French quantum computing developer Pasqal debuted on Nasdaq under the ticker PSQL after merging with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. Shares surged significantly in early trading, providing the loss-making hardware maker with approximately $360 million in cash to expand its production and deployment.
Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II Merger
Quantum hardware manufacturer Pasqal officially entered public markets this week, completing a business combination with special purpose acquisition company Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II. Shareholders of the blank-cheque firm approved the merger on August 25, and the companies finalized the transaction on August 27. The deal valued the French enterprise at approximately $2 billion while injecting roughly $360 million in cash at closing.
The debut arrived during a broader technology market surge driven by artificial intelligence enthusiasm, alongside recent U.S. President Donald Trump’s order on accelerating quantum technology development, which saw the Commerce Department sign preliminary agreements for about $2 billion in incentives to nine quantum companies. While Pasqal was not among the recipients of those specific U.S. preliminary funding agreements, the company maintains backing from the French government via state investment bank Bpifrance, which participated in financing linked to the merger.
PSQL Ticker Symbol and Nasdaq Debut
Trading under the ticker symbol PSQL, with warrants listed as PSQLW, the company experienced heavy volatility during its first session. Shares opened at $16.98 and climbed as high as $20.10 before retreating from the session peak and paring gains to settle for the day.
About 3.7 million shares changed hands during the day. The shares closed Friday at $19.11, up 95.2% from Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. However, subsequent after-hours trading showed the shares fell about 10%. Reuters tracking similarly noted that the shares rose by as much as 73% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday before paring gains to trade 40% higher.
“Today is not a finish line; it is an acceleration point. Pasqal was built to take neutral-atom quantum computing from foundational science to industrial-scale deployment. We have deployed quantum systems in real operating environments, connected our processors to the computing infrastructure customers already use and established a roadmap built on a single hardware platform that delivers state-of-the-art analog quantum computing today and is designed to enable industry-leading fault-tolerant quantum computing in the future. Our systems operate in standard data center environments and are built to scale with enterprise workloads. As a public company, we will have a stronger platform to move faster, serve customers around the world and build enduring value for shareholders.”
Wasiq Bokhari, Pasqal CEO
Alain Aspect and Neutral-Atom Quantum Computers
Pasqal’s neutral-atom quantum computers use lasers to hold and control individual atoms that serve as quantum bits, or qubits. The company’s scientific foundations trace back to co-founder Alain Aspect, who shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics for experiments involving quantum entanglement. His later research into controlling atoms with lasers helped provide part of the scientific foundation for Pasqal’s technology and contributed more directly to Pasqal’s processors.
Pasqal has deployed seven quantum processors and has three more in production across its manufacturing facilities in France and Canada, which can produce as many as 13 systems annually. Four of Pasqal’s systems have been installed at national supercomputing centers in France, Germany, Italy, and Canada.
The company reported revenue of €16.5 million, or about $19 million ($19.15 million according to Reuters calculations based on $1 = 0.8614 euros), in 2025, although the company remains unprofitable. Its machines are available through cloud services and support more than 25 commercial and research applications across industries including energy, financial services, and materials science. Notable customers include Saudi Aramco, which is exploring the technology for applications that include modeling underground oil and gas reserves.
Pasqal plans to use the capital to expand system production and deployment of its quantum processing units, grow commercial operations internationally, and advance fault-tolerant quantum computing. The company also plans to broaden access to its cloud and software platform and connect more of its systems with conventional high-performance computing infrastructure.
Quantum processors are being developed to tackle specialised problems in fields such as drug discovery, materials science, and financial modelling, but persistent errors have limited their reliability at scale. Major market players hold divergent projections for milestones; Google expects uniquely quantum applications within five years, while IBM is targeting a large-scale, fault-tolerant machine by 2029. Timelines vary widely and the industry has yet to find the breakthrough application that propelled artificial intelligence into widespread use.
