Scale up Delft Circuits is a high-tech supplier in the emerging quantum industry. Its unique cabling platform Cri/oFlex® uses thin flexible superconducting circuits for data transfer into the quantum system. This is a critical driver in scaling up quantum technologies, and Cri/oFlex® was recently referenced by DARPA[1] as the world’s state of the art.
Delft Circuits has delivered hundreds of Cri/oFlex® cabling solutions worldwide. Its customer base ranges from global Blue chip corporations active in quantum, leading national laboratories, universities, start- and scale-ups and government agencies, such as NASA[2]. Originating as the first quantum computing startup from the Delft-based quantum hub, which emerged around QuTech[3], Delft Circuits has now more than 40 employees, 400 square meters[4] of (cleanroom) fabrication floorspace and delivers its products to five continents.
Together with current investors, which includes the seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds[5], they announce a series A investment of 6.3 M€ in Delft Circuits, of which DTXL contributes 5 M€ for upgrading and further upscaling of the production capacity and organization of Delft Circuits.
Guus Frericks, founder and managing partner of DTXL said: “We are thrilled to partner with Delft Circuits, a trailblazing company in the quantum computing industry. Their cryogenic cable technology platform represents a pivotal step towards unlocking the full potential of quantum computing, and we are excited to be a part of this groundbreaking journey.”
With DTXL[6] – a 100 M€ deep tech venture capital fund – Delft Circuits has found a partner to accelerate its growth in the quantum industry. Deep Tech XL is backed by partners such as ASML[7], Philips[8], PME pension fund[9], RVO Seed Capital[10], and others. Thereby, DTXL is deeply embedded in the Eindhoven-based network of world leading high-tech hub around ASML and Philips, known as Brainport[11]. The investment will be used primarily to upgrade the production capacity and to finance the necessary growth of the team.
Sal Jua Bosman, founder of Delft Circuits said: “As a child I had a vintage Philips product collection and had the ambition to start an electronics factory. Fast forward nearly three decades, we have built a quantum electronics supplier providing many leading players in the quantum field and beyond, such as NASA. That now childhood industry icons such as Philips and ASML indirectly join our company makes my journey full circle. A new chapter for Delft Circuits has begun and we can now get ready to boast the quantum industry with our products and work.”
With this partnership Delft Circuits has the backing with capital, know how, and network, from the strong Europeanbased global hub of high-tech players. The involvement of major players in the semiconductor industry, will not only accelerate Delft Circuits and its customers, but is a critical development for the quantum industry. The combination of funding and hands-on support will allow Delft Circuits to scale up its operations and expand the Cri/oFlex® technology platform. In the next generation cutting edge quantum systems, cabling is becoming a massive bottleneck, of which Delft Circuit’s technology is uniquely positioned to tackle.
Daan Kuitenbrouwer, co-founder of Delft Circuits said: “The race for quantum advantage is on – we see an increase in the number- and quality of companies bringing quantum computing to the market. Consequently, such companies want to focus on their core products and seek to buy (rather than build) integrated, high quality and highly scalable cabling solutions. Delft Circuits is the leading supplier of such integrated cabling systems which are intrinsically scalable. Our new partners will help us scale up so we can enable even more of our customers to bringing quantum computing to the market!”
Nearly all quantum technologies, such as quantum computing, communication and sensing, require the cooperation of electronics at cryogenic (extremely cold) temperatures and room temperature. These quantum systems require massive data transfers (i/o – input/output) between the cold part and the warm parts of the system. When the quantum industry was still in its infancy in 2016, Delft Circuits started pioneering its Cri/oFlex® technology to enable the massive scaling of data transfer over the thermal bridge.
Instead of using separate coaxial cables and microwave components, Delft Circuits integrates all circuitry on ultrathin, multi-layer flexible superconducting circuits using technologies known from the semiconductor industry. This reduces the mechanical parts per i/o channel by a factor of 20, and thus its points of failure and costs. Also, it massively reduces the required volume and heat transfer of the cabling. Together, Delft Circuits and its Cri/oFlex® platform are uniquely positioned to power the scaling of quantum technologies into the next steps towards thousands of quantum bits.
[1] DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Program Agency of the Department of Defense, United State of America government (http://darpa.mil)
[2] NASA; National Aeronatics and Space Agency (https://nasa.gov/)
[3] QuTech; Dutch based Research institute for quantum computing and internet (https://qutech.nl)
[4] 12000 square feet
[5] High–Tech Gründerfonds, German-based seed investor with 1.4 billion euros under management, see below (https://www.htgf.de )
[6] Deep Tech XL (https://www.deeptechxl.com), see below
[7] ASML, Europe largest market cap (~ 260 B€) tech company, world leader in lithography machines for the semiconductor industry
[8] Philips, global player in health technology (https://www.philips.com), and world renowned electronics and semiconductor corporate with spin outs and co-founder of successes such as TSMC, ASML and NXP.
[9] PME pension fund (https://www.pmepensioen.nl), Dutch pension fund for the metal and tech industry, with ~ 50 B€ under management.
