zerothird
A Vienna-based quantum security company (formerly Quantum Industries) building entanglement-based quantum key distribution hardware and key-as-a-service for critical infrastructure.
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zerothird, formerly known as Quantum Industries, builds entanglement-based quantum key distribution (QKD) systems aimed at protecting critical infrastructure, government communications, and financial institutions against future quantum-computing attacks. Its product line includes a Quantum Key-as-a-Service offering that delivers enterprise-grade quantum keys as a managed service, standalone QKD hardware for high-speed, long-distance encryption links, and quantum lab equipment for research and testing. The company reports long-distance entangled-photon links of roughly 350 km and higher-speed metro links around 10 km, with components manufactured in Austria.
Founded in Vienna in 2023 by Rupert Ursin and Felix Tiefenbacher, the company closed a roughly $10 million seed round in March 2025 led by Sparring Capital Partners and Findus Ventures, with participation from KGAL. Its quantum-key-as-a-service model is notable for letting critical infrastructure operators adopt quantum-safe key exchange without owning or operating QKD hardware directly.
Innovation Matrix Assessment
Closed a $10M seed and brought both hardware and a key-as-a-service product to market with specific technical range claims within about two years of founding.
A managed quantum-key service lowers the operational and capital burden for critical infrastructure operators who want quantum-safe key exchange without owning QKD hardware.
Raised a credible $10M seed from named venture investors, but no publicly named enterprise or government customer deployment was found.
The as-a-service delivery model and domestic hardware supply chain are a meaningful go-to-market differentiation, though the underlying entanglement-based QKD technology itself is well-established research, not a new invention.
Range and performance figures are vendor-stated; no independent test results or named customer deployment were found.
Protecting critical infrastructure against harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks is a growing priority, particularly under European data-sovereignty and infrastructure-security regulation.
Why CISOs Should Care
Offers a way to adopt quantum-safe key exchange for critical systems via a managed service rather than requiring in-house QKD hardware expertise.
What Makes It Different
Combines entanglement-based QKD hardware, built and sourced domestically in Austria, with a key-as-a-service delivery model aimed at easing enterprise adoption.
The Matrix Verdict
55/100 — INCREMENTAL INNOVATOR
A well-funded, technically credible quantum security vendor still in the early commercialization phase; an Incremental Innovator pending independently verified deployments.
Editorial Note: Claims vs. Verified Findings
Distance and speed specifications, and seed-round details, come from company and secondary funding-tracker sources; no independent performance validation was found.
Sources
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