RhymeQ, a quantum computing software startup based in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Zürich, Switzerland, has raised $2.2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Ground State Ventures. Vanagon Ventures, Plug and Play, and Freiraum Ventures also participated in the financing.
Founded in 2026 by CEO Daniel Volz, CTO Tamás Varga, and COO Christina Wu, RhymeQ develops software designed to make quantum computers accessible to developers without requiring specialist knowledge of quantum physics.
The company’s main product, Rhyme, is a software abstraction layer that enables developers familiar with Python to write and debug quantum applications. Its compilers translate conventional programming code into instructions that can run on quantum computing systems, reducing the need for developers to work directly with quantum circuits, gates, and qubits.
Rhyme integrates with NVIDIA CUDA-Q, allowing applications to run on GPU-accelerated quantum simulators and quantum processors from multiple hardware providers. The platform is designed to support development across different quantum computing architectures without dependence on a single hardware vendor.
RhymeQ emerged from stealth on October 22, 2026, at NVIDIA GTC Berlin, where it introduced its platform during the NVIDIA Inception startup pitch session. The company is also a member of NVIDIA Inception, NVIDIA’s startup support programme.
Alongside the announcement, RhymeQ began providing free access to its compiler and developer community for the first users on its waitlist, with additional invitations planned for subsequent weeks.
RhymeQ plans to use the pre-seed funding to expand its engineering team, develop the enterprise capabilities of Rhyme, and build an international developer community. The company also intends to work with quantum hardware manufacturers to integrate their existing software libraries into its platform.
