MAKR
Preliminary Investment Assessment

Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Quantum Computing Ecosystem Infrastructure Platform
Prepared: April 18, 2026
Classification: Confidential
Prepared by: MAKR Venture Fund

This document contains confidential information intended exclusively for MAKR Venture Fund internal use. Do not distribute, copy, or disclose without authorization.

Section 01

Company Summary

Aqora Quantum S.A.S.
Paris-based startup building the ecosystem infrastructure layer for quantum computing. The company operates a platform hosting quantum computing competitions, hackathons, datasets, and a Quantum Algorithm-as-a-Service (Q3AS) offering, positioning itself as "a Kaggle for quantum." The platform connects enterprises seeking quantum solutions with researchers and developers who can build them.
Headquarters
Paris, France
Legal Entity
French S.A.S.
Founded
November 2023
CEO / Co-Founder
Jannes Stubbemann
Stage
Pre-seed / Seed
Total Funding
Not Publicly Disclosed
Team Size
Likely <10 FTEs
Business Model
Platform-as-a-Service

Origins

Aqora's origins trace to QuantX, an Ecole Polytechnique alumni initiative that organized one of Europe's first large-scale quantum hackathons in 2021. The company was formally incorporated in November 2023 as Aqora Quantum S.A.S., a French Simplified Joint-Stock Company, headquartered at 58 Rue d'Hauteville, 75010 Paris.

Key Partners

  • Connected DMV: Selected for the 2026 Global Industry Challenge (Practical Quantum Industry Consortium)
  • qBraid: Compute partner for multi-backend quantum access
  • Enterprise sponsors: CERN, IBM, Quantinuum, TotalEnergies, BMW, NVIDIA, Merck, Thales, IonQ
  • Government partners: MCIT Qatar, U.S. Department of Energy
Section 02

Technology

Key insight: Aqora is a platform company, not a quantum hardware or algorithm company. Its technology stack centers on infrastructure for running, benchmarking, and deploying quantum computing experiments.

Platform Components

Competition Engine
Core Product

Infrastructure for hosting online quantum computing competitions with live leaderboards, reproducible benchmarking, and automated evaluation. Enterprises post challenges; researchers submit solutions ranked against baselines. Analogous to Kaggle's model for classical machine learning.

Datasets Hub
Data Layer

Public repository for quantum-specific datasets supporting upload, sharing, and exploration. Integrates with pandas and polars. Includes datasets like MNISQ and Hamlib. Designed to create reproducible benchmarks so quantum results are comparable across teams.

Q3AS (Quantum Algorithm as a Service)
Early / Beta

Cloud-based platform enabling users to execute quantum algorithms via APIs without managing quantum hardware directly. Supports experiment execution, real-time visualization, and deployment. Appears to be in early/beta stage based on the level of publicly available documentation.

Technical Stack

Based on Aqora's GitHub organization (21 public repositories):

  • Primary languages: Python, Rust, TypeScript
  • CLI tool: Written in Rust for browsing competitions and submitting solutions
  • Kubernetes management: "kubimo" for managing marimo (reactive notebook) instances
  • SDK: Python SDK for Q3AS
  • Licensing: Apache-2.0 and MIT licensed repositories

Technical Differentiation

Aqora's differentiation is not in quantum algorithms or hardware (they build neither) but in ecosystem infrastructure:

  • Versioned, reproducible datasets specifically designed for quantum benchmarking
  • Competition framework enabling fair comparison of quantum vs. classical vs. hybrid approaches
  • Framework-agnostic: works across D-Wave, IBM, IonQ, and other quantum backends through partnerships

IP / Patents

No patents identified in public patent databases. As a platform company, Aqora's defensibility is more likely based on network effects and ecosystem positioning than proprietary IP. No claims of proprietary algorithms were found.

