ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., August 25, 2025 -- Roadrunner Venture Studios, a leading venture studio for deep tech innovation, today announced its selection by the New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD) to lead a $25 million initiative to accelerate quantum innovation and commercialization in the state.

The Roadrunner-led Coalition will bring together premier quantum researchers, funders, and innovators to create a quantum campus in Downtown Albuquerque's Innovation District. This campus will include a multi-node quantum network, dilution refrigerators, a quantum testbed, quantum packaging and demonstration facilities, and a rapid prototyping facility. This infrastructure will create conductive circumstances and valuable resources for the next generation of quantum companies.

Roadrunner has pledged to match this build with a new quantum branch of its venture studio. At the center of this effort will be a flagship Founder-in-Residence program designed to identify and recruit the best entrepreneurial talent in the country to launch quantum companies in New Mexico. In parallel, Roadrunner will bring the most promising quantum startups from around the U.S. to establish operations in New Mexico and work closely with the studio — a process already underway with pioneering startups like Qunnect, QuEra, and Maybell. To support these efforts, Roadrunner will stand up a dedicated capital network explicitly for investing in New Mexico-based quantum startups that engage with the studio.

"New Mexico has long lived in the public imagination. It's a place that has led America in the most important times with the most critical innovations — a fulcrum for national endeavor," said Adam Hammer, Co-Founder and CEO of Roadrunner Venture Studios. "In this pivotal moment of technological  change, we are stepping forward to help lead the coming quantum revolution. To win in something as high-stakes as quantum, we need to find exceptional people, forge breakthrough companies, and fuel the second wave of great American quantum companies for global scale."

Roadrunner's coalition comprises nearly a dozen official partners, including Elevate Quantum, national laboratories (Sandia, Los Alamos), pioneering quantum startups (QuEra, Maybell, Qunnect, and Resonance), academic centers (University of New Mexico), and top-tier venture capital firms (DCVC, Playground Global, Quantonation). The effort will make Albuquerque a national launchpad for quantum startups—deepening the state's growing emergence as a hub for advanced technology commercialization.

"Quantum technology will reshape the future, and New Mexico is ready to lead that transformation," said Nora Sackett, Director of the Technology and Innovation Office at EDD. "By creating an environment where the top scientific minds have the tools and collaboration they need, New Mexico is backing the bold quantum startups and partnerships that will fuel breakthroughs."

A request for proposal (RFP) was published by the EDD on May 27, 2025. The EDD designed the RFP "for the procurement of operational support for a quantum venture studio ... and for a physical space or facility accessible to multiple entities that enables and accelerates the maturation and commercialization of quantum technologies" in New Mexico. The bid and negotiation process was competitive and included a comprehensive application. Finalists engaged in multiple interviews and a site visit by a state-appointed evaluation committee.

Roadrunner and its coalition intend to announce new initiatives and the details of the quantum campus and studio in the coming months.

"Quantum technology represents a once-in-a-generation chance to bring a touch of the Jetsons age into our time," said Zach Yerushalmi, CEO of Elevate Quantum. "While New Mexico has pioneered world-class research for decades, this venture-studio and infrastructure strategy positions the state to unlock broad economic opportunity for all New Mexicans. Elevate Quantum is excited to partner with Roadrunner and a broad coalition of stakeholders from the national labs, industry, and academic communities to realize what many are coming to call 'the quantum state.'"

"With a $25 million investment from the State Economic Development Department and the leadership of Roadrunner Venture Studios, we're at the forefront of the next wave of critical technology right here in Albuquerque," said Tim Keller, Mayor of Albuquerque. "By uniting our labs, universities, venture capital, investors, and innovators, Albuquerque can be the global leader in quantum computing and all the companies, good jobs, and long-term economic growth that come with it."

The global market for quantum technologies is expected to reach nearly $200 billion by 2040, according to a 2024 McKinsey report, with the steepest growth experienced in defense, telecommunications, and enterprise computing. What once seemed theoretical is now a race to build quantum science as critical infrastructure that will underpin the next era of computing and communications.

To remain competitive, the U.S. must move from leadership in science to leadership in execution. New Mexico's initiative provides a blueprint that links world-class research to real-world company formation and commercial infrastructure.