Pure-play Quantum · Startup Studio
QV Studio
First venture studio dedicated exclusively to quantum technologies, co-creating and de-risking university spinoffs in Sherbrooke's quantum ecosystem alongside Quantonation and Quantacet as co-investors.
Investment thesis
QV Studio is the first Canadian venture studio dedicated exclusively to quantum technologies, launched in June 2023 in Sherbrooke's DistriQ Quantum Innovation Zone. Led by Managing Director Dr. Sarah Jenna, it builds companies from scratch by pairing university-grade science (notably from Institut quantique at Université de Sherbrooke) with structured commercialisation work across a three-year pre-seed curriculum (Validate, Plan, Build, Launch), now extended upstream as Quantum Lead of the national Lab2Market network spanning 50+ universities and colleges. Pre-seed capital is co-deployed alongside specialist funds Quantacet (Montreal) and Quantonation (Paris), targeting at least CAD $1M of dilutive and non-dilutive funding per startup over the program and CAD $5M+ seed rounds at graduation; a partnership with Prompt (November 2025) adds up to $50K per project in pre-incorporation research funding. First spin-outs Quminex (quantum-AI mineral exploration, WEF UpLink Top Innovator 2025) and SilQ Connect (microwave-optical quantum interconnects) both closed pre-seed rounds in spring 2025. QV Studio is housed in Espace Quantique 1, a 50K+ sq. ft. DistriQ facility offering labs, offices, and cryogenic infrastructure; its evergreen, in-house construction model makes it structurally different from cohort-based accelerators.
Anti-thesis
The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.
- No non-Canadian university spin-outs: QV Studio is the only venture program in Canada dedicated to and optimized for turning quantum spin-offs from Canadian universities; US, European or corporate spin-offs are not its mandate
- No already-incorporated, funded companies: the studio model targets pre-company founders (graduate students, postdocs, researchers) at the spin-out moment, not startups that have already raised
- No non-academic founders: eligible founders are graduate students, postdocs and researchers in quantum science, excluding repeat entrepreneurs or industry operators without a university research base
- No non-quantum deep tech: backed by Quantonation and Quantacet and funded by Quebec's Ministry of Economy specifically for quantum; the program does not accept adjacent photonics, AI or semiconductor plays without a quantum thesis
- No founders unwilling to anchor in Quebec's ecosystem: the studio is headquartered in Sherbrooke within DistriQ's Espace Quantique 1; teams refusing local presence are unlikely to be accepted