QAI Ventures Launches QuantumAI Accelerator in Singapore, Backed by Enterprise Singapore
QAI Ventures Launches QuantumAI Accelerator in Singapore, Backed by Enterprise Singapore
Synopsis
- Switzerland-based QAI Ventures establishes Asia’s first QuantumAI Accelerator in Singapore.
- Supported by Enterprise Singapore, Microsoft, SoftBank, DBS Bank, and Eraneos.
- The five-month program targets early-stage startups combining quantum computing and AI.
- Seven new ventures expected to be registered by 2027 under a US$150 million regional fund.
5 mins Read
Singapore’s ambition to lead in next-generation computing took a decisive step forward as QAI Ventures, a Switzerland-based venture-backed accelerator and intellectual property venture builder, announced the launch of its QuantumAI Accelerator in partnership with Enterprise Singapore. The initiative, first reported by The Quantum Insider and later covered by The Straits Times, was unveiled during the Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) 2025 and marks the company’s first major expansion into Asia after establishing operations in Europe and North America.
QAI Ventures’ new program targets the fast-emerging intersection of artificial intelligence and quantum computing — known as QuantumAI — which analysts at Bain & Company estimate could unlock more than US$250 billion in value across finance, logistics, materials science and pharmaceuticals. Google has claimed that quantum processors can outperform traditional supercomputers by factors exceeding 13,000, underscoring the speed at which the field is advancing.
According to QAI Ventures, the Singapore accelerator will operate as an intensive five-month program designed to help early-stage founders translate scientific breakthroughs into commercially scalable businesses. Applications opened on October 29 2025 and run until March 2 2026, with the first cohort scheduled to begin mid-2026. Startups that qualify will receive up to S$200,000 in seed funding during the program and as much as US$2 million in follow-on capital. Each team must consist of at least two founders and pass a due-diligence review before admission.
The curriculum combines mentorship from a global network of quantum technologists, venture capitalists and industry executives, along with masterclasses covering product-market fit, intellectual property strategy, fundraising and corporate governance. The program culminates in a high-profile Demo Day where participants pitch to international investors.
The launch follows QAI Ventures’ earlier success in Europe and North America, where the firm has incubated more than 20 deep-tech startups and now manages a portfolio of 27 companies. The Singapore headquarters, located along Battery Road, becomes the company’s fifth global office after Switzerland, the United States, Canada and Japan. The firm’s expansion into Asia was facilitated by Enterprise Singapore, which provided both grant support and strategic introductions through its innovation network.
Chief Executive Officer Alexandra Beckstein said in a statement cited by The Quantum Insider that QAI Ventures is “building the future of QuantumAI in Asia” through its accelerator and venture-building programs. The company aims to register seven new ventures in Singapore by 2027, three in the first year and four the following year, drawing from a proprietary database of more than 2,000 patents. Beckstein added that the initiative “fosters entrepreneurial dynamism, drives economic growth, and empowers innovators to translate QuantumAI breakthroughs into real-world impact.”
Enterprise Singapore’s Executive Director for Startup Ecosystem Sophia Ng said in the Straits Times report that the partnership provides “a bridge from laboratory to market for the quantum revolution to take off,” reinforcing Singapore’s position as a regional launchpad for quantum startups. She added that the collaboration strengthens the Republic’s readiness for quantum adoption among corporations and accelerates commercial deployment of new technologies.
Singapore’s growing interest in quantum technology has been backed by consistent state investment since 2002, including S$400 million in previous funding rounds and another S$300 million committed in 2024. Ling Keok Tong, Executive Director of the National Quantum Office, told The Straits Times that the government plans in 2026 to enlist the top three to five firms from strategic sectors — finance, biopharma, chemicals and materials science — to build quantum computing proof-of-concepts. “All these have to come together — infrastructure, talent, productization and industry deployment,” Ling said.
