Ireland’s first quantum computing company, Equal1, has unveiled the world’s first hybrid rack-mounted silicon-spin quantum computer. RacQ is the next generation of the company’s Bell-1 server and is designed for use in high-performance computing (HPC) data centres. 

Quantum computing is transforming healthcare, exponentially accelerating molecular simulations, optimising drug discovery and enabling hyper-personalised medicine. It is already being used in the research setting to process complex biological data and analyse genetic profiles far faster than classical computers, paving the way for targeted therapies and more accurate disease diagnostics.

Equal1 was founded in 2017 with the stated mission to “democratise quantum computing and make the technology accessible and affordable”. In March 2025, the company launched the Bell-1 server – the world’s first silicon-based quantum server designed for data centres and high-performance computing.

RacQ is designed to utilise hybrid quantum-classical computing to optimise efficiency and effect, for “high-impact” application. Most quantum systems are fixed at installation. RacQ is built to advance through successive UnityQ generations. Each generation expands usable quantum compute, strengthens error correction and opens larger classes of hybrid workloads.

RacQ integrates seamlessly with any classical computer hardware, enabling hybrid quantum classical computing all within the same data centre rack form factor. Whether an organisation uses existing server stacks or specialised high-performance computing (HPC) nodes, RacQ functions as a peer-level resource within the rack. It plugs into a standard single-phase electrical socket and weighs just 400 kg. It includes an integrated self-contained, closed-cycle cryocooler that maintains an internal temperature of 0.3 Kelvin without external infrastructure.

“For nearly every organisation, quantum computing remains out of reach, confined to labs,” Jason Lynch, CEO of Equal1, explained. “We’re changing that. We are putting quantum inside the rack so customers can roll it in, plug it in and begin running hybrid quantum–classical workloads in days, using the infrastructure they already own.”

RacQ was in action at this week’s Dell Technologies World expo in Las Vegas in a research collaboration between Equal1 and Dell to explore how hybrid quantum-classical computing can operate inside existing data centre environments.

In January of this year, Equal1 raised $60m in a funding round led by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. In April, the company announced that it was partnering with Californian quantum infrastructure software maker Q-Ctrl for the deployment of rack-mounted quantum computers in enterprise data centres. Equal1 is also working with the French computer company Bull, to help advance the next generation of hybrid quantum-classical technologies with European solutions.