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RhymeQ Raises $2.2 Million to Bring Python Developers to Quantum
RhymeQ has raised a $2.2 million pre-seed round and launched Rhyme, a Python-based tool for programming quantum computers. The company says its software compiles through NVIDIA CUDA-Q and is designed to work across multiple quantum processo
Quantum.world Team · Written with AI · fact-checked ·
“We are on a mission to make quantum computers programmable by every developer on the planet,” says RhymeQ founder and CEO Daniel Volz.
Daniel Volz, founder and CEO of RhymeQ
RhymeQ pairs a $2.2 million round with a software launch
RhymeQ announced its $2.2 million pre-seed round as it emerged from stealth at NVIDIA GTC Berlin. Ground State Ventures led the financing, with Vanagon Ventures, Plug and Play, and Freiraum Ventures participating. The company says it will use the money to expand its engineering team, develop Rhyme’s enterprise platform and build a worldwide developer community.
RhymeQ is a startup based in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Zürich, Switzerland. Its product, Rhyme, is an abstraction layer intended to let developers use familiar Python programming rather than work directly with quantum gates and circuits. The company says its compilers translate that code for quantum computers, with compatibility across multiple quantum processors and no hardware lock-in.
The company pitches Python as a route into quantum programming
The announcement presents the difficulty of quantum programming as a barrier to wider use. RhymeQ says coding for a quantum computer currently requires specialized knowledge in quantum physics, leaving relatively few people worldwide able to do it. Rhyme is designed for developers with basic Python skills: the coding remains familiar, while the company’s compilers handle translation for quantum computers.
RhymeQ says the approach is meant to let programmers develop and debug code for quantum systems without having to write quantum circuits directly. Volz described the goal as making quantum computers programmable by developers more broadly. The release also points to possible applications of quantum computing in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, finance and manufacturing, as well as its potential relationship to supercomputing and artificial intelligence.
CUDA-Q is Rhyme’s stated route to simulators and processors
Rhyme compiles directly to NVIDIA CUDA-Q, according to the announcement. RhymeQ says that allows the same code to run on GPU-accelerated quantum simulators and on real quantum processors from a range of hardware providers. The company describes the approach as a way to avoid tying developers’ software to a single hardware vendor.
RhymeQ plans to work with quantum hardware companies to integrate their existing software libraries with Rhyme. Volz is scheduled to unveil the product at the NVIDIA Inception startup pitch session at GTC Berlin. RhymeQ is also a member of NVIDIA Inception, NVIDIA’s program for startups.
Founders bring finance, consulting and quantum-company experience
Volz co-founded RhymeQ in 2026 with CTO Tamás Varga and COO Christina Wu. The company says Volz previously led quantum computing initiatives for McKinsey and BASF and co-founded Kipu Quantum. Varga, whom RhymeQ identifies as Rhyme’s inventor, spent more than 15 years as a software engineer at Swiss Re and UBS.
Ground State Ventures partner Kris Kaczmarek framed the company’s target as a gap between quantum hardware and the people able to use it. “While the gap between quantum algorithms and hardware is closing fast, we keep hearing ‘who cares if no one knows how to use them’,” Kaczmarek said in the announcement. He also pointed to Volz’s experience implementing quantum technology for chemistry at BASF and providing quantum solutions at Kipu Quantum.
Waitlist access starts in stages
RhymeQ says the first developers on its waitlist receive free access to the Rhyme compiler and developer community, with additional invitations planned over the following weeks. The announcement does not give a date for general availability or name customers. The initial offer is waitlist access as the company works to expand its engineering team, build its enterprise platform and grow its developer community.