What we do
- Keep the directory free for founders. Forever.
- Monetize through CFO Fractal's advisory work, fully separate from the directory.
Why us
How we pick funds, and what we never claim.
This directory should pass the test of a skeptical founder reading it at midnight. Here is what gets a fund in, how the numbers are computed, what we never do, and who stands behind it.
- quantum-active funds mapped
- 104
- countries covered
- 18
- conviction tiers, from pure-play to opportunistic
- 4
- sub-fields, from hardware to PQC
- 7
Why a quantum-specific directory
Quantum funding doesn't behave like SaaS.
Three structural realities make generalist VC lists actively misleading for quantum founders.
Time horizon
18-month round cycles, not 12.
Quantum hardware does not ship a beta in six months. A fund dormant by SaaS standards can still be very active in quantum. We use 18-month liveness windows, the convention of The Quantum Insider and GQI.
Capex shape
Hardware-heavy, capex front-loaded.
Cryostats, dilution refrigerators, photonic foundry runs, clean-room access. Tickets and burn look more like semiconductors than enterprise software, and the funds underwriting them reserve differently.
LP base
Sovereign, corporate, deep-tech LPs.
National strategies, the EU Quantum Flagship, corporate balance sheets. IP carve-outs, government-backed tranches and export controls diverge sharply from a typical SaaS Series A.
The conviction taxonomy
Not every deep-tech fund is a quantum investor.
We split investors into four conviction tiers, because a pure-play fund and a generalist with one opportunistic cheque do not behave the same way in a round. 2 further funds are flagged as pre-quantum signaling, listed for transparency but not yet tiered.
Pure-play
9 fundsQuantum is the thesis: mandate, fund name, every cheque. Fastest decision windows, deepest technical diligence, leads 80%+ of rounds.
Deep-tech active
41 fundsMulti-vertical but writing. Quantum is one of a few pockets, with two or more quantum cheques in 36 months and a partner who owns the space.
Strategic CVC
18 fundsCorporate balance sheet. Slower, but unique value-add: pilot deployments, foundry access, supply-chain pull-through. Read the strategic intent first.
Opportunistic
34 fundsOne cheque, possibly the last. Listed for transparency, rarely worth six weeks of pitching unless partner-fit is exceptional.
Inclusion criteria
A fund appears here when all five are true.
We are conservative on inclusion. A misleading listing wastes a founder a week, so if a fund is borderline we wait and verify.
- 01
Quantum-active
An explicit quantum thesis, or at least two announced quantum investments closed in the last 36 months.
- 02
Active in the last 18 months
At least one announced primary quantum investment, a new position, closed within 18 months. Dormant funds are delisted within a quarter.
- 03
Primary investor vehicle
Institutional funds, evergreen funds, mandated family offices, structured syndicates. SPV-only vehicles and dealflow groups are excluded.
- 04
Public-facing
A working website, a visible portfolio, a reachable contact. Stealth funds are listed only once they surface a public persona.
- 05
Verifiable thesis
A positioning statement we can verify from public writing or portfolio. Theses contradicted by the last ten cheques are flagged, not passed silently.
Fund signals
The four numbers on every card.
Best-effort estimates from public data. Estimates have error bars. A softer-than-usual signal gets a confidence flag on the card.
Quantum cheques / year
Three-year trailing average of announced primary quantum investments. Generalist deals and follow-ons excluded.
avg(new_quantum_positions[Y-1..Y-3]) Lead ratio
Share of recent rounds the fund priced or led. Sourced from press, LP reports and public term sheets.
led_rounds / total_rounds Decision window
First meeting to term sheet. Self-reported by the GP, triangulated with three or more recent portfolio founders.
[p25, p75] in weeks Reserve %
Share of the fund kept for follow-ons. Sourced from LPAs where available, else GP disclosure.
reserves / total_committed What makes it different
Built for quantum founders.
Every feature answers one question: would this fund actually fund this quantum company at this stage?
Quantum signals
Quantum cheques per year (3-year trailing), lead ratio, decision window, reserve pattern. Generalist deals (AI, biotech, climate) and follow-ons are excluded, only quantum cheques count.
