Global lessons from a Spanish start-up

In July, the Spanish AI/quantum firm Multiverse Computing became a European unicorn. It announced it had almost closed its €500m funding round, which would value it at around €2bn post-money.

When I joined as its senior adviser in April 2022, the firm had only 30 employees and two locations: its headquarters in San Sebastian and an office in Toronto, Canada, whose first client was the Bank of Canada.

With more than 400 staff representing over 45 nationalities and operations in more than ten locations, including San Francisco and Qatar, what lessons can start-ups glean from the firm’s trajectory? 

Government support

The Basque city, best known for its culinary scene, was not an obvious place to establish a frontier technology firm. Enrique Lizaso, the co-founder and CEO told me he attributes it to the San Sebastian city council and the Basque government’s vision and political will in courting the start-up in its early days to coax it to begin its corporate journey in San Sebastian.

“They understood that the Basque Country needed a competitive new industry to be based there. They took a serious risk on small companies – they bet resources on firms that might fail,” he said.

In the ensuing years, the government’s business-friendly policies and its ability to react quickly to the demands of deep technology companies kept the firm anchored in the Basque Country.

Now, in 2026, a northern region of Spain with a population of only 2.2 million hosts a thriving quantum, AI and biotech community, its strength reflected in IBM’s decision to install its most advanced quantum computer in San Sebastian rather than in a larger city like Barcelona.

Flexibility is a must

Clad in his signature waistcoat, jacket and bowtie, Lizaso warned startups against focusing on a particular solution – flexibility is a must – and says it is key to “pay attention to what is happening around you”.

Multiverse Computing began its journey concentrating on quantum algorithms for finance. Its commercial mindset led it to ask customers what they needed – something that many start-ups led by academics fail to do – while figuring out how this would fit with the wave of AI sweeping the world.

The consequence was technology born out of quantum and AI that can compress large language models (LLMs), reducing the computing resources needed to run them.

It is a solution to one of the biggest problems facing the world: the massive energy use and cost of LLMs. Already in 2024, data centres consumed more energy than the entire annual electricity of the UK, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The institution expects that to double by 2030.

Consider contingencies

Multiverse is concentrating on the demand for energy-efficient solutions that can continue operating in military or political conflict. This means enabling AI ‘on the edge’. “No one thinks of using a mobile phone without AI, but it can’t be on the cloud [for security and cost reasons],” said Lizaso.

Companies are becoming more aware of the possibility of both Wi-Fi and access to the cloud being cut off, either by an enemy or, potentially, by an executive order from the US government. Most major cloud providers are American.

Consider complementary skills

Lizaso also advises startups to ensure their founders have different talents. Lizaso’s background is in banking and medicine, while his co-founders bring expertise in areas including quantum computing, technology, marketing and entrepreneurship.

The four founders worked together for a couple of years before starting Multiverse Computing, another important component on the human side, and “we have fun together [outside the office]”, said Lizaso.

Consider culture

That is where San Sebastian’s reputation for great food comes in. It has the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in the world, plus mouth-watering local pintxos bars. All four founders share a love of good food and good wine. Yet another reason to maintain Multiverse Computing’s headquarters in the seaside city, and for quantum-AI start-ups to be open to surprising locations.