A somewhat atypical quantum startup with ¥670 million in sales and profitable operations — Osaka University spinout QuEL
In the quantum computing industry, headlines tend to focus on massive fundraising, aggressive investment that tolerates losses, and flashy technology roadmaps aimed at timelines several years or even a decade out. At the same time, for many companies it is hard to see how many products they actually sell and to what extent their businesses are already viable.
Against that backdrop, there is a slightly atypical quantum startup in Japan.
It is QuEL Inc. (QuEL), an Osaka University spinout.
QuEL does not develop quantum computers themselves, but rather the control equipment that drives qubits. The company began shipping products in 2022, selling 45 units in the fiscal year ending June 2024. In the fiscal year ending June 2025 it sold 39 units and reports sales of ¥670 million and a net profit of ¥61.69 million.
While it is often said that commercialization of quantum technologies will still take time, QuEL is already selling products and generating profit.
To assess QuEL’s current position, it is necessary to look beyond headline figures such as units sold and profitability to ask who is buying the products and in which markets the business is actually working.
Selling the “control system” rather than the quantum computer
QuEL was founded in 2021 to commercialize quantum computer control technology developed at Osaka University.
The company’s flagship product, the “QuEL-1,” is a control system that sends microwave signals to qubits and reads out computation results. Its architecture supports expansion of qubit counts by synchronizing multiple units.
In quantum computing, attention often focuses on the quantum processors developed by companies like IBM, Google, and Quantinuum. But qubits alone do not make a computer run.
Classical electronic equipment is also required to deliver high‑precision signals to qubits, synchronize them, and read out their states.
QuEL specializes in that part.
In other words, rather than “selling the fully realized quantum computer of the future,” QuEL’s business is to sell the instruments currently needed by organizations that are researching and developing quantum computers.
That distinction matters.
Even if fully commercial quantum computers are not yet widely available, as long as R&D continues there will be demand for control systems. QuEL is generating revenue from an existing R&D market, not merely betting on a future quantum computer market.
2 units, 25 units, 45 units
The sales record is concrete.
Coverage by the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan reports that in QuEL’s first year of commercialization it sold two units to the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The following year it received orders for 25 units, the majority of which went to RIKEN.
In the fiscal year ending June 2024, the number of units sold rose to 45.
That fact alone makes QuEL distinctive among Japanese quantum startups.
Rather than being limited to collaborative research, proofs of concept, or contract research, QuEL is producing a clear “product” — the control system — that customers are purchasing.
Moreover, QuEL’s control systems have been adopted in domestic quantum computer development projects including RIKEN’s first domestically produced superconducting quantum computer and efforts at Osaka University. In July 2025, QuEL participated as one of the development companies providing control systems for a “fully domestically produced” superconducting quantum computer that began operation.
This is not merely a case of “having developed a product”; the systems are being used in real quantum computing development environments and are being sold continuously. That is a clear strength for QuEL.
Sales of ¥670 million and net profit of ¥61.69 million
Another notable point is the scale of the business.
QuEL’s reported results for the fiscal year ending June 2025 are 39 control units sold with sales of ¥670 million and net profit of ¥61.69 million.
At the very least, QuEL is not at the stage of “having a product but with sales that are largely unknown.”
It is also significant that a research‑based company is reporting profit.
It has been known that QuEL was profitable from its first year of operation. However, because the first‑year profit was partly due to winning NEDO research contracts, it would be inappropriate to interpret that as meaning the company was profitable from the outset purely on product sales.
On the other hand, reaching sales of ¥670 million and net profit of ¥61.69 million in its fourth fiscal year makes it difficult to dismiss QuEL as a firm merely dependent on research subsidies.
At minimum, QuEL has converted research results into a product, continued to sell that product, and reached the point of generating profit. In that respect, the company is arguably a step ahead of many quantum startups.
But be careful how you interpret “45 units sold”
From here, the numbers require a bit more cautious reading.
Take, for example, the figure “45 units sold in a year.”
