The newest spinoff company founded at the BIST Community centre ICFO has earned a major European recognition just months after its launch, highlighting the potential of its quantum networking technology.
Samuele Grandi, ICFO alumni and CEO of ARQ Quantum Technologies, receiving the Photonics 21 prize.
ARQ Quantum Technologies, ICFO’s newly created spin-off, has been awarded the 2026 Photonics21 Innovation Award during the Photonics Partnership Annual Meeting held in Brussels on 9–10 June.
The award recognizes ARQ Technologies’ pioneering work in the field of quantum repeaters and in transmitting quantum information over long distances using existing optical fibre infrastructure. The technology developed by the company is a key component for the future quantum internet, which will enable distributed quantum computing, and ultra-secure quantum communications.
Presented by Photonics21, the European technology platform representing the photonics community, the Innovation Award highlights emerging companies and breakthrough innovations with the potential to shape the future of Europe’s photonics industry. The award was announced during the opening day of the 2026 Photonics Partnership Annual Meeting, which brought together leading representatives from industry, research, and government to discuss Europe’s technological competitiveness and innovation priorities.
For ARQ Quantum Technologies, the recognition marks an important milestone as the company advances next-generation quantum communications and networking technologies designed to overcome one of the sector’s most significant challenges: the reliable transmission of quantum information across large distances.
As Samuele Grandi, co-founder and CEO of the company comments, “We are deeply grateful for the Photonics21 Innovation Award 2026. As an early-stage company, having our integrated repeater node recognized as a genuine technical breakthrough by the European photonics community is an important validation of our approach and our team’s work.”
As ICFO’s newest spin-off, ARQ Quantum Technologies’ rapid recognition by one of Europe’s leading photonics organizations underscores both the strength of the technology emerging from the institute and the growing importance of quantum communication technologies within Europe’s innovation landscape.
The Photonics21 Innovation Award reinforces ARQ Quantum Technologies’ position among Europe’s most promising quantum technology innovators and highlights the company’s significant potential to contribute to the development of the future quantum internet and secure communications infrastructure.
