# IQM Quantum lists on Nasdaq, a strong signal for Europe

> Finnish company IQM Quantum Computers Plc has officially completed its business combination with Real Asset Acquisition Corp (RAAQ), a special purpose acquisition

- Author: Maxime Marquette
- Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co)
- Section: Reportage
- Published: 2026-07-05
- Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/iqm-quantum-entre-au-nasdaq-un-signal-fort-pour-l-europe

## Introduction: Finland's IQM breaks through the Nasdaq wall

### A financial merger finalized after months of preparation

Finnish company **IQM Quantum Computers Plc** has officially completed its business combination with **Real Asset Acquisition Corp** (**RAAQ**), a special purpose acquisition company, according to **The Quantum Insider**. The initial agreement was signed on **February 22, 2026**, and RAAQ shareholders approved the transaction on **June 25, 2026**, paving the way for a historic **listing**.

Since **July 2, 2026**, shares representing **IQM**, in the form of **American Depositary Shares** (**ADS**), have been trading on the **Nasdaq** Global Select Market under the ticker symbol **IQMX**, while the associated warrants trade under the symbol **IQMX WS**, according to **Data Center Dynamics**.

### A financial structure typical of SPAC mergers

The transaction was structured as a merger of **RAAQ** with **IQM US LLC**, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of IQM that survived the merger. In exchange, **14,381,747 existing shares** held by IQM were issued to RAAQ shareholders in the form of ADS, with each ADS representing one IQM share, issued by depositary bank **BNY** (**NYSE: BNY**).

*Watching a European quantum company cross the Nasdaq threshold isn't just a financial footnote — it's a geopolitical signal. In a technology race where China is investing massively, every Western stock market win in quantum computing counts double.*

## The numbers that define this transaction

### Combined financing exceeding $230 million

Alongside the merger, **IQM** carried out a **PIPE investment** (private investment in public equity), issuing **14,548,000 existing shares** to institutional and other accredited investors at a subscription price of **$10.00** per share, for a total purchase price of **€127.7 million**, or roughly **$145.5 million**, according to **The Quantum Insider**.

In total, **IQM** received net proceeds of roughly **€198.7 million**, or approximately **$233.5 million**, from the combination of the business merger and the **PIPE** investment, including remaining funds held in **RAAQ's** trust account.

### A pre-money valuation announced at $1.8 billion

At the initial announcement of the **listing** in February 2026, **IQM** had disclosed a **pre-money valuation** of **$1.8 billion**, according to **Data Center Dynamics**. That figure places IQM among the highest-valued quantum companies to go public through this type of financial mechanism, alongside already-listed competitors like **D-Wave**, **Rigetti**, **IonQ**, **Infleqtion**, and **Quantinuum**.

*A $1.8 billion valuation for a European quantum company founded less than a decade ago sends a clear message to the markets: Europe is no longer just following the American and Chinese quantum race — it's actively competing with its own champions.*

## The warrants and their terms

### An exercise price set at $11.50 per share

The original warrants issued by **RAAQ** were assumed by **IQM** under terms substantially similar to those in place before the business combination. Each **IQM warrant** allows the holder to purchase one IQM share represented by an ADS, at an exercise price set at **$11.50** per share, according to **The Quantum Insider**.

In total, up to **12,530,975 new or existing shares** could be issued through these warrants, a mechanism that could inject substantial additional capital into the company should holders choose to exercise their rights in the coming years.

### Governance that remains largely European

Despite its American **listing**, **IQM** remains a largely European-led company, with headquarters based in **Finland**. This hybrid structure, American listing paired with European operations, reflects an increasingly common strategy among European tech companies seeking broader access to American capital without giving up their European industrial base.

*Keeping the industrial core in Europe while tapping American capital is a smart strategy that avoids the classic trap of losing both talent and technology entirely to Silicon Valley. Europe needs to learn to play both sides of the board.*

## What the transaction's leaders are saying

### Jan Goetz and the vision of strategic infrastructure

**Jan Goetz**, CEO and co-founder of **IQM**, said: **"We founded IQM with the conviction that quantum computing would become a foundational technology for nations, scientific institutions, and industry. Today, quantum computing is increasingly seen as strategic infrastructure, and customers around the world are investing accordingly,"** according to **The Quantum Insider**.

