Duquesne backs Q.ANT to advance sustainable photonic AI
Q.ANT, a European pioneer in photonic processors for AI and high-performance computing, has closed the second round of its Series A funding with an additional investment from Duquesne Family Office, bringing total funding to $80 million-the largest financing round for photonic computing in Europe.
The investment will accelerate the commercialization of Q.ANT’s light-based processors, support next-stage technology development, and enable the company’s planned expansion into the U.S. market. Sue Meng, Managing Director at Duquesne Family Office, joins Q.ANT’s advisory board as an observer, strengthening the company’s strategic expertise.
Q.ANT’s Native Processing Server (NPS), built on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate (TFLN), integrates seamlessly into modern data centres as a plug-in co-processor. Early benchmarks show up to 30x energy efficiency and 50x performance gains, while maintaining 16-bit floating-point precision, enabling scalable, sustainable AI and HPC workloads without active cooling.
The company aims to establish photonic computing as a foundation for global AI infrastructure by 2030, delivering higher compute density, lower energy consumption, and a sustainable path for next-generation data-intensive systems.
