 'cat qubits'—a specialized type of qubit designed to be more error-resistant than conventional superconducting qubits, directly addressing one of the core challenges currently facing quantum computing. CEO Théau Peronnin stated, 'We have been working closely with NVIDIA to integrate our cat qubit architecture with NVIDIA’s full accelerated computing ecosystem. NVentures’ investment marks a new phase in our collaboration and reinforces our shared view that the future of quantum computing will adopt a hybrid quantum-classical model.'

Founded in 2020, Alice & Bob had previously raised approximately €130 million. With this latest Series B round, its total funding now stands at around €230 million. The company has collaborated with NVIDIA since 2024 on multiple initiatives, including CUDA-Q, cuQuantum, the open-source quantum simulation library Dynamiqs, and the NVQLink platform. Additionally, Alice & Bob is participating in the PROQCIMA program led by the French Ministry of Defense, which aims to deliver two French-designed universal quantum computer prototypes by 2032.

This investment comes amid a sustained uptick in funding across the quantum computing sector. Just one day earlier, the U.S. government announced nine letters of intent under the CHIPS and Science Act, offering slightly over $2 billion in federal incentives to quantum computing companies. Earlier still, in September 2025, NVentures invested in quantum computing leader Quantinuum as part of its $600 million funding round, which valued the company at $10 billion. Quantinuum has recently filed its IPO application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the market expects its valuation to exceed $20 billion (approximately RMB 140 billion). If successful, this would become the largest IPO in quantum computing history.

In fact, since 2026, the global quantum computing field has been witnessing breakthroughs across multiple fronts. On the technological front, major tech firms are accelerating industrialization along diverse pathways: Google (GOOGL.US) announced in March limited early access to its 105-qubit Willow processor, inviting researchers worldwide to submit experimental proposals to expedite commercialization; IBM (IBM.US) outlined a clear roadmap at CES earlier this year, targeting 'quantum advantage' by 2026 and fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029, and has already unveiled its next-generation Nighthawk processor; Microsoft (MSFT.US), meanwhile, is betting on topological qubits, with its Majorana 1 chip embodying ambitions to leverage inherent topological properties for natural noise resistance—a direct approach to solving quantum error correction challenges.

Peronnin noted that the surge in investment stems from growing recognition of 'the increasing importance of computing infrastructure in the economy.' Global quantum computing funding data corroborates this view: total global investment in quantum computing reached $2.015 billion in 2024, an increase of over 30% year-over-year; in the first half of 2025 alone, leading companies such as PsiQuantum, QuEra, and Multiverse Computing completed significant funding rounds, pushing industry-wide investment beyond $2 billion; IQM Quantum Computers recently announced a SPAC merger to go public, with a valuation of $1.8 billion, positioning it to become the first European quantum computing company listed on a U.S. exchange.