Goetz added that this transaction strengthens **IQM's** ability to execute its long-term vision, expand its global presence, and continue delivering the complete **quantum systems** that are helping define the next era of computing, an ambition that goes well beyond the simple financial goal of the **listing**.

### Peter Ort and recognition of technological leadership

**Peter Ort**, senior executive director and co-chair of **RAAQ**, praised **IQM** for having **"distinguished itself through technological leadership, a global customer footprint, and a proven ability to deliver quantum systems in production environments,"** saying he was proud to have partnered on this transaction and eager to support the company's continued growth as a public company.

*These executive statements, as formulaic as financial press releases tend to be, reveal a real ambition: turning a quantum research company into a globally recognized critical infrastructure provider, a bold but not unreasonable bet given the numbers.*

## The industrial story behind the listing

### A company founded in Helsinki in 2018

**IQM** was founded in **Helsinki**, **Finland**, in **2018**, specializing in full-stack superconducting **quantum systems**, according to **Data Center Dynamics**. The company serves a diverse client base including businesses, research institutions, universities, high-performance computing centers, and national laboratories across **Europe**, **North America**, and **Asia**.

The company operates quantum data centers in **Finland** and in **Munich**, Germany, and offers cloud-based access to its systems, an approach that democratizes access to infrastructure that would otherwise be extremely costly to deploy individually.

### An already tangible commercial track record

According to **Data Center Dynamics**, **IQM** has already delivered systems to supercomputing centers in **South Korea**, **Poland**, **Italy**, and **Taiwan**, having sold a total of **21 systems** to **13 different customers**, out of **30 systems built** since its founding. This track record shows that the stock market **listing** doesn't rest solely on a future promise, but on already-measurable commercial traction.

*A ratio of 21 systems sold out of 30 built is no small thing in an industry still largely experimental. It suggests a company that has moved past the pure prototype stage into a genuine commercialization phase, which sets IQM apart from many still-theoretical quantum promises.*

## The competitive landscape of the publicly listed quantum sector

### A wave of SPAC listings in the quantum industry

**IQM** joins a growing list of **quantum computing** companies that have chosen the SPAC merger route to access public markets, alongside **D-Wave**, **Rigetti**, **IonQ**, **Infleqtion**, and **Quantinuum**, according to **Data Center Dynamics**. Another company, **Xanadu Quantum**, is reportedly in the process of following a similar path.

This wave of **listings** reflects growing appetite from financial markets for exposure to the quantum sector, despite persistent uncertainty over the timeline for large-scale commercial profitability of this still-actively-developing technology.

### IQM's European distinctiveness in this landscape

What sets **IQM** apart from its listed competitors is its claimed status as the **first publicly listed European quantum company**, according to **Data Center Dynamics**. In a sector largely dominated by American players, this positioning gives IQM particular visibility as a symbol of Europe's ability to compete in breakthrough technologies.

*Europe has long suffered from a shortage of listed tech champions able to compete with American and Chinese giants. The fact that a European quantum company became the first in its sector to reach this milestone is a symbol worth celebrating, without excessive naivety about the challenges still ahead.*

## The financial and legal advisers behind the transaction

### An impressive deployment of international firms

The complexity of this transatlantic transaction is reflected in the sheer number of advisers involved: **J.P. Morgan SE** and **Rothschild & Co** acted as financial advisers and capital markets advisers for **IQM**, while **TD Cowen** advised both IQM on the **PIPE** placement and **RAAQ** as overall financial adviser, according to **The Quantum Insider**.

On the legal side, firms including **Cooley LLP**, **Borenius Attorneys**, **Mourant Ozannes**, and **Loyens & Loeff** represented **IQM**, while **Ashurst Perkins Coie**, **Krogerus Attorneys**, and **Conyers Dill & Pearman** represented **RAAQ**, an international legal deployment matching the transatlantic regulatory complexity of the deal.

### What this financial architecture reveals about the sector's maturity

The fact that a quantum transaction mobilizes such a network of top-tier financial and legal advisers shows the sector has moved past the experimental stage in the eyes of institutional finance. This is no longer a marginal venture-capital bet — it's now an asset class serious enough to justify the involvement of major investment banks.

