Deep Tech · VC Firm

In-Q-Tel

Dedicated Microelectronics & Quantum portfolio covering hardware (IonQ, D-Wave, Rigetti, Infleqtion, Xanadu, Quantum Brilliance), enabling tech (Maybell cryogenics, QuantWare quantum chips), software and control (Q-CTRL, SandboxAQ) and quantum-safe security (QuintessenceLabs).

Active Tysons, United StatesFounded 1999

Investment thesis

In-Q-Tel is the strategic investor for the US intelligence community and allies, a not-for-profit (501c3) founded in 1999 by the CIA to accelerate commercial technologies with national-security relevance. It has backed 800+ companies including IonQ, D-Wave and Rigetti, with quantum computing identified as one of its priority frontier domains alongside AI, semiconductors, biotech and space.

As a non-profit (no fund AUM, ~$100M of US government funding per year), it invests through small equity stakes (typically $250K) plus directed technology-development investments (low single-digit $M), stage-agnostic from pre-seed to growth, and follows on into later rounds (e.g. SandboxAQ Series E).

Its differentiator lies in dual capital: financial investment plus a technology-transfer arm that pays portfolio companies to deliver tools to IC customers, giving unique access to government procurement.

A strategic signal for any quantum founder building dual-use hardware, sensing or quantum-safe security.

Anti-thesis

The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.

  1. Passes on technology without a clear USG mission fit: if you cannot map to a specific IC, DoD, or DHS problem set (SIGINT, GEOINT, PNT, secure comms), the technical scout will not advance you
  2. Skeptical of foreign-founded or foreign-HQ teams: CFIUS exposure and ITAR / EAR posture are gating, not negotiable, PRC-adjacent cap tables are disqualifying
  3. Will pass on quantum computing plays without a near-term cryptanalysis, optimization, or simulation use case the IC actually buys today: pure 'future fault-tolerant' roadmaps get deferred
  4. Avoids deals where they cannot get a technology access agreement (TAA) alongside the equity: if you will not commit to a paid pilot or eval with their government partners, the strategic value evaporates
  5. Skeptical of QKD over fiber for government use (NSA has publicly disfavored it), PQC software pure-plays also crowded post their Sandbox AQ exposure

Notable quantum portfolio

Full portfolio
IonQD-WaveRigetti ComputingInfleqtionQ-CTRLQuantum Brilliance

Frequent co-investors