QuantumDiamonds financing: €91 million round and fab impacts

The QuantumDiamonds financing totals €91 million, combining specialized venture capital and European public funding to scale production of its quantum inspection technology for semiconductors. Its capital structure, technology and planned operational steps matter for those working in fabs and the innovation ecosystem.

QuantumDiamonds has raised €91 million to scale production.

Details of the financing

The deal includes €15 million in equity led by World Fund with significant participation from Bayern Kapital and involvement from existing investors IQ Capital, Earlybird, First Momentum, UnternehmerTUM, Creator Fund, Onsight Ventures and angel investors; the remaining €76 million is non-dilutive financing approved under the European Chips Act. The official announcement states that the non-dilutive financing is provided jointly by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The announcement says the Free State of Bavaria also provides the funding. The financial structure combines specialized venture capital and European public support.

“Compute has become strategic infrastructure… Backing companies like QD is how Europe stops buying its technological future from others and starts building the leverage to shape its own.”, Daria Saharova, Managing Partner, World Fund (translated).

Technology and products

QuantumDiamonds, a spin-out of the Technical University of Munich founded in 2022 by Kevin Berghoff and Dr. Fleming Bruckmaier, produces a device described as a “microscope for electric currents” that detects hidden defects and enables non-destructive chip analysis. The first commercial system, QDm.1, enables 3D imaging of currents at the nanoscale. It exploits atomic defects in synthetic diamonds to detect magnetic fields with extreme precision. QDm.1 enables non-destructive analysis of buried defects in 3D architectures.

Production expansion, deployments and next steps, summary

In December 2025 QuantumDiamonds announced plans to invest €152 million in a production facility in Munich; the first operational section is scheduled for this year. In March 2026 QD opened a regional hub in Taiwan. QD appointed Peter Lemmens Managing Director Asia and, in April, installed the first USA system at Eurofins EAG Laboratories in Sunnyvale. QD completed the first Asian deployment at Integrated Service Technology (iST) in Hsinchu, Taiwan. QD employs 70 people and expects to more than double the engineering team within 12 months. QD is already engaged with nine of the ten largest global semiconductor manufacturers.

The operational priority is to turn pilot installations into fab-ready solutions. The company delivers lab systems to major manufacturers. The company is developing wafer-level capabilities for high-throughput inspection. The company integrates the devices into cleanrooms and inline process control.

A critical point: opportunities and risks

The combination of specialized equity and public financing makes the QuantumDiamonds case indicative for European deep tech. Concrete opportunities include greater European technological sovereignty and direct access to major manufacturers. World Fund says there is potential positioning in an equipment market valued at $104 billion. However, the transition to serial production carries significant technical and supply chain risks. Companies must ensure quality control of synthetic diamond substrates. They must perform cleanroom integration at wafer scale. They must meet milestones tied to the €76 million of non-dilutive funding. The high visibility as the only startup beneficiary of production financing under the European Chips Act can translate into stringent expectations on timing and results. For investors and founders, the practical lesson is to structure verifiable industrial milestones. They should sign pilot contracts with foundries and define technical governance that ties investment tranches to measurable objectives.

Operationally: production scaling and fab integration require parallel investments in process quality, partnerships with foundries and a shared wafer-level roadmap.

Sources:

• Munich’s QuantumDiamonds raises €91 million to scale its… | eu-startups.com