[10] RVO Seed Capital (https://www.rvo.nl) , fund of Netherlands Entrepeneur Agency, (see below)
[11] Brainport Eindhoven (https://brainporteindhoven.com/en/), cluster of high-tech region Eindhoven
Instead of using separate coaxial cables and microwave components, Delft Circuits integrates all circuitry on ultrathin, multi-layer flexible superconducting circuits using technologies known from the semiconductor industry. This reduces the mechanical parts per i/o channel by a factor of 20, and thus its points of failure and costs. Also, it massively reduces the required volume and heat transfer of the cabling. Together, Delft Circuits and its Cri/oFlex® platform are uniquely positioned to power the scaling of quantum technologies into the next steps towards thousands of quantum bits.
About DXTL
DeepTechXL: www.deeptechxl.com
DeeptechXL launched the €100 million DeepTechXL Fund I in 2022 with partners ASML, Philips, PME Pension Fund, Invest-NL, Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM), research institute TNO and several family offices. The fund also received a €9 million Seed Capital loan from the Dutch government institute RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland), specifically allocated for early-stage investments.
‘Deep-tech’ is a category of advanced key enabling technologies (Engineering & Manufacturing, Advanced Materials, Photonics and Light-, Quantum-, Digital- and Nano Technologies) developed at research facilities to address the grand societal challenges as defined by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of healthcare, energy transition and sustainability, security and food. Deep-tech innovation enables long-term sustainable economic success and creates high value-added employment in the advanced high-tech manufacturing industry.
Due to the intrinsic complex nature of deep-tech venture-building, access to finance alone is not enough. Therefore, DeepTechXL aims to be much more than just an investment vehicle. DeepTechXL is actively involved with its portfolio companies. Together with the investing industry partners, the fund provides deep-tech startups and scale-ups access to knowledge, network, technology, licenses, and business development support. The fund aims to introduce launching customers, find partners in the supply chain, assist in the entry of new markets and scaling up in manufacturing. DeepTechXL originates from and will closely work together with HighTechXL, the prestigious deep-tech venture-builder also supported by ASML, Philips, TNO and BOM.
The fund operates from the High Tech Campus Eindhoven in the middle of the Brainport high-tech ecosystem, a unique, highly concentrated cluster of knowledge institutes, tech companies, supply chain partners, co-investors and hundreds of tech experts providing active support.
DeepTechXL has invested in six potentially disruptive portfolio companies so far: InPhocal, Alphabeats, Gilbert, Keiron, Sandgrain and Delft Circuits, all aiming to achieve a significant societal impact. The fund is actively involved and uses its proprietary network and access to corporate- and scientific partners to create value. DeepTechXL has a life cycle management approach which supports entrepreneurs and innovative companies from Seed to follow-on rounds Series A/B/C to ultimately seek the best strategic path for the company after 5 to 10 years, as is typical in the market Deep Tech investments.
About The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)
RVO helps entrepreneurs and organisations to invest, develop and expand their businesses and projects. Both in the Netherlands and abroad. We are a government agency which is part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
We support entrepreneurs, NGOs, knowledge institutes, policymakers and organisations. We improve collaborations and strengthen positions through our funding and networks. By sharing our know-how, we help you move forward doing business abroad.
About Delft Circuits
Delft Circuits is a Dutch scale up located in Delft, that designs and develops i/o cabling solutions for the quantum industry. Delft Circuits is dedicated to supplying the best hardware for the quantum engineer and industry. So far, we have realised hundreds of i/o modules, for almost a hundred customers. Whether in a leading national laboratory, a Blue-chip corporation, or an ambitious professor, clients find their way to our solutions. As an independent, dedicated quantum hardware supplier, together with our customers, we make quantum technologies a reality.
Quantum technologies offer revolutionary new capabilities for mankind and will most likely affect even more segments of our lives than we can imagine. The industry is booming but is still in its infancy. With Quantum Computing, a landscape of new possibilities will be added to the thriving ecosystem of high-performance computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Quantum-communication and -internet bring new capabilities in information/security technologies and distributed computing. Quantum sensing will bring a wholenew dimension to a host of industries and sciences. These are just the fields we see today. Our mission is to support our customers in making quantum technologies a reality, by providing dedicated quantum hardware.
In the last two decades, we witnessed an explosive growth in academic research and experimental results related to quantum technologies. Now, this development is transitioning into a quantum industry, of which we are proudly the part. With our team we are devoted to supplying the quantum industry, academia and national labs with the best available tools, technology and services, so they can focus on their real task.
Other investors in Delft Circuits include QuVest Capital, Scholt Group and High Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), which is described below.
About High-Tech Gründerfonds
The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) finances tech start-ups with growth potential and has supported more than 700 start-ups since 2005. With the launch of its fourth fund, HTGF now has about 1.4 billion euros under management. Its team of experienced investment managers and start-up experts support young companies with expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected about 5 billion euros of capital into the HTGF portfolio via more than 2,000 follow-on financing rounds. In addition, HTGF has already successfully sold shares in more than 170 companies.
Fund investors in this public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and 45 companies from a wide range of industries.
Instead of using separate coaxial cables and microwave components, Delft Circuits integrates all circuitry on ultrathin, multi-layer flexible superconducting circuits using technologies known from the semiconductor industry. This reduces the mechanical parts per i/o channel by a factor of 20, and thus its points of failure and costs. Also, it massively reduces the required volume and heat transfer of the cabling. Together, Delft Circuits and its Cri/oFlex® platform are uniquely positioned to power the scaling of quantum technologies into the next steps towards thousands of quantum bits.