Classiq Technologies

Quantum Computing · Enterprise Software · Semiconductors

Acquisition

Intel acquires quantum software startup Classiq for $2.2B

Pairing chipmaking muscle with software that abstracts quantum hardware complexity echoes the playbook that built the PC industry.

• Intel signed a definitive agreement to acquire Israeli quantum software startup Classiq in a cash-and-stock deal reportedly worth about $2.2 billion, the largest acquisition ever in quantum computing.
• Classiq builds a hardware-agnostic operating system that lets developers write and run quantum algorithms across trapped-ion, superconducting and photonic machines, with clients including BMW, HSBC and AT&T.
• The transaction, structured as cash and Intel stock, is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the first half of 2027, after which Classiq becomes Intel's global quantum computing development center.
• Classiq raised roughly $200 million total, including a $33M Series B in 2022 and a $110M Series C in May 2025, with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan personally backing both rounds as an early investor.
• The sale price values Classiq at more than three times its 2025 private valuation of roughly $600-700 million, delivering a major payout for its roughly 150 employees and early backers.
• The deal dwarfs the prior record in quantum M&A, IonQ's approximately $1 billion purchase of Oxford Ionics in 2025, signaling accelerating consolidation as big tech moves into quantum software.
• By fusing its own spin-qubit hardware with Classiq's hardware-agnostic abstraction layer, Intel is betting that a software standard—similar to EDA tools for chip design—will be what finally makes quantum computing commercially mainstream.