Hamburg, November 5, 2025 — YPOG has advised Cherry Ventures, UVC Partners, and imec.xpand on the expansion of the Series A financing round of Stuttgart-based photonics startup Q.ANT. With this renewed capital raise, the total volume of the Series A financing increases to more than 80 million USD, enabling Q.ANT to achieve the largest funding round in the field of photonic computing in Europe to date.
Q.ANT GmbH, a high-tech company and pioneer in photonic computing, is taking its vision of a sustainable photonic AI infrastructure to the next level with this successful financing round. The current round was supported by existing investors and strengthened by the newly participating Duquesne Family Office. The renewed commitment underscores confidence in Q.ANT’s technology platform and growth strategy. The financing comes in a challenging market environment and represents an important milestone for the European deep tech ecosystem.
Q.ANT develops photonic chips for high-performance applications and plans to use the newly secured capital to significantly expand its production capacities at its Stuttgart site and accelerate the advancement of its photonic AI infrastructure. At the same time, it aims to drive forward the development of additional innovative application areas and partnerships.
Already in July 2025, YPOG comprehensively advised investors Cherry Ventures, UVC Partners, and imec.xpand on Q.ANT’s previous EUR 62 million financing round.
About Cherry Ventures
Cherry Ventures is a leading European venture capital fund headquartered in Berlin, London and Stockholm. Since its founding in 2013, Cherry Ventures has invested in innovative early-stage founder teams. Its portfolio comprises more than 130 companies, including FlixBus, Auto1 and Moss. Cherry Ventures currently manages a USD 500 million fund and supports startups through all phases of growth.
About UVC Partners
UVC Partners is a leading venture capital firm that invests in European B2B tech startups and has offices in Munich and Berlin. With more than EUR 600 million in assets under management, the VC typically invests between EUR 1 to EUR 10 million initially and up to EUR 30 million per startup in the areas of DeepTech, ClimateTech, Mobility, and Software/AI. As an independent partner of UnternehmerTUM, Europe's leading startup hub, UVC Partners has unique access to proprietary deal flow, more than 1,000 corporates and SMEs, as well as to talents from the Technical University of Munich, which belongs to the best European technical universities. UVC Partners' investment portfolio includes Flix, Isar Aerospace, planqc, Proxima Fusion, Reverion, Tacto, TWAICE, DeepDrive, STABL, and many more. All portfolio companies and founders benefit from the team's extensive investment and exit experience, their ability to build sustainable category leaders, and the network of UnternehmerTUM enabling them to speed up market entry.
About imec.xpand
imec.xpand is a globally active venture capital fund based in Leuven, Belgium, specializing in groundbreaking innovations in semiconductors and nanotechnology. The fund invests in companies with globally disruptive potential and supports founding teams with access to cutting-edge infrastructure and international networks. The current fund totals EUR 300 million and includes numerous pioneering companies driving innovation in photonics and artificial intelligence.
Team
Benjamin Ullrich (Co-Lead, Transactions), Partner, Berlin
Dr. Emma Peters (Co-Lead, Transactions), Associated Partner, Berlin
Dr. Niklas Ulrich (Funds), Associated Partner, Hamburg
Benjamin von Mangoldt (Funds), Associate, Berlin
Theresia Heinrich (Corporate), Senior Associate, Hamburg
Silke Ricken (Corporate), Associate, Berlin
Kontakt
About us
YPOG stands for You + Partners of Gamechangers – forward-thinking legal and tax advice. Supporting companies that are focused on emerging technologies, YPOG embraces change as an opportunity to develop cutting-edge solutions. The YPOG team offers comprehensive expertise in the areas of Funds, Tax, Transactions, Corporate, Banking, Regulatory + Finance, IP/IT/Data Protection, Litigation, and Corporate Crime + Compliance + Investigations. YPOG is one of the leading law firms in Germany for venture capital, private equity, fund structuring, and the implementation of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in financial services. Both the firm and its partners are regularly recognized by renowned national and international publications such as JUVE, Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, Leaders League, and Legal 500. YPOG is home to more than 180 experienced attorneys, tax advisors and tax specialists as well as a notary, working across offices in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, Cambridge and London.
Further information: www.ypog.law/en/ and www.linkedin.com/company/ypog