📢 We are releasing the Quantonation White Paper 2025, Investing in “Perpetual Five-Year Technologies” (PFYTs) — our framework for understanding, funding, and building the deep-physics technologies that will define the next industrial frontier.

The concept of PFYTs emerged from a familiar paradox: technologies that appear “five years away” for extended periods. Rather than a flaw, this reflects a structural reality of deep-tech hardware, where progress depends on the alignment of physics, engineering, supply chains, and policy. PFYTs are not delays — they are roadmaps, shaped by an ecosystem that must mature in concert.

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1. PFYTs are not hype cycles — they are the real frontier.

Technologies like quantum computing, fusion, advanced lasers, and next-generation materials mature slowly because scaling them requires solving interlocked physics and supply-chain challenges. PFYTs progress through long phases of compounded learning, followed by sudden threshold moments.

SpaceX is a prime example: a technology once considered perpetually out of reach that crossed the threshold once vertical integration, manufacturing discipline, and iterative engineering aligned.

2. Quantum is the proving ground.

Quantum technologies have moved from speculation to deployment. Our portfolio has grown to 27 quantum companies, demonstrating how patient capital, rigorous systems engineering, and ecosystem-level coordination can translate “five years away” into operational hardware installed in HPC centers, such as Pasqal’s Ruby QPU.

3. Physics and AI are converging into a new paradigm: Physical AI.

Across materials, energy, robotics, and accelerators, intelligence is becoming embedded within physical systems. AI shortens discovery cycles, accelerates iteration, and increasingly interacts with matter directly — forming feedback loops that redefine how physical technologies are conceived and built. This convergence marks a shift from traditional engineering to adaptive, intelligence-driven physical platforms.

4. Venture capital must operate as an engineering discipline.

PFYTs cannot be built with generic venture playbooks. They require:

• patient, appropriately staged capital,
• deep and continuous technical engagement,
• public–private coordination, and
• disciplined, milestone-driven execution.

Building PFYTs means building ecosystems, integrating supply chains, standards, and industrial partners—not just funding companies.

5. The next decade belongs to the physics frontier.

Quantum materials, compact accelerators, sensing platforms, fusion-enabling components, photonics and other physics-centric concepts will define the next industrial architectures. Importantly, PFYTs generate intermediate markets long before full maturity: from components and simulation tools to early deployment opportunities. The paper outlines this landscape with concrete examples from the Quantonation portfolio.

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Why this matters to the Quantonation community

The future of computation, energy, chemistry, or sensing … will be shaped not by incremental software (atoms not bits !), but by hardware grounded in physics. This white paper offers a structure for understanding how these platforms evolve, why timelines behave the way they do, and how investors, founders, and scientists can position themselves for the generational opportunities they present.

At 24 pages, the paper may require more commitment than the average online post — perhaps even a fresh cup of coffee. It weaves together real examples from our companies and connects quantum, AI, materials, lasers, energy systems, and other fields into a coherent framework (hopefully!) for the decade ahead.

About Quantonation

Quantonation is an early stage venture capital fund investing globally in novel technologies based on advances in physics and/or computing. With +€250m of Assets Under Management and an international team of both scientists and investors Quantonation aims at supporting the transition from lab to commercial products. Quantonation is headquartered in Paris, France, and in Boston, USA, with investments in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

Quantonation contact: Eléonore de Rose, Director of communications and PR eleonore@quantonation.com – +33 6 62 64 40 53