*When institutions like J.P. Morgan and Rothschild deploy considerable resources on a quantum transaction, it signals genuine institutional conviction, not just a speculative bet. Traditional finance is starting to take quantum seriously as infrastructure for the future.*

## The strategic stakes for tech-focused Europe

### A symbolic counterweight to American and Chinese dominance

At a time when the **United States** and **China** are investing massively in quantum technologies as a **national security** priority, the successful **listing** of a European company like **IQM** represents an important symbolic counterweight. It shows that Europe's tech ecosystem, often criticized for lacking capital ambition, can produce champions capable of raising hundreds of millions of dollars on public markets.

This success shouldn't obscure the scale of the catch-up still needed: Chinese and American investments in quantum computing add up to tens of billions of dollars combined, an order of magnitude that vastly exceeds **IQM's** current market capitalization, impressive as it is by European standards.

### Quantum technology as a matter of sovereignty

**Quantum computing** is no longer seen purely as a scientific curiosity: it's now regarded as strategic infrastructure capable of affecting cryptography, defense, pharmaceuticals, and finance. In this context, every European industrial advance in this field, even a modest one, strengthens the continent's technological autonomy against its strategic rivals.

*The West cannot afford to let China dominate the quantum race alone, a technology with direct implications for military cryptography and national security. Every European industrial success in this field, like IQM's, should be actively encouraged by the continent's public policies.*

## The risks and uncertainties that remain

### An industry still far from widespread profitability

It would be dishonest to present this **listing** as a guarantee of long-term commercial success. The quantum industry as a whole remains characterized by uncertain profitability timelines, and several competitors listed through similar SPAC mechanisms have seen volatile stock performance after going public.

The **$1.8 billion valuation** announced at the initial agreement rests largely on projections of future growth rather than current stable revenue, a risk factor potential investors should weigh carefully before committing financially.

### Volatility already seen after the first trading session

Financial reports noted notable price movements in the first trading sessions following the **listing**, a common phenomenon for companies recently taken public through SPAC mechanisms, where liquidity and price discovery can take several weeks to fully stabilize.

*We should resist the temptation to prematurely celebrate every tech listing as a final victory. IQM's real test will play out over several years of commercial results, not the stock performance of its first weeks of trading.*

## What this means for Finland's quantum ecosystem

### A Nordic hub gaining international visibility

**IQM's** success reflects positively on the entire Finnish and Nordic tech ecosystem, a region already recognized for its excellence in telecommunications and software engineering. This **listing** could catalyze additional investment in other emerging quantum and tech startups in the region.

Keeping **IQM's** quantum data centers in **Finland** and **Munich**, despite the American **listing**, ensures that advanced engineering jobs and technical know-how remain anchored on the European continent, an important factor for long-term technological sovereignty.

### A potentially replicable model for other European deep techs

**IQM's** success could serve as a model for other European breakthrough-technology companies seeking access to American capital markets without sacrificing their local industrial base. This hybrid approach could become a reference strategy for future European tech unicorns.

*If other European deep techs follow the IQM model, combining an American listing with European operations, the continent could finally resolve its historical dilemma between capital access and brain drain to Silicon Valley.*

## Market and specialist analyst reactions

### A broadly positive reception despite caution

Analysts specializing in the quantum sector generally welcomed this **listing** as an important maturation milestone for the industry, while stressing the need for concrete commercial results in the coming quarters to justify the initial **valuation** announced with the February agreement.

Some financial observers noted that comparisons with competitors like **IonQ** and **Rigetti**, already listed for several years, offer a useful reference frame for assessing **IQM's** potential trajectory on public markets over the medium term.

### Special attention on upcoming commercial contracts

The coming quarters will be closely watched to see whether **IQM** can convert its existing commercial track record, the **21 systems sold to 13 customers**, into sustained growth capable of justifying its status as a public company listed on one of the world's most demanding stock markets.

*IQM's real story begins now, not with this listing. Public markets are unforgiving toward companies that fail to deliver measurable growth, and the quantum sector won't escape that rule despite all the technological enthusiasm currently surrounding it.*

## The role of governments in supporting this industry

### Public policies accompanying quantum growth

Several European governments, including **Finland** and **Germany**, have put in place funding and support programs for quantum research that indirectly contributed to the development of companies like **IQM**. These public investments, though modest compared to American and Chinese budgets, created fertile ground for the emergence of industrial champions like IQM.

