Sparrow Quantum Selected for €300K EuroHPC Planning Grant

Sparrow Quantum, a Danish photonic company originating from the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute, is one of 13 firms to receive funding under the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking’s Quantum Grand Challenge. Their EU-SCALE project will get €300,000 to develop a technical and financial roadmap, though the grant agreement is still pending.

Grant scope

Specifically, the EU-SCALE project will create a roadmap for integrating Sparrow’s deterministic photon-generating chips into a larger photonic quantum-computing system. According to the company’s August 25 press release, the work focuses on design and architecture, aiming for compatibility with European high-performance computing infrastructure. This stage involves no system construction.

Indeed, this €300,000 corresponds to Phase 1 of the program, which the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking defines as funding for the roadmap and the commercialization strategy. Phase 2 offers a potential path to venture debt financing from the European Investment Bank, but this is a subsequent step and not guaranteed by the current selection.

Sparrow Quantum has dedicated years to single-photon sources, which are the components in photonic machines that generate the light used as qubits. The company frames EU-SCALE as its strategic move into the system architecture surrounding these sources, a perspective highlighted by the company itself.

Peter Lodahl, founder and Chief Quantum Officer at Sparrow Quantum, commented on the selection in the release:

“We founded Sparrow to ensure a reliable supply of quantum light. EU-SCALE provides us with the opportunity to build on that progress and address the system architecture around the source, a problem I have long wanted Sparrow to tackle.”

Selection process

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking’s Governing Board approved the ranking list on June 19, 2026, under Decision No. 31/2026. They received thirty proposals submitted by the deadline, with 27 meeting the eligibility criteria. An independent expert panel scored these, and 13 were placed on the main list, with three additional proposals held in reserve.

Sparrow is the sole Danish company on the list, a distinction the company emphasizes. This selection signifies status rather than an immediate outcome. The grant agreement has not yet been signed, and the funded deliverables are a roadmap document and a commercial viability case.

The Quantum Grand Challenge aims to propel European quantum startups toward market-ready products. The eventual integration of Sparrow’s chips into a functional photonic computer hinges on future work and funding beyond this initial allocation.