Section 03

Market

$1.6B-$3.5B
Quantum Market 2025
$4.2B-$20.2B
Projected 2030
$4.2B
VC Funding 2025
39
Competitions Hosted

Target Customer Segments

  1. Enterprises exploring quantum computing: Energy (TotalEnergies, EDF), automotive (BMW), pharma (Merck), finance, logistics, and defense companies wanting to test quantum approaches without building in-house teams.
  2. Quantum talent (researchers, developers, students): The supply side of the marketplace -- users who participate in competitions, upload datasets, and showcase skills. The platform also operates a job board (quantum.jobs).
  3. Academic and institutional partners: Universities, government agencies (U.S. Department of Energy, MCIT Qatar), and research organizations (CERN) that use the platform for hackathons and challenges.

Customer Traction

  • 39 competitions hosted spanning energy, finance, healthcare, logistics, cybersecurity, and high-energy physics
  • 2026 Global Industry Challenge: Selected as one of two core platforms (alongside qBraid) under PQIC, with support from American Physical Society, D-Wave, and IBM
  • BIG Quantum Hackathons: Paris (2024) and Qatar/Doha (2025), organized with MCIT Qatar, MOD, HBKU, and BCG
  • Additional events: Bradford Quantum Hackathon 2025 (Quantinuum), Hack the Horizon (Africa Quantum Consortium), Qiskit Fall Fest (IBM ecosystem)

Market Trends

  • Quantum computing VC funding hit record levels in 2025, with governments committing over $10B globally (Japan $7.4B alone)
  • Ecosystem maturing from pure hardware R&D toward application discovery and benchmarking -- exactly Aqora's niche
  • Growing enterprise interest in "quantum readiness" programs where companies explore quantum without full commitment
  • Talent shortage in quantum computing creates demand for recruiting and skill-validation platforms

Important caveat: Aqora's addressable market is not the full quantum computing TAM but the narrower segment of quantum ecosystem services: competition hosting, talent marketplace, and QaaS. This sub-segment has no reliable independent size estimate.

Section 04

Competition

Company Focus Funding Key Differentiator
Kaggle (Google) ML/AI competition platform Acquired by Google (2017) Dominant in classical ML. Does not focus on quantum. Aqora's model is directly inspired by Kaggle but quantum-specific.
qBraid (Chicago, US) Quantum cloud platform Venture-backed (undisclosed) Compute layer, not competition platform. Currently a partner rather than competitor -- they co-power the Global Industry Challenge with Aqora.
Strangeworks (Austin, US) Quantum cloud, enterprise QaaS Series A (Hitachi Ventures) Enterprise-focused SaaS for quantum workloads. More compute-oriented than community/competition-oriented.
Classiq (Tel Aviv, Israel) Quantum software dev platform $63M+ raised High-level quantum circuit synthesis. Developer tooling, not competition/ecosystem platform.
Zapata AI (Boston, US) Enterprise quantum software $68M+ raised Pivoted away from pure quantum toward generative AI. Originally enterprise quantum orchestration.
MLContests ML/data science competition aggregator Bootstrapped Lists quantum competitions but does not host them. Directory, not a platform.

Competitive Positioning

Aqora occupies a unique niche: it is the only dedicated competition and ecosystem platform focused exclusively on quantum computing. In classical ML, Kaggle demonstrated that competition platforms can become critical ecosystem infrastructure (talent discovery, benchmarking, community building), and Google acquired it for that strategic value. Aqora is attempting the same play in quantum.

However, the quantum ecosystem is orders of magnitude smaller than classical ML. Kaggle succeeded because millions of data scientists needed a place to compete. The quantum computing talent pool is currently measured in thousands, not millions.

Moat Assessment

Strengths

  • First-mover in dedicated quantum competition infrastructure
  • Growing network effects: 39 competitions, partnerships with CERN, IBM, Quantinuum, Connected DMV
  • Institutional legitimacy through government and academic partnerships (MCIT Qatar, PQIC, HBKU)
  • Deep roots in European quantum community through QuantX and Le Lab Quantique networks
  • Open-source tooling creates developer goodwill and adoption friction

Weaknesses

  • No proprietary IP or technology moat -- the platform is replicable
  • Low switching costs for enterprises (any platform could host a competition)
  • Kaggle or a well-funded quantum cloud player could add competition features
  • Network effects are nascent -- 39 competitions is a proof of concept, not a moat
Section 05

Financials

Data availability: Financial information for Aqora is extremely limited. No funding rounds, revenue figures, or financial projections are publicly available. The assessment below is based on circumstantial evidence and public data source cross-referencing.

