Arq, a Spanish quantum technology startup, raised 1.4 million USD in a pre-seed funding round led by Ground State Ventures with participation from Big Sur Ventures. Founded in 2025 by Samuele Grandi and Emanuele Distante, the company is developing quantum repeaters and quantum communication hardware for secure, long-distance networking between quantum computers over fibre optic networks. The funding will be used to establish a laboratory and accelerate development of next generation quantum memory devices.