Last week, DQC hosted a Nordic roundtable on the European Quantum Agenda together with the Danish Business Authority, with support from QuIC and participation from the European Commission.
The roundtable brought together Danish DQC partners of QuIC, representatives of European committees, University representatives, Nordic policymakers, and ecosystem representatives from the Nordic Countries.
The event provided a valuable opportunity for Nordic quantum stakeholders to discuss collaboration opportunities, identify synergies, and explore shared priorities ahead of the upcoming EU Quantum Act. It also served as a forum for exchanging perspectives, strengthening relationships, and fostering greater alignment across the Nordic quantum ecosystem on key European developments.
Discussions focused on several critical topics, including:
- How Europe can become better at translating its strengths in research and innovation into industrial capability and long-term competitiveness
- How quantum technology developers and industrial end users can engage earlier and more closely throughout the innovation process.
- Where international collaboration can have the greatest impact in developing, scaling, and commercialising quantum technologies in Europe.
- The most significant bottlenecks facing the European quantum ecosystem and how they can be addressed.
Some key takeaways from the discussions include:
- Europe’s research excellence and talent base were widely recognised as major strengths. At the same time, participants highlighted the need to better convert scientific leadership into commercial value creation and industrial growth.
- The Nordic region was identified as particularly well positioned for rapid mobilisation through strong public-private partnerships, foundation-supported innovation, and collaborative ecosystems.
- While Europe offers relatively strong support at the pre-seed and Series A stages, many quantum companies face a significant funding gap when seeking the patient capital required to scale. This challenge is especially pronounced for quantum hardware companies, where development timelines often extend beyond the traditional 7–10-year VC investment horizon.
- Europe’s growing network of testbeds, pilot lines, and shared infrastructure represents an important strategic asset for companies looking to validate, mature, and scale quantum technologies.
- The importance of starting with concrete industrial and societal challenges rather than the technology itself was emphasized. Challenge-driven approaches, application pilots, and industry-defined problem statements were highlighted as effective ways to connect technology developers with end users and identify high-value use cases.
A sincere thank you to all participants for a thoughtful, open, and forward-looking discussion.
Thank you Thierry Botter for the support and participation and to Dr. Doru for representing the European Commission.
At DQC we look forward to continued collaboration with our Nordic counterparts and to keep discussing the European quantum agenda
