2024 Global Overview of Investment and Financing in the Quantum

This report is based on data from 2024 and systematically reviews the current status of investment and financing in the global quantum field, with a focus on three core dimensions: the strategic positioning of government investment, the stage characteristics of social capital, and the geographical distribution and basic overview of investment institutions.

The highlight of this report is the first analysis of government investment and investment institutions. For government investment, it is the first to integrate government funds and social financing into a unified framework. This not only examines how major economies such as China, Europe, and the United States use public finance to shape technological sovereignty, but also tracks the path of social capital from early incubation to commercialization. Regarding investment institutions, this report analyzes for the first time the dynamics of active global quantum investment institutions in 2024, including the proportion of government supported institutions and their investment activities. In addition, this report also compares the social financing activities of China and the United States in the three major quantum fields and conducts in-depth analysis.

The first chapter of this report presents the overall investment and financing situation in the quantum field in 2024, including government investment and social financing.

In terms of government investment, China has ranked first globally for two consecutive years，followed by north America.

Government investments prioritize short-term projects (68%) over medium- (23%) and long-term (9%) initiatives, highlighting a strategic imbalance that risks neglecting critical areas like industrial upgrading and core technology development.

The top five global government quantum investment projects in 2024 focus on Europe and America.

In the past 4 years, the total global public investment in quantum technology amounts to approximately $30.685 billion. Among these investments, the government of Mainland China has the highest investment, at around $11.184 billion. The United States ranks second, with a government investment of about $7.001 billion. In 2024, China led the world in quantum technology investment for the second consecutive year, with the United States following closely behind.

Early-stage financing, including 20 Series A and 18 seed/angel rounds, is active, indicating emerging quantum tech enterprises' high innovation vitality and new business models, while the presence of Series B and C rounds shows some firms are gaining market recognition and entering expansion stages to drive industry development.

The second chapter of this report demonstrates the investment and financing situation in different regions and quantum technology fields.

In 2024, the total social financing in North America accounted for nearly 70% of the global total.

North America leads in social financing for quantum computing and sensing, while Europe does in quantum security.

In 2024, quantum security financing was average, with quantum cryptography (18% of the sector) seeing notable investments in PQShield and Micro Innovation, while quantum computing hardware and optomechanics in quantum sensing also attracted significant funding.

The United States prioritizes investment in quantum computing due to its market-driven capital allocation model, while China leads globally in quantum communication investment (about 25% of the world's total), driven by government guidance, policy support, and national security needs.

The US invests more in quantum computing (79.76% vs China's 40.79%), while China leads in quantum security investment (26.32% vs the US's 0.70%), driven by China's government-backed focus on quantum information science and quantum communication.

North America relies heavily on government and corporate strategic investment (86.4%) but lacks late-stage market capital; Europe has a balanced investment chain but weak early-stage funding; China focuses on early rounds (over 90%) with limited late-stage financing; and the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China) is concentrated in Series A and B but lacks seed and late-stage support.

Taking North America as an example, startups are active in seed and series A, and government grants and other financing provide strong support for innovation.