Collaboration with IBM: Aqarios publishes software for quantum optimization in the IBM Qiskit Functions Catalog

Munich, 15 September 2026
Aqarios GmbH, the operating subsidiary of Aqarios Quantum Technologies AG, has been a member of the IBM Quantum Network since 2024. IBM positioned itself strategically in quantum technology at an early stage and is today one of the leading providers of quantum computers. New results from the Aqarios algorithms on IBM quantum hardware now form the basis for a further collaboration between the two companies: as of today, new quantum optimization software from Aqarios is available under the name "Constrained Quantum Optimizer" in the IBM Qiskit Functions Catalog. Through the catalog, IBM and selected partners make available applications that run directly on the quantum hardware via the Qiskit quantum computing framework. Qiskit is the most widely used open-source framework for programming quantum computers: around 70 percent of all quantum developers use it as their primary development tool.
The software developed by Aqarios solves optimization problems on quantum computers. Such problems are almost always tied to constraints that have to be met without exception: in route planning, for example, hazardous goods and food must not go on the same vehicle; in shift scheduling, no one may be assigned twice at the same time; and in production control, two jobs that require the same machine must not run simultaneously. Usually, such constraints first have to be reformulated at considerable effort before they can be computed on a quantum computer. The Constrained Quantum Optimizer instead makes it possible to include certain classes of these constraints without reformulation, which can produce more reliable solutions.
The license is acquired from Aqarios GmbH. Once the license has been granted, IBM enables the software for the respective quantum computing access. It then runs directly on the quantum hardware within the existing IBM plan, without any integration effort on the user's side.
For Aqarios GmbH, the official inclusion of its technology in IBM's ecosystem is a significant milestone in the company's still young history.
About Aqarios
Aqarios GmbH, founded in 2021 as a spin-off of LMU Munich, is a leading provider of application-oriented quantum software. The company develops solutions for optimizing complex problems and, with its Luna platform, makes quantum computing practically usable for companies in energy, finance, logistics, aviation and manufacturing: hardware-agnostic, combining classical and quantum-based methods, and without requiring quantum expertise on the customer side. Since 2026, Aqarios has been present on the capital markets through Aqarios Quantum Technologies AG, whose shares are traded in the Open Market (Freiverkehr) of the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange.