Stockholm-based FirstQFM said its quantum foundation model produced single-qubit gates with 33% shorter execution times while preserving fidelity. The results were validated using randomized benchmarking on a QuantWare Contralto-D21 processor at the Israeli Quantum Computing Center. The model built custom gate implementations from existing calibration data supplied by Quantum Machines' calibration stack. It needed no extra quantum hardware time, shifting optimisation work from scarce processor time to classical compute. The model also found improvements for five qubit pairs, which showed higher Bell-state fidelity in independent hardware runs. FirstQFM developed the model using NVIDIA accelerated computing, including the Leonardo supercomputer and the CUDA-Q platform. It plans to add optimisations for the 21-qubit device and scale up for QuantWare's larger processors.

QuantWare has appointed Bart Filius as Chief Financial Officer and added him to its board. The Delft-based quantum processor maker announced the hire as it expands production following a $178 million Series B round, described as the largest private funding for a dedicated quantum processor company. Filius joins from Galapagos, where he spent nearly nine years in senior roles including CFO, COO and president. He previously oversaw the company's Nasdaq IPO and led negotiations on a $5 billion research collaboration with Gilead. Before that, he spent 13 years at Sanofi. At QuantWare, Filius will oversee finance as the company builds KiloFab, an industrial-scale fabrication facility in the Netherlands. The company now serves over 50 customers across 20 countries. QuantWare was founded in 2021 as a spinout from QuTech at TU Delft.