Business/Technology Reporter
As esoteric as quantum technology may be, it’s something that Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, Finland’s ambassador to the U.S., must pay attention to.
“How much does it come up in my daily life? Not much,” said Mikkola, who sat for an interview Thursday at the Limelight hotel in Boulder. “But I’ve learned this much to understand that this is an important field that diplomats have to pay attention to. … It’s an issue related more and more to national security so it’s not only commercialization.”
The next revolution of technology is expected to take computing to a new realm. One that could break encryption methods within hours instead of today’s maybe never. Or diagnose cancer, Alzheimer’s or dementia faster than current technology. And a concerted effort in Colorado has been underway to get the theoretical out of the lab and into commercial products that have the potential to not only generate billions in revenue, but create thousands of jobs.
And the world appears to be paying attention.
Mikkola led a Finnish delegation to check out Colorado’s quantum ecosystem — from the companies and colleges building the next quantum computers and tools, to those training the next workforce.
“In Finland, we are pretty good when it comes to quantum computing. It’s such a new and exciting and important field that one has to not only rely on your own expertise but also what others bring to this,” said Mikkola, also in town to speak at the SPIE Quantum Catalyst event for photonics engineers. “We have a very good national ecosystem but it seems you need to also have a very good international ecosystem and partnership.”
While it was the ambassador’s first trip in Colorado, her predecessor Mikko Hautala visited three years ago and signed a memorandum of understanding with Gov. Jared Polis. The MOU formalized cooperation between the governments on the research, development and commercialization of quantum computing, as well as clean energy and aerospace technology.
The Finns have made an outsize effort to commercialize an industry that’s laser-focused on the tiniest of things. In Helsinki, Bluefors builds about 200 dilution refrigerators a year, making it the world’s largest. Espoo-based IQM Quantum Computers unveiled Europe’s first 50-qubit quantum computer in March.
“Why is it so important to the Finns? I suspect it’s the realization that quantum technologies are the future. They’re going to provide incredible technological and economic benefit to whoever is working in them,” said Philip Makotyn, president of Vexlum US in Broomfield and former head of University of Colorado’s CUbit Quantum Initiative. “The Finns have punched above their weight in quantum for a long time.”
Parent company Vexlum got its start at Tampere University of Technology in Finland more than a decade ago. A laser used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for research was about to become obsolete.
The laser, meant for cutting metal, was pivotal for quantum research but the manufacturer didn’t want to make it anymore because NIST was the only customer — and the laser was out of warranty, Makotyn said.
NIST wound up working with Tampere University, where researchers used semiconductors instead of optical fibers to develop a new laser. Lasers are used as tools to help manipulate those tiny subatomic particles for quantum computers. It worked and was later spun out into a commercial venture, Vexlum.
That’s the beauty of partnerships, Makotyn said.
“It’s really a Cinderella story of two ecosystems coming together with mutually beneficial, complementary capabilities. Neither one could have done it alone,” he said. “When they came together, the technology was developed very rapidly.”
That’s why Finland hasn’t been the only country checking out Boulder, Denver and even making a trip to Fort Collins. Another SPIE session on regional ecosystems had quantum hub representatives from Denmark, Finland and the UK, as well as Montana and Chicago.
Mikkola said her visit was to strengthen ties with governments that also support entrepreneurship, investment and, of course, quantum. Colorado and Finland have a lot in common, she said.
“Our population is 5.6 million, so it’s not that different from yours. And you are open to innovation and interested in also building bridges outside your world. A kind of similar mindset,” she said. “I was at an event (with the Finnish-American Chamber of Commerce Colorado) and there were many who were there who said ‘I came here with my family for two years and now we’ve been here for 26.’ So there must be something very nice in Colorado.”
Last month, Australia’s ambassador stopped by to visit Elevate Quantum, which runs Colorado’s official Tech Hub for quantum computing and is building out a campus in Arvada to attract startups, established companies and others.
Last week, Elevate announced an agreement with the United Kingdom’s West of England region to support one another’s job growth and quantum investments.
“The industry right now, we’re kind of settling out which regions are better at which tech,” said Jessi Olsen, Elevate’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer. “I don’t think one country is ever going to have the entire supply chain, so being able to make those connections for our companies was a huge takeaway MOU or no MOU.”
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This story was updated at 9 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2025 to correct the number of federal workers in Colorado that have filed an unemployment claim since Oct. 1, the first day of the federal government shutdown.
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