The delivery of **IQM** systems to supercomputing centers in **Poland**, **Italy**, and elsewhere in **Europe** also illustrates growing intra-European cooperation in deploying strategic quantum infrastructure, a dynamic that the continent's policymakers should seek to strengthen further.

### The urgency of a coordinated European quantum strategy

Despite these individual successes, **Europe** still lacks a truly coordinated continent-wide quantum strategy comparable to the massive, centralized investments seen in the **United States** and **China**. **IQM's** success should serve as an additional argument for accelerating that coordination rather than relying on isolated, scattered wins.

*A single champion like IQM won't be enough to guarantee Europe's long-term quantum competitiveness. What's needed is a coordinated continental strategy, with public investment matching the strategic stakes, or these individual successes will remain exceptions rather than the norm.*

## Comparisons with previous SPACs in the quantum sector

### Contrasting stock trajectories among competitors

The stock market performance of competitors who took the SPAC route before **IQM** offers an instructive precedent. **IonQ** and **Rigetti** both went through periods of high volatility after their initial **listing**, followed by phases of significant recovery as their commercial contracts multiplied among institutional and government clients.

**D-Wave** and **Quantinuum** followed similar trajectories, illustrating a recurring pattern in this nascent sector: an initial phase of market skepticism followed by gradual recognition as commercial revenue becomes more predictable and recurring for institutional investors.

*The quantum sector's stock market history teaches a simple lesson: patience generally ends up rewarding companies that deliver real commercial contracts rather than mere technological promises. IQM will have to prove it belongs in that category.*

## What tech-geopolitics experts are watching

### A quantum race tightly bound to national security

Tech-geopolitics experts point out that the quantum race extends well beyond ordinary commercial considerations, touching directly on **military cryptography**, **intelligence**, and **national security**. In this context, a European company like **IQM's** ability to raise substantial capital on American markets indirectly strengthens the West's strategic position against rivals like **China**.

Western governments, including those of the **United States** and several European countries, have already classified **quantum computing** among the critical technologies requiring heightened oversight and strategic support, an official recognition that directly benefits companies like **IQM**.

*When a government classifies a technology as strategic for national security, it fundamentally changes the nature of the competitive game. IQM is no longer just competing against other companies — it's now part of a broader geopolitical competition that goes beyond a purely commercial framework.*

*This story leaves me with a rare kind of cautious optimism: I genuinely believe in European quantum's strategic potential, but I refuse to turn that enthusiasm into stock market certainty. Time, and the commercial contracts still to come, will be the only credible judges.*

## Conclusion: an important milestone, not a final victory

### What this listing concretely changes for IQM

**IQM's** **listing** on the **Nasdaq**, with nearly **$233.5 million** in net proceeds and a pre-money **valuation** of **$1.8 billion**, gives the Finnish company considerable financial resources to accelerate its global expansion and strengthen its position as a provider of complete **quantum systems** on the international stage.

### What this means for the global quantum race

Beyond **IQM's** particular case, this **listing** illustrates a broader dynamic: the global quantum industry is entering a phase of financial maturation where access to public markets is becoming a central strategic tool. For **Europe**, every success of this kind matters in a technology race where the stakes go far beyond commerce alone, touching directly on sovereignty and **national security** for decades to come.

**By Maxime Marquette, columnist**

## Columnist's transparency note

### Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events.

### Method and sources

This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here.

**Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies.

**Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations.

When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**.

### Nature of the analysis

The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted.

My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors.

This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text.

## Sources

### Primary sources

- SEC EDGAR, regulatory filing of Real Asset Acquisition Corp — 2026

- The Quantum Insider, IQM Completes Business Combination with RAAQ and Lists on Nasdaq — July 1, 2026

### Secondary sources

- Data Center Dynamics, IQM completes SPAC merger with RAAQ, begins trading on Nasdaq — July 1, 2026

- Yahoo Finance, IQM slips 3-4% after Nasdaq debut — July 2026

- Nasdaq, official listing page for ticker IQMX — 2026

- J.P. Morgan, financial adviser on the IQM-RAAQ transaction — 2026

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Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/iqm-quantum-entre-au-nasdaq-un-signal-fort-pour-l-europe