Europe's fleeting quantum advantage

Here's an interesting number: a total of some $42bn of public money has been poured into quantum technologies so far. And it turns out that Europe has contributed to this number significantly, with some $13bn.?

While Chinese public funding for quantum accounts for more than a third of the total, Europe is still far ahead of the US, where only $3.8bn of taxpayer money has been committed to quantum tech to date.?

However, the private sector across the Atlantic is incredibly active when it comes to quantum, bringing almost 10 times the amount of public investment. In Europe, it's the other way around, and VCs and other private investors have injected less capital into the industry than public bodies.

The year-on-year decrease in total funding of quantum tech startups could be the reason why fewer of them had been founded in 2023 than the year before. This could be a troubling sign, as this industry is arguably among the most important across the entire tech landscape.?

So far, our continent has been doing reasonably well in quantum tech development, thanks to its great academic environment that facilitates unparalleled access to talent. However, public money alone can keep things going — and given the cash-intensive nature of the field, we seem to desperately need bigger private players, such as pension funds, to join the fray.?

This conversation has been going on for years already, and the European Innovation Council, among others, treats attracting those big players as a priority. So, this is just your regular reminder about the importance of this process that's often happening behind the scenes — and the fact that we're still not there.

Check out the piece by Linnea Ahlgren for more numbers on the European and global quantum ecosystems ???

?? Europe is pouring public funds into quantum tech startups, report says

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