Funding History

Unclear and conflicting public data:

  • Crunchbase lists Hitachi Ventures as an investor, but no round type, amount, or date is publicly disclosed
  • Tracxn reports "no funding rounds raised"
  • No press releases or media coverage of any funding announcement were found
  • Hitachi Ventures launched a $400M fund (HV Fund IV) in February 2025 targeting quantum, AI, and next-gen technology, with initial investments averaging approximately $5M
Source Investor Round Amount Status
Crunchbase Hitachi Ventures Not specified Not disclosed Unconfirmed
Tracxn -- -- -- No Rounds Listed

Revenue Stage

No revenue figures are publicly available. Based on the company's stage (founded November 2023, small team, no disclosed funding), Aqora is almost certainly pre-revenue or generating minimal revenue.

Potential Revenue Streams

  • Competition hosting fees: Enterprises pay to post challenges and access solutions
  • Q3AS compute fees: Usage-based pricing for quantum algorithm execution
  • Talent marketplace: Recruitment fees via quantum.jobs
  • Event management: Fees for organizing and managing hackathons

The business model is not yet proven at scale. The platform appears to be in community-building mode, prioritizing adoption over monetization.

Section 06

Team

Jannes Stubbemann
Co-Founder & CEO
Computer science background (Germany), specializing in machine learning and quantum computing. Master's thesis on simulating Google's quantum supremacy experiments with classical neural networks (Boltzmann machines). Prior roles include CTO, Tech Lead, and Senior DevOps Engineer. President of PushQuantum (student initiative at Technical University of Munich). Active quantum community presence: spoke at Q2B Silicon Valley, featured on Superposition Guy's Podcast and Quantum Curious Podcast.
Technical founder with relevant ML/quantum background and demonstrated community-building ability. Young entrepreneur profile. Limited evidence of enterprise sales or business scaling experience.
Alexandre Krajenbrink
Co-Founder (Technical Advisor)
PhD from Ecole Normale Superieure de Paris in Statistical Physics and Random Matrix Theory. MSc from Ecole Polytechnique. Currently Lead Research Scientist at Quantinuum (full-time role). Former postdoctoral fellow at MSRI Berkeley and SISSA Trieste. Secretary General of QuantX, VP Special Projects of Le Lab Quantique, co-founder of Les Maisons du Quantique.
Strong academic credentials and deep quantum domain expertise. Primary role is at Quantinuum -- appears to be advising Aqora rather than operating it full-time. His network in the French and European quantum ecosystem is a significant asset.
Elvira Shishenina
Co-Founder (Business Advisor)
PhD in Mathematics from INRIA. Alumna of Ecole Polytechnique Paris-Saclay. Currently Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives at Quantinuum. Previously established TotalEnergies' first quantum computing initiative and led BMW Group's quantum computing team. President of QuantX and Le Lab Quantique. Founded La Maison du Quantique (France's first "quantum house").
Exceptional domain credentials and enterprise quantum experience (BMW, TotalEnergies). Primary role appears to be at Quantinuum. She serves as Business Advisor, not a full-time operator. Her connections likely drive Aqora's enterprise partnerships.

Team concern: Stubbemann is the only confirmed full-time operator. Both Krajenbrink and Shishenina hold senior roles at Quantinuum and appear to advise Aqora part-time. A company with one full-time founder/CEO and two part-time advisors/co-founders is thin for executing an ambitious platform play. This is a meaningful risk factor.

