Delft, The Netherlands – 15 September 2026 – Q*Bird announced today its transition into Falqon® Systems, introducing a new corporate identity that reflects the company’s strategic evolution from pioneering scalable quantum communication technologies to building the infrastructure required for operational Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). The transition marks an important milestone in the company’s growth and aligns its identity with its expanding technology portfolio and its long-term vision to enable the next generation of trusted digital infrastructure. While the corporate identity changes, the company’s ownership, leadership, existing customer relationships and technology roadmap remain unchanged. “The transition to Falqon® Systems reflects how our vision has evolved. Quantum Secure Networks (QSN) are becoming the foundation of trusted digital communications. Our ambition extends beyond developing quantum technologies and we are building the infrastructure that enables organisations to securely communicate, collaborate and build the digital infrastructure of the quantum era,” said Dr. Ingrid Romijn, CEO and Co-Founder of Falqon® Systems. More than a new corporate identity, Falqon® Systems reinforces the company’s ambition to shape the future of trusted digital communications through Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). Learn more A new phase for quantum secure communications Quantum computing is driving organisations to prepare for the era in which widely used public-key cryptography will no longer provide adequate protection. At the same time “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” (HNDL) creates a security concern today for information that must remain confidential for years or decades. As organisations move from evaluating quantum security technologies to operational deployment, the challenge is increasingly one of infrastructure and how to deploy, manage and scale quantum secure communications across multiple sites and networks. Falqon® Systems defines this network level infrastructure as Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). Quantum Secure Networks (QSN) represents this shift from individual systems and standalone devices towards an integrated infrastructure that can be deployed, managed and operated at network scale. QSN provides the trusted digital infrastructure required to protect communications across government, defence, telecom, data centers, enterprise and critical infrastructure environments. Building the infrastructure for quantum secure networks Built on scalable Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), the Falqon® Systems portfolio combines quantum key generation, secure key lifecycle management, network orchestration and future quantum networking technologies within a unified infrastructure designed for operational deployment. At the core of the portfolio is Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDI-QKD), an architecture designed to support scalable network deployments and remove the majority of attack vectors against QKD. Falqon® Systems establishes a unified corporate and product brand identity. While Falqon® Systems becomes the corporate identity, the Falqon® brand represents the company’s integrated product portfolio, comprising the Falqon® MDI-QKD Series, Falqon® Key Manager and Falqon® Domain Controller. Together, these technologies provide the integrated infrastructure required to deploy, manage and scale Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). “Quantum security needs to operate as infrastructure, not as a collection of individual technologies. We have designed the Falqon portfolio around that principle, an integrated architecture for organisations to deploy and operate a Quantum Secure Network (QSN) today, while retaining the flexibility to incorporate future technologies and quantum networking capabilities,” said Dr. Joshua Slater, CTO and Co-Founder of Falqon® Systems. This integrated portfolio forms the backbone of Quantum Secure Networks (QSN), embedding security directly into the network architecture and enabling trusted connectivity across distributed infrastructures. Designed and built in Europe for sovereign digital infrastructure Founded in Delft, The Netherlands in 2022 by experts in quantum communications from QuTech/TU Delft, the company has focused on translating pioneering research into operational quantum communication infrastructure. Today, Falqon® Systems supports deployments across the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Austria and Spain, enabling governments, telecom and data center operators, research organisations and critical infrastructure providers to deploy secure, scalable and interoperable Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). Designed, developed and manufactured in Europe, Falqon® Systems contributes to national and European quantum communication initiatives, strengthening European digital sovereignty through trusted, resilient and interoperable cross-border communication infrastructure. Securing the quantum era and beyond Looking ahead, Falqon® Systems’ network architecture has been designed to evolve beyond secure communications, supporting future quantum networking applications including quantum interconnects, distributed quantum computing, networked quantum sensors and the future quantum internet. Remon Berrevoets, CTIO and Co-Founder of Falqon® Systems, shares, “Falqon® Systems reinforces our long-term vision. The intrinsic network architecture we are developing today is designed to evolve alongside future quantum networking technologies, creating the trusted quantum backbone that will support the next generation of distributed quantum infrastructures.” MDI-QKD remains the technological foundation of the company’s portfolio, while the Falqon® MDI-QKD Series, Falqon® Key Manager and Falqon® Domain Controller continue to provide the integrated technologies required to deploy, manage and scale Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). Building on its leadership in scalable MDI-QKD, Falqon® Systems is redefining quantum secure communications by building the infrastructure for Quantum Secure Networks (QSN), enabling the next generation of trusted digital connectivity! About Falqon® Systems: Falqon® Systems is a Delft, Netherlands-based leader in secure communications, building the infrastructure for Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). Designed, developed and manufactured in Europe, Falqon® Systems is redefining quantum secure communications, enabling the next generation of trusted digital connectivity. The Falqon® Systems product portfolio combines quantum key generation, secure key lifecycle management and network orchestration within a unified infrastructure designed for operational deployment. Together, the Falqon® MDI-QKD Series, Falqon® Key Manager and Falqon® Domain Controller provide the integrated technologies required to deploy, manage and scale Quantum Secure Networks (QSN), enabling trusted digital connectivity across distributed communication infrastructures. Join us as we shape the future of trusted digital communications with technologies that enable the next generation of Quantum Secure Networks (QSN). From secure communications today to future quantum interconnects, distributed quantum computing, networked quantum sensors and the quantum internet, Falqon® Systems is laying the foundation for the broader quantum networking ecosystem! For more information, visit falqonsystems.com, contact info@falqonsystems.com or follow Falqon® Systems on LinkedIn. Media Relations Contact: Name: Milu Sini Lal, Msc Title: Marketing & Communication Specialist E-Mail: milu@falqonsystems.com

A new Qiskit function that integrates real-world constraints natively into the quantum computation, producing better and faster solutions to complex optimization problems, executed on IBM quantum hardware. MUNICH, Germany, September 15, 2026 — Aqarios GmbH today launched the Constrained Quantum Optimizer, a new solution in the IBM Qiskit Functions Catalog that organizations can use to help solve complex, real-world planning and scheduling problems using quantum computing. Built on Aqarios’ FlexQAOA algorithm, it integrates the constraints of an optimization problem natively into the quantum algorithm, producing better, valid solutions that penalty-based approaches can’t guarantee. Constrained Quantum Optimizer Behind many of an organization’s most consequential planning decisions lies an optimization problem: finding the best possible option from countless alternatives while satisfying a set of hard constraints. Businesses use it to cut costs, reduce travel time, allocate scarce resources, and improve efficiency. As these problems grow in size and complexity, classical methods become increasingly time consuming, making them ideal candidates for quantum approaches that can reach solutions beyond what classical methods can deliver today. Industries from logistics and manufacturing to telecommunications and energy solve problems like these every day. As organizations in these industries explore quantum computing, optimization functions like the Constrained Quantum Optimizer, in the IBM Qiskit Functions Catalog can be a starting point for putting it to work on real optimization problems. “Optimization is one of the most compelling categories of problems for the development of quantum advantage-capable applications. Now, through our Qiskit Functions Catalog, users can experiment with Aqarios’ Constrained Quantum Optimizer to push this boundary — and explore trusted results for constrained combinatorial optimization problems,” said Scott Crowder, Vice President, IBM Quantum Adoption and Business Development. Solving a constrained problem conventionally means folding its constraints into the objective function as penalty terms, a manual reformulation repeated for every new problem. This makes the problem harder to solve and no longer guarantees that the constraints are actually satisfied. Yet those constraints are always essential. The Constrained Quantum Optimizer works differently. It keeps a problem’s constraints intact and embeds them directly into the quantum circuit, ensuring that only valid solutions are ever considered. Take a delivery operation where every order must be loaded onto exactly one vehicle: never zero, never two. That kind of rule, called a one-hot constraint, is easy to state but just as easy for a solver to break. The Constrained Quantum Optimizer enforces it by design, so the computation never explores invalid solutions, uses the quantum hardware more effectively, and returns higher-quality results. Other kinds of constraints are handled automatically as well, with no extra work from the user. Businesses can describe their optimization problem in the standard formats their planning and operations teams already use, and the function takes care of everything else. To validate the approach on real hardware, Aqarios ran the function on an IBM Quantum Heron processor, on a 144-bit problem with 48 one-hot constraints. Across five test instances it reached optimal or near-optimal solutions every time, finding the exact optimum in three and landing within about one percent in the other two. “Most quantum optimization tools still make you work around your constraints. We build them in natively, and that’s what turns quantum computing into real, usable results for constrained problems,” said Michael Lachner, CEO, Aqarios. “We’re glad to bring what already runs on our Luna platform directly to IBM Quantum users, via the Qiskit Functions Catalog.” The Constrained Quantum Optimizer builds on FlexQAOA, which already powers constrained optimization for paying customers on Aqarios’ Luna platform. On that proven foundation, Aqarios combines the algorithm with approaches designed specifically for IBM quantum hardware, bringing it to the Qiskit Functions Catalog for developers, researchers, and businesses to use directly. The Constrained Quantum Optimizer is available now for IBM Quantum users through the IBM Qiskit Functions Catalog. About Aqarios Aqarios, headquartered in Munich, Germany, and a spin-off of LMU Munich, is a provider of quantum computing software for optimization across industries including energy, aerospace, logistics, finance, and manufacturing. Aqarios delivers practical, hardware-agnostic tools, including its Luna platform, which lets organizations run optimization across classical, hybrid, and quantum backends through one interface. It has collaborated with globally recognized organizations to put quantum optimization to work. Aqarios GmbH is a subsidiary of Aqarios Quantum Technologies AG, listed on the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange since 2026.

