Arq raises $1.4 million to build quantum internet repeaters
The pre-seed turns a young quantum networking effort into a hardware bet on repeaters, memory devices and fibre links.
By Ryan Merket ยท Published
Why it matters
Arq is chasing the least visible layer of quantum computing: networking. If quantum machines become useful, repeaters and memories will decide whether they operate as isolated systems or connected infrastructure.
Samuele Grandi and Emanuele Distante's Arq has raised a $1.4 million pre-seed round to build networking hardware for the quantum internet, Tech.eu reported on July 16, 2026.
The round was led by Ground State Ventures, with participation from Big Sur Ventures. Tech.eu describes Arq as a UK quantum technology startup founded in 2025 by quantum scientists Grandi and Distante.
The hardware bet
Arq is developing quantum repeaters designed to connect quantum computers across long distances using fibre optic networks. In conventional networking, repeaters help move signals farther. In quantum networks, quantum information cannot simply be copied and amplified like classical data.
Arq's approach combines quantum memories based on rare-earth-doped crystals with photon-pair sources, according to Tech.eu. The technical claim centers on multiplexing, which stores and transmits multiple photons at the same time. Arq says that design can improve the speed and efficiency of quantum communication and offer a faster, lower-cost way to network quantum computers than existing alternatives.
These are company claims. The Tech.eu report does not include benchmark data, named comparison systems, fibre distance, memory lifetime, fidelity, bandwidth, error rate, device cost or deployment count.
What $1.4 million buys
Arq plans to use the pre-seed capital to establish a laboratory and speed development of its next generation of quantum memory devices, with a focus on reproducibility and reliability, Tech.eu reports. Distante framed the ambition in infrastructure terms. The company is working with research institutions, quantum technology companies and public organizations to move quantum communication beyond the laboratory, he told Tech.eu: "Our technology could lay the groundwork for quantum-exclusive networks that allow the impact of quantum technology to scale exponentially."
Arq is targeting telecommunications, financial services, pharmaceuticals and healthcare as future application areas. Those sectors are future targets rather than evidence of current customers; Tech.eu did not name pilots, commercial contracts, research partners, public-sector programs or deployment timelines.
For Grandi and Distante, the near-term milestone is narrower and harder: show that Arq's repeaters and quantum memories can move from a scientific thesis into devices with the reproducibility required for networks. A $1.4 million pre-seed gives Arq a lab, a specialist lead investor and enough room to test whether the founders' research path can become infrastructure.