Jason Lynch, CEO of Equal1, the Irish quantum computing company, has been named recipient of the 2026 NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award.

Unprecedented potential to unlock societal advancements

Equal1 is on a mission to democratize quantum computing and to make this transformative technology, which offers unprecedented potential to unlock societal advancements in areas such as climate modelling and drug discovery, accessible and affordable for all.

The company was co-founded by Dr Dirk Leipold, Mike Asker and Professor Robert Bogdan Staszewski and is a spin-out from the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Lynch joined the company in 2019 as chief operations officer and was appointed CEO in 2022.

Jason Lynch, CEO of Equal1.

Lynch was presented with the award by Professor Orla Feely, president, University College Dublin (UCD), and former president of Engineers Ireland, during the annual presentation of the NovaUCD Innovation Awards which took place at the UCD University Club.

Lynch said: “This award reflects the monumental efforts of our team over the last seven years. Quantum computing will transform industries but the engineering to build quantum computers at scale is some of the most challenging engineering in the world today. We are delighted to be doing that from our headquarters in Dublin with the huge support of our investors including, Atlantic Bridge, Enterprise Ireland and now ISIF as well as the strong support from University College Dublin and NovaUCD from the very beginning of this journey.”

Pioneering Quantum System-on-Chip (QSoC) processor

Equal1 is developing UnityQ, a pioneering Quantum System-on-Chip (QSoC) processor, which integrates entire quantum computing systems onto a single chip, merging millions of qubits, control systems and real-time error correction capabilities.

The company has made major progress on the path to this goal, with six generations of cryo-CMOS controller chips and multiple generations of qubit test chips resulting in the first quantum computer in a single-rack form factor.

The last year has been one of very significant developments for the company including:

  • Introduction of Bell-1, the world’s first-ever rack-mounted silicon quantum computer designed for High-Performance Computing datacentres;

  • Selected by the European Space Agency to install a Bell-1 quantum computer for Earth Observation programmes;

  • Secured €13.7m in funding under Call 7 of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF), to lead the QUBIC project, the largest DTIF funding award to date;

  • Secured $60 m (€51.5m) in its latest funding round, the largest single investment round in a UCD spin-out to date. This round was led by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, with participation from Atlantic Bridge, the European Innovation Council Fund, Matterwave Ventures, Enterprise Ireland, Elkstone and TNO Ventures.

The company has now raised more than $85m (€73m) and currently employs 45 staff and envisages creating 150 high-tech jobs over the next 3-4 years. Equal1 is headquartered at NexusUCD in Dublin, with offices in US, Canada, Romania, Japan and the Netherlands.

Lynch added: “Quantum computing is a truly game changer technology, and we couldn’t be more excited about what the next phase of our journey will bring. We are looking forward to building on the momentum we have created, scaling our technology, expanding our global footprint, and working with our partners and customers to unlock the real-world impact of quantum computing in the years ahead.”

The annual NovaUCD Innovation Awards celebrate outstanding achievements in knowledge transfer, consultancy, entrepreneurship and the promotion of an innovation culture within UCD’s research and start-up communities.

Dr Eoin O'Cearbhaill, associate professor in biomedical engineering at the UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, who over the last number of years has built an internationally recognised research group addressing critical clinical needs by developing innovative medical devices that have real-world applications, has been named the recipient of the 2026 NovaUCD Innovation Award, the main Award presented at the event.

Prof Feely said: “At University College Dublin we are dedicated to driving research and innovation activities by leveraging our expertise and partnerships to develop talent and to achieve meaningful impact.

"The NovaUCD Innovation Awards, a key annual event in the University’s calendar, celebrate and recognise the remarkable work of our research and entrepreneurial communities in creating and applying their knowledge to deliver impact. I offer my warmest congratulations to this year’s Awardees and look forward to their continued success as they advance Irish research and innovation on a global stage.” 

Total of seven awards presented

A total of seven awards were presented by Prof Feely and the other five awardees are:

  1. 2026 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award: Professor Kenneth Dawson, UCD School of Chemistry and Founder of the UCD Centre for BioNano Interactions, and Associate Professor Yan Yan, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, for their invention which introduces a disruptive shift in nanomedicine through the creation of a leading-edge 'biological-hybrid' platform. This breakthrough invention establishes a transformative, programmable toolkit for the next generation of precision therapeutics.
  2. 2026 NovaUCD Licence of the Year Award: Professor Theo De Waal, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine; Dr Dimitri Scholz, UCD Conway Institute; Assoc. Professor Vladimir Lobaskin, UCD School of Physics and Emeritus Assoc. Professor William O’Connor, UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, for the development of a novel faecal egg count device which was licenced to CF Pharma and is now being sold globally by Telenostic, a CF Pharma spin-out, to identify parasitic infection in animals on farms.
  3. 2026 NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year Award: Lia EyeCare, an eyecare technology start-up, co-founded by Breda O’Regan and Sinéad Buckley, is developing nightleaf™ a non-invasive wearable solution designed to address persistent dry and sore eyes by supporting the eye’s natural overnight recovery. nightleaf™ is currently undergoing design work for large scale manufacturing for commercial launch in Q4 2026.
  4. 2026 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award: Professor Regina Uí Chollatáin, principal and dean, UCD College of Arts and Humanities and UCD Chair of Modern Irish and Literature. With the support of ConsultUCD Professor Uí Chollatáin won a tender from Coimisiún na Meán for a comprehensive 12-month study to review and assess the current Irish language media landscape and to make recommendations regarding its development.
  5. 2026 NovaUCD Innovation Champion of the Year Award: The European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) programme team at CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for Applied AI and the EDIH Hub for AI in Ireland. The team at is focused on championing innovation and industry engagement for SMEs and Public Service Organisations (PSOs) and helps SMEs and PSOs to leverage the latest AI and digital advances.

NovaUCD is supported under the KT Boost Programme co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union, through the ERDF Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.