Insider Brief
- A report by the Israel Innovation Authority and C4IR Israel finds that Israel’s quantum sector grew from about five companies and 50 employees in 2019 to more than 20 companies and roughly 1,000 employees in 2025.
- Israeli quantum companies raised nearly $500 million in 2025, representing approximately 9% of global private quantum investment and ranking Israel fourth worldwide.
- The report recommends targeted investment in Israel’s technological strengths, stronger international partnerships and broader industry adoption, with a proposed 2027–2031 national initiative supporting infrastructure and workforce development.
PRESS RELEASE — A new report by the Israel Innovation Authority and C4IR Israel (which operates within the Israel Innovation Authority and is part of the World Economic Forum’s global C4IR Network), was released today, titled “Israel’s Quantum Ecosystem: Making Quantum Leaps Through Strategic Investment.” The report examines the rapid development of Israel’s quantum technology ecosystem, particularly quantum computing technologies and the distinctive innovation model supporting its growth.
The report finds that Israel has evolved within 6 years from a budding quantum industry into a highly concentrated and globally connected innovation ecosystem. The number of active Israeli quantum companies grew from approximately 5 in 2019 to more than 20 by 2025, while employment in quantum companies increased from approximately 50 to around 1,000 employees. In quantum computing alone, the number of companies increased from 1 to more than 10 during this period.
Private investment has accelerated accordingly. In 2025 alone, Israeli quantum companies raised nearly $500 million, equivalent to approximately 9% of global private investment in quantum technologies and approximately 15% when the United States is excluded. Israel ranked fourth globally in total private quantum investment, after the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
Zachi Schnarch, Acting CEO & Head of Technology Division at the Israel Innovation Authority: “In a world where countries are investing vast sums in quantum technologies, the question for Israel is not simply how much to invest, but where to invest and what competitive advantages to build. Israel has a strong scientific and technological foundation, a well-developed deep-tech ecosystem, and a proven ability to connect research, entrepreneurship, and industry.
In the coming years, we must focus our investments on areas where Israel has the potential to maintain its leadership and translate these capabilities into companies, technologies, and a significant position in the global quantum economy.
The next phase requires us to approach the sector as an integrated ecosystem. Alongside continued investment in scientific excellence, we must develop the infrastructure that enables researchers and companies to advance, expand our pool of skilled talent, connect Israeli companies with advanced users and global markets, and deepen international partnerships.
Our goal is not to develop every component of the quantum value chain in Israel, but rather to identify the areas where we hold a significant comparative advantage – from software and algorithms to control systems, sensing, and enabling technologies – and build world-class capabilities in these fields.
The decisions we make today will determine Israel’s position in the quantum economy of the next decade, as well as our ability to be among the countries playing a significant role in developing these technologies and shaping the global markets that emerge around them. “The report argues that Israel’s emerging advantage extends beyond the growth of individual companies. Unlike larger countries, where quantum activity often develops around several geographically distinct hubs, Israel functions as a national-scale innovation cluster: universities, startups, investors, defense laboratories, government organizations and national infrastructures operate within a compact and highly interconnected ecosystem. This proximity enables rapid coordination, talent mobility, shared access to expensive infrastructure and unusually short feedback loops between researchers, developers and end-users.
The report notes that quantum technology did not emerge in Israel as an isolated new industry. Rather, it developed on top of an established deep-tech commercialization system encompassing university technology-transfer offices, venture investors, accelerators, public R&D instruments and well-developed channels connecting academic research with company formation. This infrastructure helped shorten the journey from scientific discovery to funded commercial activity.
Key Findings of the Report
- A national-scale quantum innovation cluster: Israel’s compact geography brings together academic institutions, startups, investors, national laboratories, defense organizations and technological infrastructure within one closely connected ecosystem. This enables faster collaboration and validation than is often possible across dispersed regional innovation hubs.
- Rapid industrial growth: Israel’s quantum ecosystem expanded from approximately five companies in 2019 to more than 20 active companies in 2025, while industry employment grew from approximately 50 to 1,000 workers. Quantum-computing companies alone grew from one to more than ten within six years.
