Quantum Foundry Copenhagen plans to open a 5,300-square-meter quantum chip fabrication facility in Denmark by 2027. Backed by a $62 million investment from Europe’s wealthiest foundation, the merchant foundry will offer commercial wafer production to global vendors and bridge academic research with industrial-scale manufacturing.
Europe is taking a fresh tack in the global race for quantum supremacy. Instead of funding yet another experimental computer, a major philanthropic effort is targeting the industrial bottleneck underneath the entire technology building a dedicated hardware plant in the Danish capital.
Quantum Foundry Copenhagen, owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, has announced plans for a 5,300-square-meter facility designed to supply the continent with advanced processors. The project shifts emphasis from laboratory physics to high-yield commercial production.
Foundry Infrastructure and Cleanroom Capabilities
The facility will combine nanofabrication cleanroom space with advanced characterisation, testing, chip assembly, packaging, and ultra-high-vacuum manufacturing. These are the specialized industrial processes required to turn fragile quantum materials into stable, usable processing units.
By operating as an open commercial platform, the foundry aims to provide contract wafer manufacturing to external quantum hardware startups, industrial partners, and academic institutions worldwide. Smaller developers typically face steep hurdles when trying to scale production, often forced to choose between building their own cleanrooms or negotiating limited access to university facilities.
“Our vision is to become a world-leading quantum chip manufacturer, supplying Europe with advanced, next-generation quantum computing processors and enabling quantum companies to scale production. We aim to build state-of-the-art quantum production lines and support a sustainable deep-tech industry that can help shape the future of quantum technology.”
Peter Krogstrup, CEO of Quantum Foundry Copenhagen
Funding, Timelines, and the Broader Danish Quantum Ecosystem
The investment in the facility is roughly $62 million, according to Bloomberg, drawing from the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s total commitment of more than DKK 2.9 billion (€390 million) toward quantum technologies. The foundation is the charitable owner of the company behind Ozempic and stands as Europe’s wealthiest philanthropic organization.
That financial backing connects directly to academic research in Denmark. The foundation runs a quantum computing programme at Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute that aims to build Denmark’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer before 2034. The foundry is intended to connect that research with a manufacturing capability, supporting commercial-scale manufacturing to support a fault-tolerant quantum computer before 2034.
Construction on the chip plant is slated to open around 2027 to support commercial-scale manufacturing. Observers note that while Europe has built one of the world’s strongest research environments in quantum science, global leadership in quantum technologies will ultimately depend not only on scientific breakthroughs, but also on the ability to turn these breakthroughs into commercial products at scale, offering wafer fabrication to quantum companies around the world.
European Strategic Sovereignty and Industrial Policy
The Copenhagen project arrives as Brussels steps up efforts to secure a domestic supply chain for critical technologies. European policymakers are eager to avoid repeating past cycles where the continent led in foundational science only to watch commercial manufacturing scale up abroad, with the facility developing and scaling the advanced manufacturing equipment needed to produce the next generation of quantum chips and strengthen Europe’s position in an increasingly competitive global quantum landscape.
The initiative aligns with the European Union’s broader policy frameworks, including the European Chips Act and the Quantum Europe Strategy, and looking ahead to the forthcoming Quantum Act. Officials view domestic chip fabrication as essential to the bloc’s long-term economic independence and resilient supply chains.
“Europe’s quantum ambitions depend on our ability to turn scientific excellence into industrial capability. Strengthening European capacity to develop and manufacture quantum chips is essential for our competitiveness, resilient supply chains and technological sovereignty. Building on the European Chips Act and the Quantum Europe Strategy, and looking ahead to the forthcoming Quantum Act, initiatives such as Quantum Foundry Copenhagen can contribute to the industrial ecosystem Europe needs to scale quantum technologies.”
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
Denmark’s national strategy similarly emphasizes turning academic strengths into commercial value across healthcare, energy, and cybersecurity, as quantum technologies have the potential to solve problems that are beyond the reach of today’s most powerful computers, helping researchers develop new medicines faster, design more sustainable materials, optimise energy systems, and strengthen cybersecurity.
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