Mediobanca has announced that it has invested in FinQbit, a Polish start-up that forms part of 28Digital’s equity portfolio and develops hybrid quantum-classical infrastructure for derivatives pricing, interest rate modelling and market risk management in banks.
The investment, the amount of which has not been disclosed but which values the start-up at around 20 million euros as part of the transaction as a whole, forms part of a joint programme between Mediobanca and Founders Factory, a London-based company builder specialising in the financial sector. Through the programme, Mediobanca becomes a shareholder in FinQbit, whilst Founders Factory provides the company with strategic and operational support as it prepares for international expansion.
The transaction is significant because Mediobanca does not carry out banking activities in Poland: the decision to invest in FinQbit represents an explicit cross-border endorsement of the technology and its potential for the European financial sector.
Furthermore, an unusual model of European collaboration is taking shape: an Italian institute, a London-based platform and a Polish company are joining forces to build infrastructure with global ambitions.
As part of the investment, Zbigniew Jagiełło, former CEO of PKO Bank Polski – Poland’s largest bank – and one of the key figures behind the creation of BLIK, Poland’s national instant payment system, has joined FinQbit’s advisory board.
The start-up’s team includes Dariusz Gątarek (pictured on the FinQbit website), co-creator of the Brace–Gatarek–Musiela (BGM) model – one of the fundamental frameworks for pricing interest rate derivatives – and Michał Studziński, a researcher in quantum algorithms at the University of Gdańsk. FinQbit has already presented its findings to the quant teams at J.P. Morgan, HSBC and ING, and has developed an integration with ING.
As well as being a portfolio company of 28Digital – the organisation with which it took its first steps through the Venture Incubation Programme – the company has completed the CDL Quantum programme in Canada, ranking amongst the top six quantum start-ups worldwide, and has been selected by the European Innovation Council for its new pre-accelerator programme.
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