Swiss quantum hardware start-up Rhonexum has secured a multi-year commercial agreement with ZuriQ to supply cryogenic integrated circuits, targeting one of the biggest engineering obstacles to scaling trapped-ion quantum computers.
The agreement will see Lausanne-based Rhonexum provide specialized electronics and customization services to ZuriQ, which is developing quantum processors using reconfigurable two-dimensional arrays of trapped ions.
An initial commercial order has already been placed – financial terms were not disclosed.
The partnership addresses a fundamental bottleneck in quantum computing: the growing number of electrical connections required to control individual qubits.
Conventional architectures rely heavily on signals transmitted from room-temperature electronics into cryogenic environments. As qubit counts increase, wiring complexity, system integration and control infrastructure become increasingly difficult to manage.
Rhonexum aims to tackle these constraints by moving critical electronic functions closer to quantum processors, potentially enabling denser qubit arrays and more scalable hardware architectures.
Under the agreement, ZuriQ will receive privileged access to selected Rhonexum technologies while contributing technical feedback to future product development.
Founded in 2025 as a spin-off from EPFL’s AQUA Lab, Rhonexum develops cryogenic integrated circuits for quantum computing applications.
ZuriQ emerged from ETH Zurich in 2024 and is pursuing trapped-ion architectures that use electric and magnetic fields to manipulate qubits in two dimensions.
The agreement signals growing commercialization across Switzerland’s quantum technology sector, where university spin-offs are moving beyond laboratory research toward industrial supply chains.
However, neither company has disclosed performance benchmarks demonstrating the proposed scalability improvements.