The program’s debut coincided with the conclusion of QAI Ventures’ Global GenQ Hackathon at SWITCH 2025, a competition aimed at scouting new talent in QuantumAI. The winning team, Quantum Kitties, was represented by Siddhant Dutta, a PhD student at Nanyang Technological University’s College of Computing and Data Science, and Pavana P. Karant, an undergraduate at India’s GSSS Institute of Engineering and Technology for Women. Their project addressed fraud detection for DBS Bank using interpretable quantum graph neural networks, which improved explainability and model performance in post-hoc credit card fraud scenarios.
As The Quantum Insider noted, the duo received a “Golden Ticket,” granting direct entry into the final pre-selection round of the accelerator and a chance to join its inaugural cohort. Dutta described the victory as “a huge milestone” that opened doors to entrepreneurship, adding that QAI Ventures and its partners “supported us exceptionally well throughout this journey.”
The GenQ Hackathon, supported by Microsoft, SoftBank, DBS Bank, Eraneos and quantum hardware providers such as IonQ, Quantinuum and IQM, forms part of a global series that spans Geneva, Calgary and Singapore. Each edition aligns with a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal — Life Sciences in Geneva, Energy in Calgary, and Economic Growth in Singapore — and aims to demonstrate practical QuantumAI applications for industry challenges.
Nobushige Oguri, Deputy Director of Digital Infrastructure Solutions at SoftBank Corp., said that QuantumAI “is a transformative force that will redefine the future of computing, enabling innovators to accelerate real-world breakthroughs.”
The SWITCH 2025 conference also hosted a panel moderated by Lisa Schroeder, Accelerator Director for QAI Ventures Singapore, featuring Beckstein, Ling, Dr Ying Chen of the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Quantitative Finance, and Dr Rajeeb Hazra, Chief Executive of Quantinuum. Hazra commented that quantum AI would make artificial intelligence “more powerful, more trustworthy and more useful,” particularly in chemistry and materials science, while Chen noted that researchers often face barriers in funding, engineering support and intellectual property ownership when commercializing their work. “Our researchers are trained to publish papers,” Chen said. “Collaborating with deep-tech ventures like QAI can help bridge that gap.”
As enthusiasm around the technology grows, experts interviewed by The Straits Times observed that quantum computing may reach mainstream adoption by the early 2030s, similar to how ChatGPT accelerated the spread of generative AI in 2022. Ling predicted that by 2030, companies still outside the quantum space “would begin to worry” as early adopters gain an advantage, prompting wider adoption across industries.
Beckstein, whose firm has already made 27 investments in QuantumAI ventures, pointed to recent consolidation in the sector. She cited Oxford Ionics, a University of Oxford spin-out that was acquired by US-based IonQ in a deal valued at approximately US$1.075 billion earlier in 2025, as evidence of investor confidence and the industry’s rapid maturation.
QAI Ventures’ expansion arrives as Singapore continues to position itself as the regional nexus for advanced computing, quantum research and applied AI. By aligning government support, private capital and global expertise, the partnership between QAI Ventures and Enterprise Singapore strengthens the city-state’s ambition to become Asia’s hub for the commercialization of quantum innovation.
Reported by Matt Swayne for The Quantum Insider and The Straits Times.
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About QAI Ventures
QAI Ventures is a Switzerland-based venture capital–backed accelerator and intellectual-property venture builder focused on the convergence of quantum computing and artificial intelligence, often referred to as QuantumAI. Headquartered in Zug with offices in the United States, Canada, Japan and now Singapore, the company develops early-stage deep-tech startups through intensive five-month programs that combine mentorship, technical guidance and investor access. Its Singapore hub, launched in collaboration with Enterprise Singapore, marks QAI’s first expansion into Asia and serves as the anchor for its plan to incubate seven new QuantumAI ventures by 2027.
Over the past three years, QAI Ventures has supported more than 20 companies and built a portfolio of 27 startups worldwide. Led by founder and chief executive Alexandra Beckstein, the firm also operates a venture-building arm leveraging a proprietary database of over 2,000 quantum-related patents to transform academic research into commercial solutions that accelerate the global QuantumAI ecosystem.
Featured image Source: Quantum Insider
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