Section 07

Risk Assessment

Technology Risk
Low-Moderate
Core technology (competition hosting, datasets, leaderboards) is well-understood software engineering, not novel science. The Q3AS product introduces more technical complexity, but is essentially an orchestration layer over third-party quantum backends.
  • Risk is less about "can they build it" and more about "can they build it well enough to become the default platform before better-funded competitors add similar features"
  • No proprietary quantum technology -- platform is replicable
Market Risk
High
The quantum computing ecosystem is still very early. Enterprise adoption is largely exploratory, not production-grade.
  • Total addressable market for quantum competition/ecosystem platforms is a small subset of an already small market
  • Value proposition depends on enterprises being willing to pay for quantum benchmarking -- a behavior pattern not yet established at scale
  • If quantum computing timelines continue to slip (as they have historically), the ecosystem layer may not generate meaningful revenue for years
Execution Risk
High
Team is thin: one confirmed full-time CEO, two part-time advisors with primary roles at Quantinuum.
  • No disclosed funding means limited runway and resources to compete with well-funded platforms
  • Company is less than 3 years old and needs to establish itself before larger players move into the space
  • Scaling from 39 competitions to a self-sustaining platform business requires significant go-to-market investment
Competitive Risk
High
The platform has no proprietary technology moat. Any well-funded competitor could add quantum competition features.
  • Kaggle's expansion into quantum-adjacent territory would be a significant threat
  • The relationship with qBraid could shift to competition if qBraid decides to build its own competition layer
  • Large cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) each have quantum platforms and could bundle ecosystem features
Regulatory Risk
Low
No significant regulatory barriers identified. Quantum computing does not currently face the regulatory scrutiny applied to AI. Some quantum work may have export control implications (particularly in cryptography-adjacent applications), but this does not directly affect a platform company.
Section 08

Investment Thesis

Bull Case
  1. Ecosystem infrastructure play in a rapidly growing sector. Quantum computing VC funding hit $4.2B in 2025 and governments have committed $10B+ globally. The ecosystem needs infrastructure -- benchmarking, talent discovery, reproducible datasets -- and Aqora is positioning itself to provide it.
  2. Institutional validation through partnerships. Being selected as a core platform for the 2026 Global Industry Challenge (PQIC/Connected DMV, with APS, IBM, D-Wave) and hosting government-backed hackathons provides credibility exceeding the company's size.
  3. Potentially very early entry point. If Aqora has raised minimal funding (or none), the valuation would be extremely low. An early investment could acquire meaningful ownership before the quantum ecosystem matures.
  4. Deep community roots. The QuantX and Le Lab Quantique networks give Aqora authentic connections to the European quantum ecosystem that cannot be easily replicated by a Silicon Valley entrant.
  5. Middle East presence. The BIG Quantum Hackathon in Qatar (with MCIT, MOD, HBKU, BCG) and references to "Europe and the Middle East" expansion align with MAKR's geographic interests.
Bear Case
  1. Extremely early stage with unclear funding. The company is less than 3 years old, likely has minimal or no institutional funding, and no disclosed revenue. This is pre-product-market-fit.
  2. Thin team. One full-time CEO with two part-time advisors who have primary roles at Quantinuum. A platform play requires significant engineering, sales, and community management resources.
  3. No technology moat. The platform is replicable. If the quantum ecosystem grows large enough to be valuable, better-funded players will enter.
  4. Market timing uncertainty. The quantum computing market has historically disappointed on timelines. Enterprise adoption is still exploratory, and the "Kaggle for quantum" model assumes a talent pool and enterprise demand that may take years to materialize.
  5. Revenue model unproven. No evidence that enterprises are paying meaningful amounts for competition hosting. The current model appears to be community-building with sponsorship support, not a proven SaaS business.
Section 09

Recommendation

Dimension Rating Detail
Technology Risk Low-Moderate Platform validated through 39 competitions with tier-1 institutional sponsors. Vendor-neutral, framework-agnostic architecture is a strategic differentiator.
Market Risk Moderate-High Quantum ecosystem is early but accelerating ($4.2B VC funding in 2025, $10B+ government commitments). Platform model works regardless of which quantum hardware wins.
Execution Risk Moderate Team has demonstrated ability to attract institutional partners above its weight class. Quantinuum CTO advisory relationship provides technical credibility and enterprise access. Commercial acceleration requires dedicated hire.
Competitive Risk High No technology moat, but vendor-neutral positioning is defensible. Hardware-locked competitors (Google acquisitions, AWS Braket) lose neutrality. The Switzerland play creates natural gravity.
Team Strong with Gaps Deep ecosystem credentials, authentic community roots, institutional backing from Quantinuum leadership. Gap: needs dedicated commercial/enterprise sales hire to convert partnerships into revenue.
Return Profile High Risk / High Potential Early entry point at favorable valuation. Platform intelligence lens provides proprietary deal flow signal for MAKR's broader quantum thesis. If Aqora becomes the Hugging Face of quantum, returns are category-defining.
Portfolio Synergy High Quantum intelligence lens informs MAKR's broader investment thesis. Portfolio companies gain low-cost quantum exploration capability. Vendor-neutral platform aligns with MAKR's thesis-agnostic approach. Middle East presence (Qatar hackathon) aligns with geography.
Recommendation
PURSUE WITH CONDITIONS
Technology platform is validated through institutional partnerships (CERN, IBM, Quantinuum, Connected DMV). Vendor-neutral positioning creates a unique ecosystem intelligence lens -- the platform sees which quantum use cases, hardware, and sectors are gaining real traction across all vendors. This proprietary signal is a strategic asset beyond the platform's direct revenue. Conditions: milestone-based investment tied to first paid enterprise contract, first commercial hire, and sustained platform growth metrics.
Section 10

