QuantumDiamonds and the EIC Accelerator: Quantum Eyes for Chips
QuantumDiamonds, co-founded in 2022 by Kevin Berghoff and Fleming Bruckmaier as a spin-out of the Technical University of Munich, builds microscopes that use nitrogen-vacancy centres, atomic defects in diamond, to image the magnetic fields of currents flowing inside chips, so that faults in advanced packages can be located without destroying them. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's June 2023 cut-off with blended finance and received an EU grant of €2.48 million for DIAMONIQ, a €3.54 million project from March 2024 to February 2027 to bring its imager to industrial readiness, according to CORDIS.
The first report, to February 2025, says the company had a demo tool running at Fraunhofer EMFT for commercial projects, provided testing services for seven partners in 2024, and had "close collaborations with 14 of the 15 largest semiconductor companies worldwide", according to the CORDIS reporting page. It says the technology moved from readiness level 4 to 6 in 24 months. Since then QuantumDiamonds installed its QDm.1 system at Eurofins EAG Laboratories in Sunnyvale, California, in April 2026, according to QuantumDiamonds, and at the test house iST in Hsinchu, Taiwan, the same month, according to QuantumDiamonds.
Company file
- Legal entity
- QuantumDiamonds GmbH, Munich
- CEO
- Kevin Berghoff, co-founder
- CTO
- Fleming Bruckmaier, co-founder
- Product
- QDm.1 quantum diamond microscope
- Investors
- World Fund, Bayern Kapital, IQ Capital, Earlybird, First Momentum, UnternehmerTUM, Creator Fund, Onsight Ventures
- State aid
- German federal government and Bavaria, under the Chips Act
- EIC funding
- Blended finance
Where QuantumDiamonds Stands Now
In July 2026 QuantumDiamonds closed €91 million: a €15 million equity round led by World Fund and €76 million of non-dilutive funding from the German federal government and Bavaria, approved at EU level under the European Chips Act, according to QuantumDiamonds. It says it is "in line to become the sole startup awarded manufacturing funding" under the act. The same month it opened the first section of a Munich production facility, part of a €152 million investment plan announced in December 2025, according to QuantumDiamonds. In September 2026 it demonstrated contact-free current imaging, a step toward inspection on production lines rather than only in failure analysis labs.
The record
From TUM spin-out to Chips Act manufacturer
QuantumDiamonds moved from a demo tool at Fraunhofer to installed systems in the United States and Taiwan and a production site in Munich while its EIC project was running.
- Nov 2022QuantumDiamonds registeredTUM spin-out, Munich
- Jun 2023EIC Accelerator cut-offDIAMONIQblended finance
- Mar 2024Project starts€2.48M EU grant
- 2024Testing servicesSeven partners, Fraunhofer EMFT
- Dec 2025€152M facility planMunich, European Chips Act
- Apr 2026First US and Taiwan systemsEurofins EAG, iST
- Jul 2026€91M financing€15M equity, €76M Chips Act aid
- Jul 2026First production section opensMunich
- Feb 2027Project due to endTarget TRL9
QuantumDiamonds, CORDIS and North Data.
"With deployments now live in the U.S. and Taiwan and serial production ramping up in Munich, Europe isn't just participating in the next chip era, it's helping define it."
Kevin Berghoff, CEO, July 2026The Technology: Seeing Current Through Magnetism
Modern chips stack dies and route power through dense three-dimensional packages, and when one fails, engineers often have to cut it apart to find the fault. Every electric current creates a magnetic field; diamond with nitrogen-vacancy centres can map those fields at room temperature with sub-micrometre resolution, the report says, so the path of the current and the location of a short can be seen from outside. The company pitches this as a way to raise yields of advanced AI chips.
The market
Industry reach reported to the EIC
In 2024 QuantumDiamonds provided testing services for seven partners and said it was collaborating with 14 of the world's 15 largest semiconductor companies.
QuantumDiamonds, first periodic report (CORDIS). Companies.
What the EIC Award Promises, and What the Record Shows
The project aims to take the imager to TRL9, full industrial readiness, by February 2027. With five months left, QuantumDiamonds has a commercial product installed at two leading test laboratories abroad and a factory under construction. The company names its customers only as test houses; which chipmakers use the results, and whether sales cover costs, is not public.
- Commercial systemDeliveredQDm.1 on sale.
- Industrial pilotsDeliveredEurofins EAG, iST.
- Production capacityUnder wayFirst section, July 2026.
- TRL9PendingDue February 2027.
The Money
The EU grant covers 70% of the project. QuantumDiamonds' share capital rose in August 2025, according to North Data, which also lists state aid under digitalisation programmes of €1.19 million in 2023 and €1.80 million in 2026. The EIC Fund is not named among the investors in the 2026 equity round, and whether it invested under the blended award has not been announced. The company does not publish revenue.
The funding
The EIC grant against later financing
The EU grant was followed in July 2026 by €15 million of equity and €76 million of state aid approved under the European Chips Act, toward a planned €152 million facility.
QuantumDiamonds (December 2025, July 2026) and CORDIS. Values in € millions.
The project budget
Who pays for the €3.54M project
The EU grant covers 70% of the DIAMONIQ project's cost.
CORDIS, project 101144497. Values in € millions.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
Whether the EIC Fund invested, how many systems QuantumDiamonds has sold, what its revenue is, and how much of the €76 million in state aid has been paid are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The European Chips Act was created to strengthen Europe's semiconductor supply chain. QuantumDiamonds is building a new category of inspection tool in Munich and selling it into the United States and Taiwan. The EIC grant came early, when the company had a lab prototype; the German state has now taken over as its largest public backer.
What the award promises
An industrial-grade quantum microscope for semiconductor failure analysis by 2027.
What the record shows
Systems installed in California and Taiwan, a factory opening and €91 million raised.
The Verdict
Ahead of schedule
QuantumDiamonds has a product in customers' labs before its EIC project ends. The open questions are the TRL9 milestone due in February 2027 and commercial scale.
QuantumDiamonds and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
Sources
- CORDIS, DIAMONIQ fact sheet
- CORDIS, DIAMONIQ first periodic report
- QuantumDiamonds, €91M financing, July 2026
- QuantumDiamonds, €152M facility plan, December 2025
- QuantumDiamonds, Eurofins EAG installation, April 2026
- QuantumDiamonds, iST installation, April 2026
- QuantumDiamonds, Munich facility opening, July 2026
- QuantumDiamonds, contact-free current imaging, September 2026
- North Data, QuantumDiamonds GmbH
Industry
Digital and computingQuantum technology
AlsoElectronics and semiconductorsSemiconductors
- Focus
- Quantum sensing and communication
- Semiconductor manufacturing equipment
- Technologies
- Quantum sensing
- Microscopy
- Keywords
- Chip failure analysis
- Chip packaging inspection
- Nitrogen-vacancy centres