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09 Jul 2025
Quantum computing and networking startup sells stock at premium to current market valuation.
IonQ, the US-based startup developing quantum computers based around trapped ions and a multitude of lasers and other photonic devices, has agreed a deal to raise nearly $1 billion in equity funding.
The agreement, underwritten by J.P. Morgan, sees the NYSE-listed Maryland firm selling a combination of common stock and “pre-funded” warrants priced at $55.49 - around a 25 per cent premium on the stock’s price immediately prior to the deal announcement.
The equity investment is being made by Heights Capital Management, an affiliate of finance giant Susquehanna, and includes seven-year warrants to make significant further investment at an exercise stock price of just under $100.
IonQ’s CEO Niccolo de Masi, who joined the company earlier this year, said in a company release that the agreement represented “the largest common-stock single-institutional investment in the history of the quantum industry”.
Cash position
The latest investment follows a series of acquisitions agreed by IonQ so far this year, including deals to buy the quantum key distribution (QKD) security pioneer ID Quantique, UK-based “ion-trap-on-a-chip” developer Oxford Ionics, and Boston startup Lightsynq, which is working on diamond-based photonic links to connect quantum bits (qubits) at scale.
IonQ is also collaborating with Hamamatsu subsidiary NKT Photonics on new optical subsystems based around fiber lasers, and on photonic integrated circuit (PIC) development with renowned Belgian chip research center imec as it looks to advance and miniaturize its quantum hardware.
“IonQ is well-capitalized with a strong cash position and has been rapidly expanding our ecosystem as we execute against our global quantum computing and networking strategy,” said de Masi, with the latest deal expected to boost the firm’s balance-sheet cash position to some $1.68 billion.
In its most recent financial report, covering the opening quarter of 2025, IonQ posted an operating loss of $75.7 million on sales of $7.6 million, while its March 31 balance sheet showed around $590 million in cash and short-term investments.
While practical applications of quantum computers still require the development of fault-tolerant architectures capable of coping with the errors that are inherent to the quantum approach, IonQ and many others see photonics technology including lasers, precision optics, PICs, and interconnects as critical technologies needed to isolate, manipulate, and connect individual atoms, ions, and qubits.
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