Key Questions for Management

1
Funding and cap table: What funding has been raised, from whom, and at what valuation? What is the current ownership structure among Stubbemann, Krajenbrink, and Shishenina?
2
Team and commitment: Is Stubbemann the only full-time employee? What are Krajenbrink and Shishenina's equity stakes and time commitments? What is the hiring plan?
3
Revenue and monetization: What revenue (if any) has been generated? What do enterprises pay to host a competition? What is the pricing model for Q3AS? Is the job board generating revenue?
4
Unit economics: What does it cost to host a competition? What is the gross margin on enterprise engagements?
5
Competition hosting pipeline: How many competitions are in the pipeline for 2026-2027? What is the conversion rate from free hackathon participation to paid enterprise engagement?
6
Platform metrics: How many registered users? Monthly active users? Submissions per competition? Dataset downloads?
7
Quantinuum relationship: Both co-founders (Krajenbrink, Shishenina) work at Quantinuum. Is there a formal or informal relationship between Aqora and Quantinuum? Is there any conflict of interest or IP concern?
8
Fundraising plans: Is the company raising? What is the target round size and use of funds?
9
Competitive defense: If Kaggle, qBraid, or AWS launched quantum competition features, what is Aqora's response? What creates lock-in?
10
Path to scale: What does Aqora look like at 10x current scale? What is the 3-year vision for the platform?
Section 11

Data Gaps

The following information was not publicly available and would need to be obtained through management meetings or data room access:

Section 12

Sources

  1. Aqora Official Website
  2. Aqora Competitions
  3. Aqora Events
  4. Aqora Q3AS Page
  5. Aqora Datasets Hub
  6. Aqora GitHub Organization
  7. Crunchbase -- Aqora
  8. Tracxn -- Aqora Company Profile
  9. The Quantum Insider -- Aqora Datasets Hub
  10. The Quantum Insider -- Superposition Guy's Podcast with Jannes Stubbemann
  11. Q-Innovision -- Aqora Member Profile
  12. Creative Destruction Lab -- Elvira Shishenina
  13. The Org -- QuantX / Alexandre Krajenbrink
  14. The Org -- QuantX / Elvira Shishenina
  15. ResearchGate -- Alexandre Krajenbrink
  16. Connected DMV -- 2026 Global Industry Challenge Platform Partners
  17. PQIC -- Global Industry Challenge
  18. MCIT Qatar -- Quantum Hackathon Announcement
  19. Aqora Blog -- Clinical Trial Optimization Competition
  20. McKinsey -- The Rise of Quantum Computing
  21. BCG -- Long-Term Forecast for Quantum Computing
  22. MarketsandMarkets -- Quantum Computing Market
  23. Tracxn -- Quantum Computing Report 2025
  24. Hitachi Ventures $400M Fund -- TechCrunch

This report is based on publicly available information as of April 18, 2026. Financial data has not been independently audited. All company claims are sourced and attributed but not independently verified unless noted. "Not publicly available" indicates information that could not be found through web search, company website, Crunchbase, Tracxn, press coverage, or LinkedIn. This document is intended exclusively for MAKR Venture Fund internal use and should not be distributed without authorization.