SEALSQ announced it has allocated up to $20 million of its available cash to invest in startups specialising in quantum computing, Quantum-as-a-Service (QaaS), and AI-driven semiconductor technologies. This initiative is a critical component of the SEALSQ Quantum Roadmap, designed to deliver the technology, services, and strategic frameworks necessary for an end-to-end quantum-safe transformation while ensuring cryptographic agility.
The investment will support multiple startups who are developing quantum computers and computing architectures, quantum networking solutions, and Cloud-based quantum services strengthened by SEALSQ’s security protocols. SEALSQ is also fostering innovation in AI-powered chipsets that integrate with its post-quantum semiconductors, enhancing processing efficiency and security resilience across classical and quantum threats.
“By investing into cutting-edge startups focused on quantum computing, QaaS, and AI-driven semiconductor technologies, we will be fostering innovation and creativity, promoting unconventional thinking, and assisting entrepreneurs in finding creative solutions to challenging issues,” said Carlos Moreira, CEO of SEALSQ. “Innovation and commitment to create a better world has always been a part of our DNA and we are proud to continue to do our part by investing up to $20 million via this initiative.”
Quantum computing is a significant shift in computational power while also posing a threat to existing cryptographic standards, including conventional encryption methods RSA and ECC. Estimates suggest that nation-state actors are already harvesting encrypted sensitive data to decrypt once quantum technology reaches large-scale fault tolernace.
Therefore, the urgency to transition to post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) standards has been highlighted. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published the first officials standards for PQC.
The proliferation of 5G networks, IoT and smart environments means enterprises face huge challenges in managing encryption at scale. An increase in the number of sensorised devices, autonomous systems, and AI-driven infrastructure will necessitate billions of encryption keys, which increases the complexity of key management and cryptographic deployment.
SEALSQ’s Quantum Roadmap addresses these particular challenges by integrating post-quantum encryption solutions directly into semiconductor architectures, ensuring implementation across multi-Cloud, hybrid, and Edge computing environments. Embedding PQC algorithms at the hardware level means SEALSQ is providing enterprises with future-proof security against near-term and long-term quantum threats.
In order to qualify for investment, startups must demonstrate advancements in quantum computing, quantum security, or AI-powered semiconductor development. SEALSQ’s evaluation process involves assessing the technological maturity, scalability potential, and alignment with the SEALSQ Quantum Roadmap and platform.
Companies will undergo rigorous technical due dilligence as their cryptographic resilience, hardware-software integration capabilities, and regulatory compliance will all be assessed. Startups focused on developing quantum key distribution (QKD), lattice-based cryptographic protocols, or quantum-secured Cloud environments will be priortiised. The selection process involves collaborating with academic institutions and industry experts to validate the feasibility and long-term viaibility of the proposed solutions.
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