Before quantum computing arrives, this startup will have companies already running on it

Eighteen months after selling his startup to chipmaker AMD for $665 million, Finnish entrepreneur Peter Sarlin has stepped down from his role as CEO of the entity now known as AMD Silo AI. He now chairs two new ventures: physical AI lab NestAI and QuTwo, an AI startup that aims to help companies prepare for the era of quantum computing

Currently fully funded by Sarlin’s family office, PostScriptum, QuTwo describes itself as “an AI lab for the quantum era.” Instead of waiting for quantum computing to mature, it’s already working with corporate clients — including European fashion retailer Zalando, for which it’s developing what the two companies call “lifestyle agents,” AI tools designed to go beyond product search and proactively suggest products and experiences.

QuTwo is built on the premise that AI is hitting an efficiency wall that quantum computers can eventually help solve. But the company isn’t betting on when that will happen, Sarlin told TechCrunch. Instead, the startup is building QuTwo OS as an orchestration layer that enables companies to transition from classical to quantum computing — using hybrid computing along the way.

Sarlin invested in Finnish quantum companies IQM and QMill through PostScriptum, and is one of a growing number of investors who believe it will eventually surpass classical computers in a wide range of industrial applications, while easing AI’s energy needs. But he also believes that initial use cases will require mixed hardware environments and that companies would rather focus on their business problems while QuTwo OS takes care of routing.

In that regard, the potential advantage of the middle ground known as “quantum-inspired” computing is that it is already viable today because it uses classical hardware while simulating quantum behavior and working around the obstacles that still hinder quantum hardware. Meanwhile, QuTwo OS is designed to be flexible, supporting both quantum and non-quantum algorithms and chips.

QuTwo’s team brings experience on both sides of the quantum-AI divide. On the quantum side, there is IQM co-founder Kuan Yen Tan and board member Antti Vasara, also chairman of SemiQon, a Finnish semiconductor startup focused on quantum chips. The corporate side is equally represented by Sarlin himself and Kaj-Mikael Björk, one of his former co-founders at Silo AI. Pekka Lundmark, the former CEO of Finnish telecom giant Nokia, also joined QuTwo’s board.

Across both areas, the team counts over 30 quantum and AI researchers, and Sarlin is aware of where the company stands. “We’re building for the quantum world, but QuTwo is an AI company,” he said, meaning QuTwo is “pushing AI workloads from classical to quantum.”

This also means that its customer base can be quite broad. In addition to Zalando, QuTwo also launched a joint quantum AI research initiative with OP Pohjola, a major Finnish financial services provider.

From the beginning, QuTwo has been commercially minded and already has “major design partnerships that are in the tens of millions,” Sarlin said. Design partnerships – where a supplier develops its product alongside enterprise customers – is a way for QuTwo to learn what those customers expect when building its product. They are also a bet by companies looking to establish an early foothold when and if quantum computers arrive.