Kiutra’s €13 M Push to Support Quantum Supply Chains
Kiutra gains €13 million for helium-3-free cooling to strengthen quantum supply chains
The world's leading producer of magnetic cooling for quantum technologies, Kiutra, closed a €13 million ($15.2 million USD) equity investment. This funding brings the company's total public and private funding to over €30 million.
The company will scale up globally and manufacture helium-3-free cooling methods to make quantum supply chains more resilient with this money.
Investment details and strategic value
Danish and Italian newcomers 55 North and NovaCapital lead the investment round. German High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and other backers also helped. The investment shows that institutions and investors trust Kiutra's desire to build sustainable cryogenic infrastructure for quantum technologies.
This investment marks a turning point for Kiutra, which went from R&D-driven startup to global industrial scale-up. The new private funding will accelerate company research. To expand, the company got a €4 million EIC grant in 2024.
Resolving Helium-3 Supply Chain Bottleneck
As quantum technology ecosystems extend across Europe and its partners, cryogenic infrastructure is a critical issue. Many devices use limited, politically sensitive helium-3 for ultra-low-temperature functioning. Projects like the EU and NATO Transatlantic Quantum Community consider this reliance a major supply chain risk.
Kiutra's helium-3-free magnetic cooling technology reduces this risk. Solid-state materials governed by magnetisation and demagnetisation are used to reach ultra-low temperatures.
The company now offers the fastest cooling systems on the market thanks to this creative method, offering customers a speed and usability advantage.
Growth and Plans
Kiutra helps leading research organizations, corporations, and quantum startups create and quality control quantum hardware.
The company is adding powerful and adaptable solutions to its portfolio to capitalize on this market success. These platforms are made for full-stack quantum computers and advanced quantum processors.
Kiutra's CEO and co-founder, Dr. Alexander Regnat, said the money will help the company expand internationally and develop “easy-to-use and scalable cooling solutions that are vital for the rapidly growing quantum ecosystem.”
Investor Opinions
Investors emphasized Kiutra's role in facilitating the quantum market:
Dr. Michael Jobst, investor at 55 North, the world's largest pure-play quantum fund, says Kiutra is “perfectly positioned to create value for one of the most critically required enablers in quantum computing: reliable, scalable, and affordable access to cooling power.” Their product line is “strongly differentiated from the mainstream market” he added.
NovaCapital MD Carlo Germano Ravina called Kiutra's scalable magnetic cooling solution “not only foundational for quantum tech but also exemplifies the kind of deep tech leadership Europe needs”.
HTGF Principal Christian Ziach said the funding round emphasizes cryogen-free cooling's importance for scaling quantum technologies. The answer is “essential for enabling real-world quantum applications” and strengthens Europe's technical sovereignty.
Kiutra makes ultra-low-temperature technology easier, safer, and more scalable, enabling commercial use. The groundbreaking technique ensures that quantum ideas can move from lab to corporate application without substantial material obstacles by enhancing European and associated quantum supply chains.
Helium-3-free chillers
Helium-3-free cryogenics are thermal cooling systems that reach sub-Kelvin or millikelvin temperatures. Due to quantum computing and advanced sensors, the quantum technology industry needs this breakthrough.
Helium-3 Problem
Traditional He-based technologies reach temperatures a fraction of a degree above absolute zero.
Using liquid He and Helium-4, dilution refrigerators achieve Earth's lowest temperatures (a few mK).
He-3 Refrigerators: He heats to 300 mK.
Dependence on He-3 has drawbacks:
Scarcity and Cost: He is rare on Earth. It is a rare isotope produced by nuclear reactors via limited tritium decay. This limits its availability and makes it pricey.
Supply Chain Risk: As demand for quantum technology rises, the EU and NATO have highlighted the supply chain bottleneck and risk of relying on a finite, sometimes government-controlled resource.
Complexity: He requires expensive infrastructure, security, and utilization.
No Helium-3: Magnetic Cooling
Alternative closed-cycle methods replace gas-isotope refrigeration in he-free systems. The most popular option is magnetic refrigeration, specifically Adiabatic Demagnetisation Refrigeration (ADR) or continuous ADR (cADR). Magnetic cooling uses magnetocaloric action in magnetic salts or paramagnetic solids instead of gas.
The ADR/cADR Operations of Magnetic Cooling
Process steps:
Pre-cooling: The system is chilled to a few Kelvin or tens of Kelvin from room temperature. A mechanical closed-cycle refrigeration like a pulse tube cryocooler does this. The magnetic chilling stage's base temperature is set without cryogens such liquid helium in this step.
The ADR/cADR Magnetic Cooling Stage provides an extremely low temperature drop.
An intense magnetic field is supplied to the magnetic substance (cooling medium). Heat is produced by aligned internal magnetic moments. The pre-cooling step or a heat sink must remove this heat.
A heat-insulated adiabatic environment demagnetizes the magnetic field. As the field weakens, aligned magnetic moments disarray. Due to energy conservation, the material's and environment's thermal energy is used to disorder, causing a fast drop in temperature to ultra-low temperatures.
One-shot ADR only achieves low temperatures and holds them for a set “hold time” before requiring regeneration. Continuous ADR (cADR) improves use. Multiple ADR stages alternate cooling and regeneration to maintain low temperatures.