Q*Bird
Dutch quantum-secure communications start-up, spun out of QuTech (TU Delft / TNO) in January 2022. Q*Bird positions itself as the only commercial provider of Measurement-Device-Independent QKD (MDI-QKD). The Falqon® Series implements a hub-and-spoke, multi-node architecture in which a central measurement hub performs Bell-state measurements between end-node- emitted photons — removing all detector-side-channel vulnerabilities and letting many users share one hub. Early reference deployments span the Port of Rotterdam pilot, a 132 km cross-border Benelux link, and first national MDI-QKD networks in Spain (UPM Madrid) and Ireland (Walton/SETU).
Timeline
Current flagship
Falqon® Series — hub-and-spoke MDI-QKD with Quantum Domain Controller (QDC) for multi-node / multi-tenant network management
Milestones
- 2026-03Ireland's first multi-node MDI-QKD network deployed with Walton Institute (SETU) — hub-and-spoke across Dublin data centres, DCU and Trinity College Dublin
- 2026-01Spain's first multi-node MDI-QKD network — UPM and Q*Bird launch Falqon deployment across INTA and Ministerio del Interior sites in Madrid
- 2026-01EIC Accelerator 2025 award signed — €2.5M grant + €5M equity (€7.5M blended) for the NEXUS project; programme start 1 Dec 2025
- 2025-06First cross-border MDI-QKD link in the Benelux — 132 km, four-node network linking ESA Redu, University of Luxembourg (Kirchberg) and Arlon hub
- 2025-01Multi-user simultaneous link demonstrated on the Falqon hub-and-spoke architecture
- 2024-05€2.5M seed round closed — co-led by QDNL Participations and Cottonwood Technology Fund, with InnovationQuarter
- 2024-05Port of Rotterdam scalable quantum-network pilot announced — consortium with Port Authority, Single Quantum, Cisco, Eurofiber, Portbase, Intermax, InnovationQuarter under Quantum Delta NL
- 2022-01Q*Bird founded as a QuTech (TU Delft / TNO) spin-out by Ingrid Romijn, Joshua Slater and Remon Berrevoets
Roadmap
- 2025-2028 NEXUS (EIC Accelerator) — improve MDI-QKD hardware efficiency, develop next-generation optical modules, enable high-density user deployments, and build orchestration for multi-operator quantum networking across Europe source ↗
- 2026 QUEST — expand Port of Rotterdam pilot into South Holland with multiple interconnected hubs, additional end nodes, Eurofiber backbone integration source ↗
Capability details
QKD
- Protocols
- MDI-QKD, decoy-state
- Rate vs distance
- Falqon hub-and-spoke MDI-QKD; demonstrated 132 km cross-border Benelux link (Arlon hub, ESA Redu and University of Luxembourg nodes); Madrid deployment runs 30–50 km from hub to each end node
3 unverified fields
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modalities.qkd.rate_distance— Q*Bird has not published a single canonical key-rate-vs-distance number for Falqon; only deployment distances (132 km Benelux, 30–50 km Madrid hub-to-node) are disclosed. -
shareholders -
shareholders— Stake percentages not disclosed for any investor; ordering reflects round seniority not equity rank.
People
References
- press https://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/news-and-press-releases/consortium-parties-first-world-build-scalable-quantum-internet-connection Port of Rotterdam Authority — consortium announcement of the first scalable quantum-internet pilot (2024)
- press https://www.q-bird.com/press/qbird-secures-e2-5m-grant-and-e5m-equity-from-eic-accelerator-to-scale-europes-quantum-secure-networks/ EIC Accelerator 2025 — NEXUS award (€2.5M grant + €5M equity), signed January 2026
- press https://www.q-bird.com/press/qbird-raises-e2-5-million-to-accelerate-growth-of-its-falqon-quantum-security-technology/ €2.5M seed round (May 2024) — QDNL Participations and Cottonwood Technology Fund co-lead, with InnovationQuarter
- press https://www.q-bird.com/press/leading-europes-quantum-frontier-upm-and-qbird-launch-spains-first-multi-node-mdi-qkd-network/ Spain's first multi-node MDI-QKD network — UPM + Q*Bird, Madrid (January 2026)
- press https://www.q-bird.com/press/fortifying-europes-quantum-communication-qbird-and-beqci-achieve-the-first-cross-border-mdi-qkd-link-in-benelux/ 132 km cross-border MDI-QKD link, Belgium ↔ Luxembourg (June 2025)
- press https://wordpress.waltoninstitute.ie/2026/03/26/irelands-quantum-leap-walton-institute-at-setu-and-qbird-deploy-irelands-first-qkd-network-with-expandable-architecture/ Ireland's first multi-node MDI-QKD network — Walton Institute (SETU), IrelandQCI / EuroQCI (March 2026)
- blog https://www.q-bird.com/about-us/ Q*Bird company page — founding, founders, HQ
- blog https://www.q-bird.com/press/from-theory-to-network-what-sets-quest-apart/ QUEST programme — Port of Rotterdam expansion with Eurofiber, Single Quantum, InnovationQuarter