QuantumDiamonds Raises €91 Million to Set the Global Standard for Next-Generation Chip Inspection

QuantumDiamonds, the world's first commercially available quantum sensing system for semiconductor inspection, led by Dr. Fleming Bruckmaier and Kevin Berghoff, has announced the close of a €91 million funding round to scale production of its quantum-based semiconductor inspection technology. The financing combines an €15 million equity round led by World Fund with €76 million in non-dilutive funding approved at the EU level under the European Chips Act. The non-dilutive funding is expected to be jointly provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Free State of Bavaria. The €15 million equity round led by World Fund drew significant participation from Bayern Kapital, alongside QD’s existing investors IQ Capital, Earlybird, First Momentum, UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators, Creator Fund, Onsight Ventures, and angel investors.

Kevin Berghoff said the milestone marks a significant step toward deploying quantum sensing technology across semiconductor fabs worldwide. Berghoff highlighted strong demand from chipmakers seeking solutions for yield challenges, with QuantumDiamonds expanding deployments in the U.S. and Taiwan while scaling serial production in Munich.

QuantumDiamonds is positioned to become the only startup awarded manufacturing funding under the European Chips Act, joining established semiconductor industry players such as GlobalFoundries and Carl Zeiss in efforts to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor supply chain.

Founded in 2022 by Kevin Berghoff and Fleming Bruckmaier as a spin-out from the Technical University of Munich, QuantumDiamonds is already working with nine of the world’s top ten semiconductor manufacturers. The company will use the funding to deploy lab systems for chipmakers and advance wafer-level inspection capabilities, while expanding its engineering team.

Traditional inspection methods struggle to detect buried defects in complex 3D chip architectures, impacting yields and increasing costs. QuantumDiamonds addresses this challenge by using atomic-scale defects in synthetic diamonds to detect magnetic fields with high precision, enabling nanoscale 3D current imaging. Its QDm.1 system helps identify the location and depth of semiconductor defects without damaging the chip.

A Tier 1 U.S. chip designer working with QuantumDiamonds highlighted the technology’s impact, noting that a chip defect that had taken six weeks to debug was identified in under a minute using QD’s system.

QuantumDiamonds has expanded rapidly across three regions, establishing a presence in Asia with a Taiwan hub and appointing Peter Lemmens to lead the region. The company also deployed its first U.S. system at Eurofins EAG Laboratories in California and completed its first Asia deployment at Integrated Service Technology in Hsinchu.

Later this year, QuantumDiamonds plans to open the first operational section of its €152 million production facility in Munich, which will manufacture current and next-generation systems and strengthen Europe’s position in advanced semiconductor inspection technology.

Daria Saharova said QuantumDiamonds has the potential to become a leading European semiconductor technology company, addressing critical gaps in the global chip equipment market as compute becomes strategic infrastructure.

Monika Steger highlighted the company’s role in bringing quantum sensing technology to semiconductor manufacturing, citing the strength of its founding team, industry connections, and investor backing.

Mason Sinclair noted QuantumDiamonds’ rapid technical progress, strong ecosystem partnerships, and growing market adoption since the firm’s initial investment.