Insider Brief
- Quantum World Congress has announced Booz Allen as the presenting sponsor of the 2026 Quantum Startup Pitch Competition, where early-stage quantum companies will compete for funding, mentorship, and industry exposure during the September 23–25 event in Maryland.
- The competition offers a $25,000 grand prize, a featured Startup Launchpad table, mentorship from NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers, and opportunities to pitch before investors, government leaders, industry executives, researchers, and defense stakeholders.
- Applications are open through August 7, 2026, with finalists selected to present technologies spanning quantum computing, sensing, networking, cybersecurity, photonics, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and related fields.
PRESS RELEASE — Quantum World Congress today announced that Booz Allen will return as Presenting Sponsor of the 2026 Quantum Startup Pitch Competition , strengthening a collaboration focused on identifying, elevating, and accelerating the companies working to move quantum technologies from scientific possibility to real-world impact.
The competition will take place during Quantum World Congress 2026, convening September 23–25 at The Hotel at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. Early-stage companies from around the world will compete for a $25,000 grand prize, a featured table in the QWC Startup Launchpad: Innovation Alley, mentorship and pitch support from NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers, and visibility before a global audience spanning industry, investment, government, defense, academia, and research.
The 2026 competition will spotlight startups applying quantum science and technology across computing, sensing, networking, communications, photonics, cybersecurity, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and other adjacent fields. Applicants must demonstrate not only technical innovation, but a credible pathway toward solving a defined commercial, industrial, government, or societal challenge.
“Quantum commercialization will not happen through scientific breakthroughs alone. It will happen when strong companies can connect those breakthroughs to customers, capital, partners, and real-world problems,” said George Thomas, President and CEO of Connected DMV. “Booz Allen understands that entire journey. Its teams work across advanced research, mission deployment, technology scouting, systems integration, and venture investment. That makes Booz Allen an exceptional sponsor for a competition designed to find the founders capable of turning quantum potential into practical value.”
Connecting Emerging Technology to Real-World Missions
Booz Allen’s support for the competition reflects the company’s broader work at the intersection of emerging technology, national security, government missions, and commercial innovation.
The company operates across the quantum ecosystem, including quantum computing, sensing, networking, and post-quantum cryptography. With a critical eye on the importance of swift integration of quantum technologies with classical systems, Booz Allen’s quantum team delivers on cross-cutting efforts across government and commercial industries. From quantum engineering to cybersecurity, they bring quantum to the mission, identifying pathways for responsible adoption and developing the solutions to make it so.
Through its technology scouting, engineering, research, and venture-investment capabilities, Booz Allen also works directly with startups developing technologies relevant to critical government and national-security missions.
Booz Allen Ventures is a corporate venture fund focused on early-stage companies in areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, defense technology, quantum, deep technology, and American reindustrialization, with a portfolio of 20 companies to date. Beyond capital, the firm helps portfolio companies navigate federal markets, identify mission applications, pursue strategic partnerships, and prepare technologies for deployment in complex and highly regulated environments. That approach is reflected in Booz Allen Ventures’ investment in SEEQC, a quantum computing company developing a digital chip-based architecture intended to address some of the scaling challenges facing quantum hardware. Booz Allen and SEEQC subsequently expanded their work together to accelerate the development of quantum engineering solutions for government missions.
“Startups are essential to the quantum ecosystem because they are often where new architectures, applications, and approaches are tested first—and where technical ambition meets the urgency to build,” said Dr. Jake Farinholt, Director of Quantum Technologies at Booz Allen. “But a breakthrough becomes consequential only when it can move beyond the laboratory and perform against a real requirement. This competition creates an important bridge between founders developing the technology and the investors, technical experts, government leaders, and potential partners who can help bring it to scale. Booz Allen is proud to return as Presenting Sponsor and help identify the companies that could shape the next chapter of quantum innovation.”
Dr. Farinholt leads Booz Allen’s quantum technology innovation and deployment. He has over 15 years of experience supporting quantum technology advancement and acceleration across U.S. Government missions.
A Global Proving Ground for Quantum Startups
The Quantum Startup Pitch Competition has become a proving ground for emerging companies building across the quantum technology stack.
Finalists are selected by a global committee of experts and invited to present live at Quantum World Congress. Each finalist company will receive three complimentary passes to attend the full three-day event and will participate in pitch preparation and mentorship ahead of the competition.
The live program places founders before an audience that includes venture investors, corporate innovation leaders, government and defense officials, scientists, engineers, national laboratory experts, university researchers, economic development leaders, and potential customers and collaborators.
“This is not a competition for distant ideas about what quantum might someday do,” Thomas added. “We are looking for companies that can explain what they are building, why it matters, who needs it, and what must happen next to move it into the world. The technology can be extraordinary. The pitch still has to answer the oldest question in business: what problem does it solve?”
The winner will receive:
- A $25,000 grand prize
- A featured table in the QWC Startup Launchpad: Innovation Alley
- Direct exposure to Booz Allen, investors, corporate partners, government leaders, and the global QWC community
- Mentorship and pitch coaching from NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers
- Continued visibility through QWC media, digital content, and partner channels
Finalists will receive complimentary QWC admission for three representatives from each company.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and must be submitted by Friday, August 7, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Finalists are expected to be announced the following week.
A Track Record of Emerging Leaders
The 2025 Quantum Startup Pitch Competition drew companies developing technologies across quantum computing, sensing, optimization, hardware, machine learning, and adjacent fields.
Germany-based XeedQ received first place, followed by Canada-based Phaseshift in second place and the Netherlands-based QT Sense in third. Their selection continued a record of elevating companies from across North America and Europe working to translate quantum research into commercial products and applications.
Previous competition winners and finalists have developed quantum sensing systems for semiconductor and battery manufacturing, machine-learning tools for quantum hardware development, diamond magnetometry for Earth and space applications, and other technologies addressing practical scientific and industrial challenges.
Quantum World Congress 2026 will give the next finalist cohort an even larger platform. The Congress will bring together leaders across science, business, government, investment, academia, national security, workforce development, and economic development for three days of major announcements, keynote discussions, technical programming, startup engagement, international collaboration, and partnership-building.
Applications for the 2026 Quantum Startup Pitch Competition are now open at quantumworldcongress.com/2026/pitch .