For specialized quantum computing equipment, 45 units is not a trivial sales record. It can look as if the product is spreading across multiple research institutions and companies.
However, in QuEL’s case the 25‑unit order received in the second year was largely for RIKEN.
Quantum control systems are used in combinations of multiple units within a single quantum computer system. QuEL itself pitches multi‑unit synchronization to scale qubit counts as a feature of its product.
Therefore, an increase in units sold is not the same as an increase in the number of customers. Forty‑five units were not necessarily sold to 45 different customers.
From publicly available information alone, it is not possible to determine how many customers generated the ¥670 million in sales or what share the largest customer represents. But based on past sales records, there is a reasonable possibility that the company depends to a significant extent on a small number of large customers.
When evaluating the reach of QuEL’s business, the number and composition of customers are more important indicators than annual unit sales.
Selling to national research institutes and universities versus selling in the global market
Another point to consider is the market itself.
QuEL’s publicly notable customers include AIST, RIKEN, and Osaka University — Japan’s universities and national research institutes that drive quantum R&D. Adoption in research environments used by quantum specialists is an important validation of the technical reliability of its control systems.
Large public funds have been投入 into quantum computing research in Japan. QuEL itself participates in national R&D projects such as the JST Moonshot Research and Development Program, and its current business is closely tied to a market that is expanding alongside domestic quantum R&D investment.
Capturing this domestic demand is a business strength. However, selling into domestic R&D projects is not the same as competing and selling in the global commercial market.
It would be premature to view current results alone as proof of competitiveness in the global market.
That said, the market QuEL targets is itself broadening.
So far the company’s mainstay has been control systems for superconducting quantum computers, but in the JST Moonshot R&D Program starting in 2026 QuEL will pursue R&D not only on large‑scale control systems for superconducting quantum computers but also on a classical control system for ion traps aimed at the 100–1,000 qubit scale.
In other words, QuEL is attempting to expand from a device maker specialized in the superconducting approach to a company that deploys control technology across different qubit modalities.
If that R&D yields actual product sales, QuEL’s growth potential will not be limited to the superconducting quantum computer market.
“Success as a startup” versus “success as a quality manufacturer”
There is a more fundamental question as well.
What kind of company is QuEL aiming to be?
As of 2025 the company had 14 employees. Rather than repeatedly raising large VC rounds to rapidly scale headcount, QuEL began with founding members’ own funds and used bank loans to finance operations when the large 25‑unit order required working capital.
That is somewhat different from the typical deep‑tech startup model.
It is not a model of raising several hundred million or billions of yen and expanding losses to capture future market share in a huge market.
Based on its current profile, QuEL looks closer to a small, high‑value manufacturer of specialized equipment.
A company of about 14 people generating ¥670 million in sales and more than ¥60 million in net profit could be considered sustainably successful as a standalone business.
However, “succeeding as a profitable niche manufacturer” and “succeeding as a fast‑growing startup” are not the same thing.
When evaluating QuEL, it is best not to conflate these two definitions of success. It is also an important point to watch in order to understand what QuEL itself aims to become going forward.
The key point is the “next customers”
In that sense, what matters most going forward is not annual unit sales.
Who buys QuEL’s products is the critical question.
After building a track record with domestic research institutes such as RIKEN, Osaka University, and AIST, can the company expand its customer base to private quantum hardware companies at home and abroad?
QuEL says it has inquiries from domestic and overseas companies as of 2025, but it has not disclosed specific overseas customers or sales volumes.
Many overseas quantum hardware companies develop their own control systems in‑house. If QuEL can convince those companies that “buying QuEL’s system is better than building one in‑house”, its position could change dramatically.
It would mean moving from a supplier that supports domestic quantum R&D to a supplier embedded in the global quantum computing industry.
Rather than simply waiting for practical quantum computers in the future, QuEL has already sold products into the active market of organizations developing quantum computers today, producing ¥670 million in sales and a profit.
The next question is how far that business can be scaled.
More important than QuEL’s next 45 units may well be who the next five customers are.
