Braunschweig-based quantum startup QUDORA Technologies will lead a seven-member research and industrial consortium in the €122 million (~$138.8M USD) NFQC-1k project, selected under the Quantum Computing Competition of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). Following the successful evaluation of the project outline, the consortium has been officially invited to submit its full proposal. The five-year initiative aims to build a fault-tolerant trapped-ion quantum computer featuring at least 1,000 physical qubits and 50 logical qubits with logical gate error rates below 0.01%. In parallel, the consortium will establish a semiconductor pilot line for producing high-performance quantum processing units (QPUs).

The NFQC-1k project forms a key milestone under Germany’s High-Tech Agenda Deutschland (HTAD), which targets deploying at least two European state-of-the-art fault-tolerant quantum computers by 2030. QUDORA serves as system integrator, deploying its proprietary Near Field Quantum Control (NFQC®) technology. By utilizing chip-scale microwave radiation fields instead of complex, bulky laser addressing arrays, NFQC enables direct integration with standard semiconductor manufacturing processes, overcoming scaling barriers inherent to traditional optics.

[ NFQC-1k Project Architecture & Consortium Structure ]
Consortium MemberInstitutional Profile & RoleTechnical Contribution & Stack
QUDORA Technologies• Lead Consortium Coordinator
• Full-Stack Quantum Provider (Braunschweig)
• System integration & NFQC® hardware platform
• Quantum processor control & QPU packaging
Academic & Research Partners• TU Braunschweig
• Leibniz University Hannover (LUH)
• PTB (National Metrology Institute)
• Forschungszentrum Jülich
• Trapped-ion physics & quantum optics
• High-precision metrology & laser cooling
• Algorithm benchmarking (QFT verification)
• Quantum Valley Lower Saxony (QVLS) ecosystem
Industry Partners• NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH
• AQT Germany GmbH (Alpine Quantum Tech)
• Microfabrication & QPU pilot line production
• Cryogenic packaging & commercial system integration

The project represents the culmination of long-term investments in the regional deep-tech ecosystem developed through the Quantum Valley Lower Saxony (QVLS). The foundational technologies build on prior public initiatives, including the €25 million ($28.44) QVLS-Q1 project launched in 2021 to build a 50-qubit trapped-ion platform, funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) and the Volkswagen Foundation, followed by the BRIQ platform expansion project. System performance under NFQC-1k will be verified through a full Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) algorithmic benchmark.

Review the press release via QUDORA Newsroom here, read regional ecosystem coverage on LNQE LUH here and QVLS here, and inspect reporting on Handelsblatt here.

September 23, 2026