Quantum Startup Funding Slides in 2026 as Public Markets Stay Hot

Quantum computing startups have raised $1.2 billion so far this year, putting 2026 funding on track to fall well short of last year's record $4.1 billion haul, according to Crunchbase data. The slowdown on the private side stands in sharp contrast to the public markets, where the four most prominent pure-play quantum companies carry a combined market capitalization of around $36 billion.

The divergence defines the current state of the sector. Deal counts remain robust and large rounds are still closing, Crunchbase data shows. But total investment is set to decline from last year's peak even after a burst of sizable financings in recent weeks. By the standards of other recent years, however, 2026 remains a strong showing for both deal count and total dollars.

October brings the year's biggest rounds

This month has been the busiest of the year for large quantum financings, Crunchbase data shows.

The largest round of 2026 closed just last week. Photonic, a 9-year-old Vancouver-based company developing commercial-scale quantum computers and quantum networks, raised $200 million at a $2 billion valuation.

Another large recipient this month was QuantWare, a Dutch startup building what it says will be the world's largest dedicated quantum open architecture fab. It secured $178 million in a Series B.

Around the same time, Quantum Motion, a London-based startup focused on silicon transistor-based quantum computing, announced a $160 million Series C co-led by DCVC and Kembara. The startup says its technology can deliver utility-scale computing with a fraction of the cost, space and energy consumption of competing options.

Public investors keep buying

Quantum computing startups have not produced much in the way of profits yet. Still, several higher-profile players have reached the public markets, and lately investors seem to like what they see.

The four most prominent pure-play public quantum companies — D-Wave Quantum, IonQ, Quantum Computing and Rigetti Computing — are collectively valued around $36 billion today. That is down from the peak in late 2025 but still many multiples ahead of where these companies traded a couple of years ago.

A new name joined them this spring. Toronto-based Xanadu, developer of a photonic quantum computing platform, went public via a SPAC merger on Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its recent market cap was around $5 billion.

The listed players are also consolidating the space. The largest deal of the past year was IonQ's $1.08 billion purchase of Oxford Ionics, a startup known for its research prowess in quantum performance. D-Wave Quantum announced another sizable acquisition early this year, buying Quantum Circuits, a developer of quantum computing systems, for $550 million in stock and cash.

Quantinuum's IPO looms

The most closely watched exit in the quantum space is expected within weeks. This month, Quantinuum, a Broomfield, Colorado-based provider of a full-stack quantum computing platform majority owned by Honeywell, filed to go public on the Nasdaq.

Quantinuum secured a $10 billion pre-money valuation for its last private fundraise in September. The company has not disclosed what valuation it anticipates for the offering, but the expectation is that it will land substantially above that level.

Wherever the IPO prices, the takeaway is the same: investors are increasingly convinced that early movers in quantum computing can turn technological breakthroughs into impressive earnings — and they are paying up accordingly.