Our prestigious portfolio company Q.ANT, the Stuttgart-based pioneer in photonic computing, has won The Spark 2026. The technology award by Handelsblatt and McKinsey & Company went to Q.ANT in first place. Founder and CEO Dr. Michael Förtsch accepted the prize at the award ceremony in Munich.

Why The Spark 2026 Matters

Now in its eleventh edition, The Spark honours start-ups whose ideas can change markets fundamentally and sustainably. This year’s theme was “Scaling Deep Tech”. Therefore, the jury looked for innovation that has proven itself under real industrial conditions, not only in the lab.

The competition was strong. Ten finalists from energy, AI and data, semiconductor manufacturing and photonic computing reached the final, selected through public voting and an expert jury. They included fusion pioneers Proxima Fusion and Focused Energy, sovereign AI company deepset, data platform Apheris, physics AI start-up JUA AI and laser specialist LIDROTEC. Winning in this field sends a clear signal about the maturity of photonic computing. Congratulations also to Proxima Fusion (2nd), Apheris (3rd) and Inklupreneur (Inclusive Accelerator Award).

Photonic Computing for Energy-Efficient AI

Q.ANT develops processors that use light instead of electricity for computationally intensive AI and high-performance computing tasks. As a result, complex calculations run with significantly lower energy consumption. This helps meet the growing demand for computing power without letting data center energy use rise at the same pace. According to Handelsblatt, Q.ANT says its processors could increase data center capacity up to 100-fold, without elaborate cooling systems.

According to Handelsblatt, the jury saw potential to address one of the biggest problems for AI in Europe. Andreas Venus, Managing Partner of McKinsey in Germany, explained the decision along these lines.

Martina Gschwendtner, quantum physicist and Partner at McKinsey, added: “Europe has excellent research and deep scientific know-how in photonic chips.” In her view, Europe must now industrialise this strength.

For Dr. Michael Förtsch, the award marks a turning point. “We are finally being noticed,” he said at the ceremony.

From Research to Scalable Infrastructure

The award fits Q.ANT’s path over the past months. Its processors already run in data centers at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC). In addition, the company recently released an open-source SDK that lets developers build applications for photonic hardware.

The Spark also follows earlier recognition. In May, Q.ANT won the Photonics Frontiers Award 2026 for its industry-ready optical computing. Next, the team heads to SC26 in Chicago from 15 to 20 November, one of the most important events for high-performance computing.

In its own words, Q.ANT works every day on “turning photonic computing into scalable computing infrastructure for more energy-efficient AI.” The Spark 2026 confirms that this vision is resonating far beyond the photonics community.

Proud to Accompany Q.ANT

We are proud to accompany Q.ANT on this remarkable journey. The team shows that deep tech from Germany and the DACH region can scale and compete globally.

Congratulations to Michael Förtsch and the entire Q.ANT team on winning The Spark 2026. Discover more of our portfolio companies and the founders we are proud to support.