Sub-field filtering
Hardware, software, sensing, photonics, communications, post-quantum crypto, enabling tech. A neutral-atom hardware founder doesn't need a list of post-quantum crypto investors.
Co-invest graph
Quantum syndicates are tight, the same dozen names show up across most rounds. If you land one lead, the graph tells you the four or five funds most likely to round out the syndicate.
Your profile, not theirs
Save a 10-second founder profile, sub-field, stage, ticket, geo, sovereign-friendly or not, and every card tells you how it matches. No account, no email required.
Data sources Public, transparent, and verifiable.
We use a small set of sources and cross-check them against each other. When two sources disagree, we default to the more conservative number and note the discrepancy.
- Fund websites primary source of thesis, portfolio, contact, stage, ticket range.
- Press releases and LP disclosures primary source of cheque pace and lead ratio.
- Quantum ecosystem trackers The Quantum Insider deal database, GQI reports, EU Quantum Flagship and QuIC public data, reference for fund vintage, lifecycle signals, and quantum-specific deal flow.
- Founder interviews 5 to 10 per month, on-the-record when possible. Key input to decision window.
- GP correspondence each GP gets to confirm their card before publication.
- We never use paid screen-scrapers, anonymous rumors, or LinkedIn signal trackers.
Update cadence When each thing is refreshed.
- Fund profile (thesis, stage, ticket)
- Monthly
- Fund signals
- Monthly
- Portfolio list
- Monthly
- Contact details
- Continuous
- Removal request from GP
- Same day
- Correction from founder or GP
- Within 7 days
Independent by design
Boundaries matter as much as features.
A directory that over-promises becomes a ranking, and rankings quietly turn into ads. These are the lines we do not cross.
- We never rank funds. Order is alphabetical or filter-driven, no top-10 list, ever.
- We never predict outcomes. A matching fund is a mandate fit, not a yes.
- We never broker introductions. This is a directory, not an intro network.
- We never take money from funds. No pay-to-list, no sponsored slots, no featured placements.
- We never share founder data with funds. Your profile serves your search, nothing else.
- We never hide mistakes. Corrections are public and timestamped on the fund card.
Sources: fund websites, press and LP disclosures, quantum ecosystem trackers (The Quantum Insider, GQI, EU Quantum Flagship, QuIC), and 5 to 10 on-the-record founder interviews a month. Each GP confirms their card before publication. Profiles and signals are refreshed monthly, contact details continuously, corrections within 7 days, GP removal requests the same day.
How we keep the lights on
Transparent, or it's not worth doing.
We don't take money from the funds we list. There's no premium tier, no boost, no editorial influence to buy. The advisory work pays for the directory.
What we don't do
- Charge funds to be listed, hidden, or promoted.
- Take affiliate commissions on closed rounds.
- Sell founder data. We share nothing with the funds.
- Run ads, retargeting, or ad-tech trackers.
Who's behind this
Your finance partner.
Every engagement is led end-to-end by someone who has sat on both sides of the table, closed founder rounds, and run diligence for the funds writing the cheques.
Gaetan Brillaud
Founder · Startup CFO · DD advisor
A finance partner who has lived the founder side, the investor side, and the due diligence phase, and brings all three to your raise.
Background
Former Big 4, venture capital and tech banking.
Today
Fractional CFO of VC-backed tech startups, and due-diligence advisor to PE and VC funds investing in tech.
Also
Mentor at Next AI, Plug and Play, OVHcloud, and several coaching programs.
- Financial projections
- Revenue model
- Cap table pro forma
- Exit strategy
CFO Fractal · Quantum practice
The CFO desk this directory is built on.
Errors and corrections We'll get things wrong. Here's how to tell us.
Data changes. Teams pivot. Fund mandates shift. If something on a card is out of date, misleading, or flat wrong, the fastest fix is to fill out the submission form with the correction flag. We respond within 7 days, faster for removal requests from a fund.
Spotted something off?
Use the submit form, flag it as a correction, we'll handle the rest.