Ground State Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Ground State Ventures is an early-stage venture fund dedicated entirely to quantum technology. The firm's stated mission is to "identify the teams shaping this future and give them the funds and support they need to build world-changing businesses." Ground State Ventures was originally founded in 2022 as QDNL Participations, a EUR15M vehicle backed by Quantum Delta NL and focused narrowly on Dutch quantum seed deals. In April 2026 the firm rebranded to Ground State Ventures alongside the close of an $88M (EUR75.2M) fund, and expanded its remit from a Netherlands-only seed investor to a global fund covering the full quantum stack: computing, sensing, communications, and infrastructure, with growing crossover interest in AI infrastructure, software, security, robotics, and space applications where quantum hardware is the differentiator.
Stage Focus
Ground State Ventures invests almost exclusively at pre-seed and seed, with selective participation in Series A and later rounds for existing portfolio companies as they scale (e.g., QuantWare's progression from Series A to a $178M Series B). The firm positions itself as the first institutional check into deep-tech quantum teams, frequently backing companies "out of stealth."
Check Size
Not explicitly disclosed on the website. Observed initial checks cluster in the $1M-$4M range (Arq's $1.4M pre-seed, Rhonexum's ~$1M pre-seed, QT Sense's EUR4-6M seed), consistent with a specialist early-stage fund of this size ($88M AUM). The firm also appears as a name-brand backer in much larger follow-on rounds (Sygaldry's $139M combined seed/Series A, QuantWare's $178M Series B), suggesting reserve capital for high-conviction follow-ons.
Lead Tendency
Ground State Ventures explicitly leads the first institutional round in each portfolio company and positions itself as "investor of record" for its deep-tech quantum bets. Recent press confirms lead roles in Arq's pre-seed and Rhonexum's pre-seed rounds.
Recent Activity
The firm has been highly active through 2025 and into mid-2026, coinciding with its fund close and rebrand:
- July 2026: Led Arq's $1.4M pre-seed for quantum-repeater/quantum-internet hardware.
- May 2026: Portfolio company QuantWare closed a $178M Series B (Intel-backed) to scale quantum processor manufacturing.
- April 2026: Announced the firm's rebrand from QDNL Participations to Ground State Ventures alongside an $88M fund close (26% above the original $70M target); backed Chad Rigetti's Sygaldry ($139M raised across seed and Series A) building quantum-accelerated AI servers.
- March 2026: Backed Rhonexum's pre-seed round for cryogenic electronics that remove a scaling bottleneck in quantum computing.
- February 2026: Backed QT Sense's seed round for quantum-sensing-based diagnostics.
- 2025: Backed Diffraqtion (quantum camera for space applications), EuQlid (semiconductor/battery materials), and Orange Quantum Systems (EUR12M seed for quantum control electronics), and grew the internal team, including promoting Kris Kaczmarek to partner.
Fund status: actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
Ground State Ventures' portfolio spans 16 companies across the quantum stack. Notable names include QuantWare (superconducting quantum processors, since raised a $178M Series B led by Intel), Sygaldry (Chad Rigetti's quantum-accelerated AI server company, $139M raised), Orange Quantum Systems (quantum control electronics, EUR12M seed), Arq (quantum-internet repeaters), Rhonexum (cryogenic electronics), and QT Sense (quantum sensing for biomedical diagnostics). The portfolio was reported at a combined $1.3B valuation within roughly 15 months of the firm's most active period.
Team
- Ton van 't Noordende - General Partner and founder of the firm (as QDNL Participations in 2022)
- Chad Rigetti - Partner; founder of Rigetti Computing, joined the firm in 2023
- Kris Kaczmarek - Partner (promoted from a prior role in May 2026)
- Cheryne Jonay - Analyst
- Nic Weiroster - Investment Associate
- Nadia Carlsten - Special Advisor
- Charles Marcus - Special Advisor
The team combines scientific depth (PhDs in Physics from Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and UC Berkeley are represented across the group) with operator experience from building quantum companies (Chad Rigetti founded and scaled Rigetti Computing to a public listing).
Decision Process
Not explicitly disclosed. Given the partnership structure (GP plus multiple partners) and the technical diligence quantum deep-tech requires, likely a partnership-level decision process rather than a solo-GP model.
Founder Preferences
Ground State Ventures backs technical, often PhD-level scientific founders spinning quantum research out of top labs and universities (EPFL, UMCG/University Medical Center Groningen, TU Delft-adjacent teams) into commercial companies. It favors first-mover deep-tech teams solving hardware-level bottlenecks (cryogenics, repeaters, control electronics) as well as application-layer teams applying quantum sensing/computing to adjacent verticals like healthcare diagnostics and AI infrastructure.
Geographic Focus
Originally Netherlands-only (as QDNL Participations), now global following the 2026 rebrand, with offices in Amsterdam, London, and San Francisco. Portfolio companies span the Netherlands, Switzerland (Rhonexum, EPFL spin-out), and Spain (Arq).