{"id":8892,"date":"2026-10-26T21:58:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forbes.co.il\/e\/?p=8892"},"modified":"2026-10-26T22:04:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:04:43","slug":"at-quantum-speed-forbes-israels-next-billion-dollar-startup-classiq-sells-to-intel-for-2-3-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forbes.co.il\/e\/at-quantum-speed-forbes-israels-next-billion-dollar-startup-classiq-sells-to-intel-for-2-3-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"At Quantum Speed: Forbes Israel\u2019s Next Billion-Dollar Startup Classiq Sells to Intel for $2.3 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Israel has its first quantum unicorn.<\/strong> Global chip giant Intel announced on Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Classiq, the quantum computing company that develops an operating system and software tools for quantum computers. Intel did not disclose the price, but according to reports the deal values Classiq at about $2.3 billion. That makes it the largest acquisition ever recorded in the global quantum computing industry, and by a wide margin: the previous record was set last year, when British company Oxford Ionics was sold to American quantum computing giant IonQ for about $1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Intel\u2019s announcement, the transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2027. Until then, the two companies will continue to operate separately. The final mix of cash and Intel stock is expected to be determined at closing. According to reports, Classiq will become Intel\u2019s global development center for quantum computing after the acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Intel, combining Classiq\u2019s software platform with the silicon spin-qubit technology Intel has been developing since 2015 will allow it to offer a complete quantum computing platform, from hardware to software, and to add quantum processors alongside the CPUs, GPUs and specialized chips it already produces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am delighted to have Nir, Yehuda, Amir and the entire Classiq team join Intel,\u201d said Lip-Bu Tan, chief executive officer, Intel. \u201cFor more than a decade, Intel has made remarkable progress in quantum computing by applying its semiconductor innovation, advanced manufacturing prowess and systems engineering expertise to the development of scalable silicon spin-qubit technology. Joining forces with Classiq transforms Intel\u2019s Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince our founding, Classiq has focused on making quantum computing practical and accessible by enabling developers, researchers and enterprises to create scalable quantum applications without requiring deep expertise in quantum circuit design,\u201d said Nir Minerbi, co-founder and chief executive officer, Classiq. \u201cTogether, Intel and Classiq can help unlock the benefits of quantum computing and accelerate its adoption sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is, of course, not the first acquisition for the global chipmaker, which has operated in Israel since the 1970s and has completed deals there worth tens of billions of dollars in total. Still, it is the company\u2019s first significant acquisition in several years, and the first under Tan since he took the helm in March 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Classiq\u2019s founders: Nir Minerbi (right), Amir Naveh and Dr. Yehuda Naveh | Photo: Eyal Toueg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is also Intel\u2019s second-largest acquisition in Israel, after Mobileye, which it bought in 2017 for about $15.3 billion, two years before its last major Israeli deal: the roughly $2 billion acquisition of Avigdor Willenz\u2019s Habana Labs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the six years since its founding, Classiq has raised about $200 million across four main funding rounds. Its $4 million seed round closed in May 2020, led by Entr\u00e9e Capital, and was expanded in January 2021 into a Series A of about $10.5 million, with participation from Team8 and Wing. In 2022 the company raised $33 million in a Series B, which was extended later that year as strategic investors, including HSBC, joined. In May 2025 it closed a $110 million Series C led by Entr\u00e9e Capital, the largest round ever for a quantum software company. Later that year the round was extended with investments from SoftBank and chipmakers AMD and Qualcomm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entr\u00e9e Capital, the venture firm of Avi Eyal and Ran Achituv, who led the investment in Classiq, is the company\u2019s largest shareholder, with a stake of about 15% worth roughly $350 million. Team8 also holds a significant stake of about 9% and is expected to take home about $200 million from the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Microsoft of Quantum Computing\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Minerbi, the company\u2019s CEO, and Amir Naveh (CPO), who were named to the Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 list in 2022, founded Classiq six years ago together with Dr. Yehuda Naveh, who serves as CTO. Minerbi and the younger Naveh are graduates of the IDF\u2019s elite Talpiot program and hold degrees in physics and electrical engineering. The elder Naveh, an expert in quantum physics, previously founded and led the quantum computing software team at IBM\u2019s research center in Haifa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than 2 months ago, the quantum computing startup was named to Forbes Israel\u2019s list of the most promising startups, The Next Billion Dollar Startups<\/a>, a special project that identifies Israel\u2019s next unicorns. Now, with a deal valued at more than twice the billion-dollar mark, the company has clearly delivered on that promise faster than anyone expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThink about what Microsoft did in the eighties,\u201d Nir Minerbi said, describing Classiq\u2019s potential in an interview with Forbes Israel when it was named to the list. \u201cIf you wanted to use a computer, you needed an operating system that let you work with it. That\u2019s what we\u2019re doing in the world of quantum computing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That has been the vision driving Classiq from day one: to become the software layer connecting users with an entirely new generation of computers. While the major tech companies race to build quantum hardware, Classiq chose to operate in the layer above it. Its platform lets organizations develop and run quantum applications on different types of computers, without rebuilding the software every time the hardware changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the company was founded in 2020, quantum computing was already attracting investment and effort from some of the world\u2019s largest technology companies, but using these machines was still extremely complex. Unlike developing software for conventional computers, building a quantum application requires translating a problem into a sequence of operations suited to the structure and limitations of a quantum computer, a process that demands deep expertise. That is where the founders saw an opportunity. \u201cWe saw right in front of us a revolution that comes once every fifty, sixty or seventy years,\u201d Minerbi said. \u201cWe asked ourselves whether we had the angle to be part of it.\u201d The platform they built lets users define the problem they want to solve and their system requirements, and then translates them into software that can run on a range of quantum computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on software allows Classiq to operate in a market where the hardware question is still far from settled. Companies are developing quantum computers based on different technologies and architectures, and Classiq\u2019s software is not tied to any single manufacturer. \u201cFor us, it doesn\u2019t matter which hardware player wins,\u201d Minerbi explained. \u201cThere\u2019s a kind of arms race over who will develop the first useful quantum computer. We\u2019re there in software. We\u2019re the operating system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s bet rests on the assumption that, in the coming years, quantum computing will move from a technology confined to research labs to a tool that can solve problems conventional computers struggle with, from developing new drugs and materials to energy, finance and biology. \u201cWithin five years, quantum computers will truly change the world,\u201d the company said. \u201cThey will make it possible to create new drugs that were previously unimaginable, energy solutions, new materials and biological models. It will truly do things we can, and above all can\u2019t, imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they were named to the Forbes Israel list as a future unicorn just a month and a half ago, the founders set a clear goal: \u201cFive years from now, we see ourselves as a public company that is the standard in quantum software, used by the world\u2019s largest corporations, academia and governments,\u201d they said at the time. \u201cThat has been our goal from day one. Over the past six years we\u2019ve hit several milestones on the way there. Of course there\u2019s still a great deal of work to do, but overall we\u2019re heading in the right direction.\u201d The IPO may be off the table for now, but after a multibillion-dollar exit, having made history as Israel\u2019s first quantum unicorn and the largest quantum deal in the world to date, the company under their leadership appears to be well on its way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The quantum computing startup, whose founders were also named to the Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 list, is being acquired by Intel in the largest deal in the history of the quantum computing industry, making it a unicorn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":8891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nAt Quantum Speed: Forbes Israel\u2019s Next Billion-Dollar Startup Classiq Sells to Intel for $2.3 Billion - Forbes Israel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The quantum computing startup, whose founders were also named to the Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 list, is being acquired by Intel in the largest deal in the history of the quantum computing industry, making it a unicorn.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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