Singapore: Turning Quantum Research into Business Opportunity - EE Times

Singapore is taking quantum technologies from lab to market. For international technology companies, this creates one of Southeast Asia’s biggest opportunities: to get involved in an emerging commercial quantum ecosystem.The city-state is backing its ambition with government funding, research infrastructure, and programs designed to turn scientific expertise into usable technologies. International quantum companies are setting up in Singapore, and businesses are starting to test practical applications.McKinsey estimates that the global market for quantum technology hardware, software, and services could reach US$60 to $100 billion by 2035, with quantum computing alone accounting for US$43 to US$71 billion.Southeast Asia will account for only part of that, but even a relatively small share would create a regional opportunity amounting to billions of dollars.Singapore has invested more than two decades in developing quantum science.

Its National Quantum Strategy, announced in 2024, committed close to S$300 million (~US$235 million) over five years to advancements in engineering, commercialization, and talent development. It builds on substantial earlier investment dating back to 2002.The strategy is coordinated by the National Quantum Office (NQO), established in 2022 and hosted by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR) to drive the country’s quantum research, innovation, and enterprise agenda.Quantum is also being carried forward under RIE2030, Singapore’s new S$37 billion (~US$29 billion) five-year research and innovation plan, which identifies AI and quantum as important technologies for future competitiveness, calling for stronger capabilities to translate quantum research into practical applications.The strategy is supported by national programs that cover computing, processors, fabrication, quantum-safe communications, and sensing. For companies focused specifically on quantum computing, three stand out.The National Quantum Computing Hub is developing computing capabilities and working with industry on applications.

The National Quantum Federated Foundry is supporting fabrication and the development of critical quantum devices.

And The National Quantum Processor Initiative is building local expertise in trapped-ion and neutral-atom processors, alongside work in photonics and control electronics.The last program is particularly relevant for hardware companies. Singapore already has a major semiconductor industry, accounting for about 15% of global chip output and 20% of global semiconductor equipment output. Its existing manufacturing and engineering base gives the country capabilities that can be adapted to parts of the quantum supply chain.The infrastructure extends beyond computing.

