Europe lost the AI race before it began – when Mistral secured its first funding in 2023, OpenAI had already raised more than $13bn. Yet the next frontier looks closer. In the quantum sector, European firms raised $404mn in Q1, just shy of the $417mn raised in North America, a much tighter gap than in the broader startup scene. Last year Europe’s $1.4bn in quantum funding represented about 60% of the North American total.

Governments are addressing two long‑standing issues: commercialising research and scaling up startups. UK groups linked to the National Quantum Technologies Programme, such as Oxford Quantum Circuits, Quantum Motion (Oxford/UCL) and France’s Quobly (CEA‑Leti), have attracted a mix of public and private money, with the British Business Bank backing the UK firms and the EU’s $4bn start‑up fund supporting Quobly.

These investments have doubled the US commitment to quantum computing in the UK and EU, challenging the narrative that the US has a cultural advantage in entrepreneurship. If Europe can sustain this momentum, it may also succeed in other emerging technologies.

With a quantum bit still in superposition, European groups have a real chance to win the race.