- Nearly $500 million raised in a single year: Israeli quantum companies attracted nearly $500 million in private investment in 2025, bringing cumulative private capital raised by the sector to more than $1 billion. Israel accounted for approximately 9% of global private quantum investment in 2025, or approximately 15% excluding the United States.
- A global strength in software, control and orchestration: One of Israel’s most significant commercial differentiators lies in the enabling layer between quantum hardware and applications. Israeli companies are developing capabilities in high-level algorithm design, processor control, hardware orchestration, precision electronics and error mitigation. These technologies can operate across different quantum hardware architectures, enabling Israeli companies to participate strategically in global value chains without needing to manufacture every hardware component domestically.
- Technological breadth reduces dependency on any single quantum architecture: Israeli companies operate across superconducting systems, trapped ions, photonics, neutral atoms, optical computing and diamond-based NV-center technologies, alongside software, control electronics, sensing, communications and cybersecurity. Since the global quantum computing industry has not yet converged around a single dominant hardware architecture, this breadth provides Israel with important technological optionality.
- National infrastructure lowers barriers to innovation: The Israeli Quantum Computing Center (IQCC) provides access to multiple quantum-computing modalities, supporting algorithm testing, system benchmarking, hybrid quantum-classical workflows and hands-on workforce development. The Center places Israel among a relatively small group of countries providing access to heterogeneous quantum platforms through shared national infrastructure.
- Sophisticated early users help create demand: Israel’s national-security and advanced-technology organizations function not only as funders but also as early users of quantum technologies. Their operational needs create direct feedback loops between end-users, researchers and technology developers, particularly in quantum sensing, communications and computing. From technological self-sufficiency to selective leadership
The report emphasizes that Israel’s quantum strategy should not be based on attempting to achieve complete technological self-sufficiency.
Israel remains dependent on global supply chains in areas including specialized materials, substrates, cryogenic systems, fabrication tools and advanced hardware components. The report therefore recommends a model of selective technological sovereignty: building domestic quantum computing capabilities in areas where Israel has a genuine strategic advantage, while ensuring reliable access to complementary technologies through trusted international partnerships.
This approach creates significant opportunities for international cooperation in joint R&D, shared infrastructure, specialized supply chains, technology validation and cross-border commercialization.
Israel is already deeply integrated into international quantum research and innovation networks. Cooperation through Horizon Europe, QuantERA, bilateral programs and relationships with international technology companies connect Israeli researchers and companies with complementary expertise, infrastructures and commercial partners in Europe, the United States and Asia.
Ronit Eshel, Acting VP and Head of Technological Infrastructure Division: “Strategic relevance does not require leadership in every layer of the technology stack. Countries can create global influence by combining focused technological strengths with shared infrastructure, effective commercialization mechanisms, talent development and strong connections between entrepreneurs, developers and real-world users.”
Lior Yafe, Head of C4IR Israel, International Division at the Israel Innovation Authority: “Quantum innovation is inherently international. Israel’s ability to combine a highly connected domestic ecosystem with global scientific, technological and commercial partnerships can make it a valuable development and testing ground for the next generation of quantum technologies.”
The first phase of Israel’s National Quantum Initiative, launched in 2019, established dozens of research laboratories, strengthened academic capabilities and created major national infrastructure
The report finds, however, that Israel’s next challenge is to move from building the ecosystem toward wider adoption and economic impact.
While defense, aerospace and secure communications already demonstrate early demand, adoption remains less developed in sectors including finance, healthcare, energy, logistics and manufacturing. Further progress will require more industry pilots, workforce development, validated use cases, stronger supply chains and deeper integration between quantum companies and potential users.
The proposed second phase of Israel’s National Quantum Initiative for 2027–2031 therefore calls for expanded international cooperation; stronger infrastructure and supply chains in areas including photonics, cryogenics and fabrication; continued academic and doctoral training; prioritization of quantum software and algorithms; greater participation by non-quantum industries and government organizations in developing use cases; and expanded workforce training and talent retention.
The report concludes that Israel’s experience demonstrates how a relatively small country can build strategically significant capabilities through focused public investment, scientific excellence, close academia-industry links and mission-driven coordination. The next stage will be to convert these foundations into scaled adoption and durable economic and strategic advantage.