The Quantum Sensing Centre, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Defence and NQO—implemented by Singapore’s largest defense R&D organization, DSO National Laboratories—opened in 2025 as a collaborative facility for developing quantum sensors for defense and commercial applications.Talent is another priority. Singapore’s National Quantum Scholarships Scheme aims to develop up to 100 Ph.D. and 100 Master’s-level specialists over five years, while the country continues to attract international researchers and engineers.Singapore is not waiting for a fully fault-tolerant quantum computer before building commercial expertise.The more immediate model is hybrid computing. Conventional high-performance computing and AI do most of the work, with quantum systems applied selectively to particularly difficult calculations. McKinsey identifies this hybrid approach as the most credible route to near-term value.That fits well with Singapore’s economy. Early work is concentrating on industries where optimization and simulation issues already exist.Financial services are one example. In July 2026, UOB and Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies announced a project to explore quantum techniques for valuing complex financial derivatives. Researchers will test whether quantum methods could eventually process large numbers of market scenarios more efficiently.There’s government funding behind this experimentation, too.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank and financial regulator, has committed an additional S$100 million (~US$78.3 million) under its Financial Sector Technology & Innovation scheme to support quantum and AI capabilities. Its dedicated FSTI Quantum Track supports areas including quantum technology centers, industry use cases such as valuation, optimization and risk modeling, and quantum-security projects.Drug discovery and molecular modeling are the others. The Centre for Quantum Technologies began a two-year collaboration with Qubit Pharmaceuticals, a French computational drug-discovery company combining physics, AI, and quantum methods, in 2026 to develop and test quantum algorithms for molecular discovery.Other promising areas include materials development, logistics, and supply chain optimization.Cybersecurity is also developing into an important commercial market.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is supporting nationwide deployment of quantum-safe communications through the National Quantum-Safe Network Plus, while the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) released a Quantum-Safe Migration Handbook and Quantum Readiness Index in July 2026 to help organizations assess and prepare for the transition to quantum-resistant security.For global companies, this means the opportunity goes well beyond selling quantum computers. Software developers, algorithm specialists, cybersecurity providers, and systems integrators can all play a role in connecting quantum capabilities to real business problems.The ecosystem is beginning to attract major overseas quantum businesses.In March 2026, Quantinuum, a U.S.-British full-stack quantum computing company developing trapped-ion hardware and quantum software, opened an R&D and operations center in Singapore. This year, the company plans to deploy Helios, its latest-generation trapped-ion quantum computer designed for hybrid quantum-classical computing, making Singapore the first country outside the U.S. to host the system. Its work in Singapore is targeting applications in areas including pharmaceuticals, materials science, and finance.There are opportunities further down the hardware stack, too.In February 2026, Singapore’s National Quantum Federated Foundry partnered with Qolab, a U.S. quantum hardware company developing semiconductor-manufactured superconducting processors, to develop cryogenic low-pass filters. The aim is to manufacture these components on semiconductor wafers, addressing one of the engineering challenges involved in scaling quantum computers.Commercial engagement is also becoming more visible. Singapore’s Quantum Industry Day in April 2026 brought together around 250 participants from government, research, and industry.These developments suggest Singapore’s role will not depend on winning a race to build a particular type of quantum computer. The opportunity is broader: providing research, engineering, software, and commercial environment in which several technologies can be developed and deployed.Singapore is the region’s most developed quantum hub, but activity is spreading.The first ASEAN Quantum Summit was held in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, last December, bringing together more than 200 regional delegates and covering quantum computing, communications, sensing, and metrology.Malaysia is making some of the most visible moves. MIMOS, Malaysia’s national applied R&D center under the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation, launched the country’s first Quantum Intelligence Centre in February 2025 and agreed with South Korea’s SDT to establish a ‘Quantum Valley’ focused on R&D, startups, and supply chain development.MIMOS, which is also testing quantum communications, and its partners demonstrated quantum key distribution over 52 km of existing fiber infrastructure late last year, including an application demonstrating secure financial transactions between Malaysia and Singapore.Elsewhere, Thailand hosted Southeast Asia’s first regional quantum computing hackathon in 2025, with teams developing applications around climate change, healthcare, and renewable energy. The Philippines is also funding a hybrid quantum computing project focused on forecasting and optimization for the electric power grid.For most international firms, the strongest opportunity is not to try to build an entire quantum computer in Southeast Asia.Instead, there are openings across the technology stack. Quantum hardware depends on a much wider ecosystem of enabling technologies including specialized photonic components and precision lasers, modulators and detectors, cryogenic systems, control and readout electronics, semiconductor fabrication, filtering, packaging, and interconnect technologies.Different quantum architectures require different combinations of these capabilities, creating opportunities for specialist suppliers that may not consider themselves quantum computing companies today.On the software side, there is room for companies developing middleware that connects quantum and classical computing, as well as industry-specific algorithms and applications.Quantum-safe communications and cybersecurity are other potential growth areas, while training, technical services, and joint R&D will be important as companies build internal expertise.Singapore is well placed to act as the regional base for this activity. It combines advanced research with semiconductor capabilities, major corporate end-users and government-backed routes into collaborative projects.Malaysia and other Southeast Asian markets can then provide additional research partners, customers, and deployment opportunities.Singapore’s quantum computing industry, then, is still in its nascent stages, and there is no certainty about which technologies or business models will ultimately win.But the nation’s direction is becoming clear: It is moving from funding quantum science to building the infrastructure, talent, commercial demand, and partnerships needed to commercialize it.For international companies with a useful piece of the quantum technology stack, getting involved while the ecosystem is still taking shape will be far more valuable than waiting until the market matures.U.S. Awards Anderon $1B for Quantum Wafer ManufacturingD-Wave Buys Quantum Circuits in Shift to Higher GearHow Quantum Computing Earns Its Place in the Data CenterQuiX Quantum Aims for Universal Photonic Quantum Computer in 2026 RELATED TOPICS: QUANTUM, QUANTUM COMPUTING Pietro Guzzetti is a senior project manager for Southeast Asia at global business development consultancy Intralink. 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