Copenhagen is set to become one of Europe's largest hubs for quantum chip manufacturing after Quantum Foundry Copenhagen and the Novo Nordisk Foundation unveiled plans on 4 September 2026 for a 5,300 m2 commercial quantum fabrication facility, scheduled to open in 2027.
A dedicated European quantum fab
The new site combines nanofabrication of quantum materials, advanced characterisation, chip assembly and packaging with ultra-high vacuum (UHV) manufacturing capabilities. Owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Quantum Foundry Copenhagen will offer wafer fabrication services to quantum technology vendors globally on commercial terms, spanning superconducting, semiconducting and photonic components.
CEO Peter Krogstrup framed the ambition simply: "Our vision is to become a world-leading quantum chip manufacturer, supplying Europe with advanced, next-generation quantum computing processors and enabling quantum companies to scale production." The foundry uses bottom-up UHV processes to reach atomic and isotopic purity levels that superconducting and topological qubits require.
DKK 2.9 billion for a European quantum stack
The facility is the latest deployment of the Novo Nordisk Foundation's DKK 2.9 billion (approximately €390 million) commitment to quantum technologies, which also funds the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme (NQCP) at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. NQCP is targeting Denmark's first fault-tolerant quantum computer before 2034.
Foundation CEO Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said the initiative is designed to "connect investments in research with the industrial capabilities needed to support Europe's ability to transform quantum breakthroughs into technologies that can benefit society." The move dovetails with the European Chips Act and the forthcoming EU Quantum Act, which explicitly targets sovereign quantum manufacturing capacity.
Europe's manufacturing gap in focus
European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen called the project "essential for our competitiveness, resilient supply chains and technological sovereignty," while Denmark's Minister of Business and Competitiveness Martin Lidegaard positioned it as a step toward Copenhagen anchoring "a global leader in quantum chips."
The Copenhagen facility joins a widening European push to industrialise quantum. It will complement quantum silicon efforts profiled in Quantinuum's July anyon demonstration, IonQ's US integration under its SkyWater foundry acquisition and the wider European AI hardware buildout underscored by the Nscale infrastructure round earlier this year.
Reporting based on coverage from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Quantum Computing Report and The Quantum Insider.