Pasqal, a French neutral atoms quantum computing startup, yesterday revealed that it was in the process of setting up its first North American production facility for quantum computers. The new premises will be located in Sherbrooke, Canada, at the Espace Quantique 1 of DistriQ - Quantum Innovation Zone. The company's (already established) primary manufacturing space - operating outside of Paris, France - will continue to serve the company's European client base, and the southern Quebec division will serve the North America market. Pasqal CCO Benno Broer informed EE Times Europe that: "We have already sold two quantum computers for on-premise install in Germany and France, which will be commissioned by the end of this year...We also already offer cloud access to our quantum computers located in our Paris-based datacenter."

Pasqal is aiming to open its new 4,600-square-meter facility in Sherbrooke, Canada in Q3 2023. Broer continued to talk about this expansion: "Our Canada operations are an extension of our existing successful European operation. Europe has been our primary market since 2019." Last November Pasqal, EDF, Excision and the Quantum Innovation Zone announced a joint venture and creation of a center of excellence to develop sustainable energy solutions, harnessing the potential of high-performance computing and quantum computing. They hope to have the first sustainable quantum-based solutions ready by 2024.Broer thinks that the North American division will closely follow its European operation's partnership strategy, by collaborating with local academic institutions and industries: "On the academic side, we have partnerships with several universities such as the University of Chicago, which helps to fast-track our quantum hardware related research. In industry, we are working with large corporations such as Johnson & Johnson to develop novel quantum solutions which make use of the strengths of our neutral atom quantum computers. We are working with a broad ecosystem of distributors, including classical software companies like pharma/chemistry software company Schrödinger, and cloud providers like Azure. We expect that in North America we will be able to expand the supplier base for the production of our hardware."