Münster, Germany, 03.09.2026. Pixel Photonics has launched MULTIWAVE, a 24-month project supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator to expand its single-photon detection technology into new applications including space communications, LiDAR, industrial sensing and biomedical imaging. The project addresses a key challenge in advanced photonics: many applications require the detection of extremely weak light signals, but existing high-performance single-photon detectors are often difficult to integrate, costly to scale and primarily designed for single-mode optical systems. MULTIWAVE will extend Pixel Photonics’ waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (WI-SNSPD) technology to multi-mode applications. Single-mode fibers have a small optical core and are widely used in communication and quantum technologies, while multi-mode fibers have a much larger core and can efficiently collect light from larger optical areas. This makes them particularly attractive for applications where collecting as much light as possible from the environment is essential, such as space communications and sensing. Connecting these larger optical cores efficiently to photonic chips has so far been a significant technical challenge. “With MULTIWAVE, we are taking our single-photon detection technology beyond its established applications in quantum computing and communications,” says Nicolai Walter, CEO at Pixel Photonics. “The project allows us to develop the technology and manufacturing processes needed to make high-performance photon detection accessible to a much broader range of applications.” From quantum technology to space and sensing Pixel Photonics’ technology integrates superconducting nanowire detectors directly with photonic waveguides. These waveguides are tiny structures that guide and route light on a photonic chip, enabling compact and highly scalable integration with other photonic components and fabrication using CMOS-compatible processes. This architecture enables ultrasensitive photon detection while offering a route toward direct integration with photonic circuits. MULTIWAVE will adapt this approach for multi-mode light, developing an interface for optical fiber cores of 50–100 µm. This development addresses applications where larger optical collection areas are essential. In space communications, using larger fiber cores with highly efficient multi-mode detection allows optical ground stations to use smaller telescopes while still efficiently collecting incoming light. This reduces the size, complexity and cost of the overall ground station and helps optical links detect weaker signals and become more robust to atmospheric effects and beam-pointing errors. In LiDAR and environmental sensing, increased light collection improves signal quality and extends measurement capabilities. Industrial applications benefit from more robust optical inspection and sensing, while biomedical imaging and microscopy can use highly sensitive detection to work with lower light levels and larger fields of view. Building for scalable production In addition, MULTIWAVE focuses on manufacturing. Through the project, Pixel Photonics will increase the yield of its wafer-level manufacturing processes and extend foundry compatibility to enable high-throughput fabrication at greater affordability. This is particularly relevant to quantum computing, where future photonic systems will require large numbers of detectors. Only a scalable manufacturing process can reduce the cost and complexity of producing such systems, while a wafer-level approach supports the development of new integrated photonic architectures. The project will also demonstrate the multi-mode detector technology in an operational optical communications environment, providing a bridge from laboratory development to real-world applications. EIC support accelerates commercialization Founded in 2021 as a spin-off from the University of Münster in Germany, Pixel Photonics has grown to around 40 employees and has already established its core technology in quantum computing, quantum communications and research applications. The company works with partners including QuiX Quantum, Quandela, ORCA Computing, Aegiq and Pasqal. The EIC Accelerator support enables Pixel Photonics to further improve its technology, expand into new markets and establish the manufacturing capabilities needed to meet commercial demand. “Europe has leading expertise across quantum technology, photonics and semiconductor manufacturing,” says Nicolai Walter. “MULTIWAVE brings these capabilities together to develop a scalable European technology platform for single-photon detection. This further strengthens Europe’s position in photonics and enables the ecosystem to address new markets with advanced single-photon detection technology.” With MULTIWAVE, Pixel Photonics envisions making high-performance single-photon detection a practical building block for a wider range of photonic technologies, ranging from quantum systems to the next generation of communication, sensing and imaging applications. About Pixel Photonics Pixel Photonics was founded in 2021 as a spin-off of the University of Münster and specializes in high-performance single-photon detector technology. The company’s patented WI-SNSPDs combine scalability, ultra-fast detection rates, and exceptional sensitivity, enabling groundbreaking advances in quantum computing, quantum key distribution, microscopy, and metrology. Media contact Henry Donovan henry@ampyre.co   Info: www.pixelphotonics.com