The $2.7 Trillion Opportunity Sitting in Washington's Backyard, and the Five Moves to Claim It
A new 2026 report from WTIA, the Northwest Quantum Nexus, and Moonbeam maps Washington's quantum computing strengths — and the concrete steps needed to lead a $2.7 trillion global market.
Here's a number that should get every economic-development and policy professional in this state leaning forward: $2.7 trillion. That's McKinsey's estimate of the economic value quantum computing could unlock globally by 2035, on the back of a private-investment market that jumped 6.3x last year alone, to $12.6 billion. Few places on Earth are as well positioned to capture a meaningful share of that as Washington State, and that's exactly why we wrote this report.
Quantum Technology in Washington State is our new 2026 update to the January 2023 landscape study we ran for the Washington State Department of Commerce, WTIA, and the Northwest Quantum Nexus (NQN). We spent the past several months re-mapping the ecosystem, tracing federal and state funding flows, assessing the workforce pipeline, and interviewing more than a dozen leaders across the region, from University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University (WSU) to Amazon's AWS, IBM, the Governor's office, and our neighbors in Montana. If you work in economic development, tech policy, or workforce strategy, this one's for you.
What we found: Washington has already built the hardest part
Building a quantum economy starts with the assets that take a decade to earn: research depth, corporate anchors, and manufacturing capacity. Washington already has all three, and we've only added to that lead since our 2023 baseline. IonQ opened the nation's first dedicated quantum manufacturing facility in Bothell. UW landed two new NSF quantum materials centers. Microsoft shipped its Majorana 1 and 2 chips. AWS expanded Amazon Braket. PNNL stood up a new cryogenic testbed. We didn't lose a single major asset along the way.
Our five-dimension scorecard reflects that strength: Washington rates "strong" on incumbent industry, academic research, and, a genuine surprise to us, quantum-computing patents, where we estimate the state ranks in the nation's top three. That's a remarkable foundation, and it means the work ahead isn't about catching up from scratch. It's about building the next layer on top of assets we already have.
The clearest opportunity sits in public and federal funding capture. Washington drew roughly 3% of national quantum SBIR dollars over the past decade, a share that has real room to grow given how much of that funding, especially from the Department of Defense, remains untapped here. States like Illinois ($500M+ Quantum and Microelectronics Park), Maryland (~$200M "Capital of Quantum"), and Colorado ($127M Elevate Quantum Tech Hub) have shown what's possible when public investment gets coordinated around existing private strength, exactly the kind of strength Washington already has in abundance. We're effectively the mirror image of Illinois: deep private IP paired with room to build public scaffolding, while they've built the public infrastructure and are still growing into the patents. Put the two halves together, and the playbook writes itself.
The workforce picture tells the same story of strong fundamentals with clear next steps. UW and WSU are producing real, in-demand talent, and there's a natural opportunity to build out the parts of the pipeline we haven't invested in yet: a community-college quantum technician track, an undergraduate credential like Colorado School of Mines offers, and stronger retention pathways for the roughly half of our quantum-track students who are foreign nationals. Washington's universities have proven they can produce the talent; the opportunity now is building the on-ramps that keep more of it here.
The five moves we're recommending
The best part: none of this requires reinventing the wheel or writing a nine-figure check. Here's what we're proposing:
- The State & Governor as catalyst. Convene a standing federal-capture table with universities, PNNL, incumbents, VCs, and Commerce, and connect Washington's substantial defense presence to the quantum SBIR, OTA, and BAA opportunities already open to us.
- Build a narrative around winnable lanes. Lean into what makes us distinct. Focus on one to three lanes, like post-quantum cryptography/security, supply chain and enabling hardware, and application use-cases across our existing life-science, aerospace, energy, and logistics strengths, and have state leadership champion them loudly.
- Build the workforce across all three tiers, led by developer enablement. Start with hackathons and SDK communities, fast, low-cost, high-signal moves, then build out the undergraduate and technician layers that roughly two-thirds of industry quantum jobs actually call for.
- Position Seattle as the quantum bridge to the Pacific. Formalize a Washington-Japan QSTAR partnership (Illinois and Maryland's governors are already doing this, and UW and Tohoku University have just formed one of their own) and make Seattle the U.S. landing pad for Asian quantum companies.
- Grow the startup and founder ecosystem. Stand up a single "front door" for founders and corporates, and put a spotlight on the machine access we already have (Braket, IonQ, IBM, WSU's IQ), an asset other states are actively promoting that Washington is currently underselling.
Why now is the moment
This is a tipping-point year for quantum globally, and Washington is starting from a position most states would envy: two hyperscalers, a DOE national lab, the nation's only large-scale quantum manufacturing facility, and top-tier research and patent depth. The question in front of us isn't whether Washington has what it takes. It's how quickly we coordinate around it.
We built this report to give economic-development leaders, legislators, and industry partners a shared, sourced starting point, not a shelf document. If you're working on workforce strategy, federal-funding capture, or cluster development and want to talk through how these recommendations map to your work, reach out. We'd love to compare notes.
Read the full report for the complete ecosystem map, funding analysis, workforce data, and AI/quantum convergence case studies.
Contact us: Nick Ellingson (nick@washingtontechnology.org), Arry Yu (arry@yellowumbrellaventures.com), Nirav Desai (nirav@moonbeam.ai)
About the Bloggers:
Arry Yu (WTIA & NQN)
Arry Yu is Board Chair of the Northwest Quantum Nexus, (NQN) and Co-Founder & Executive Director of Convergence: Tech Policy Institute (C:TPI), the think tank for 1871, the leading global innovation hub. A 3x serial founder who has raised over $35 million, she previously co-founded the U.S. Blockchain Coalition and served as Head of Strategy (U.S.) for the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC). She co-chaired the Washington State Blockchain Work Group, convened by the Washington State Department of Commerce, and served as primary author of its legislative recommendations to the Washington State Legislature. She also led an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Arry is a PSBJ "40 Under 40" honoree, former Adjunct Professor at Portland State University, and affiliated faculty to Seattle University's College of Science & Engineering, and advisor to the Milgard School of Business (as part of the Milgard Education Council). She also serves as Chair of the WTIA Advanced Technology Cluster. Recognized as a catalyst for tech ecosystems, Arry excels at scaling bold ideas from zero to one and convening diverse stakeholders around mission-driven initiatives.
Nick Ellingson (WTIA)
Nick Ellingson is VP of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) and the go-to human rolodex for anyone navigating the PNW startup and innovation ecosystem. Whether a founder needs an investor introduction, the right mentor, or just a straight answer on where to start, Nick is the first call they make. He has built and led a suite of programs at WTIA to support founders at every stage, and runs international market accelerators that help entrepreneurs from countries like Canada and South Korea develop their go-to-market strategies for entering the US through Seattle. He holds an Executive MBA from Seattle University and brings a background in sales and business development that gives him a practical, founder-friendly perspective on what it actually takes to grow a company.
Nirav Desai (Moonbeam)
Nirav S. Desai is Co-Founder & CEO of Moonbeam Exchange, an AI-powered platform helping organizations source, prototype, and scale emerging technology through data-driven innovation. He also leads Innovation Acceleration for a large technology hardware company, where he drives strategy at the intersection of enterprise adoption and frontier computing. Desai co-authored the 2023 Washington State Quantum Landscape Report and chairs PNWER's Innovation Committee, advancing regional technology policy across the Pacific Northwest. He serves as an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the University of Washington's Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and is Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Convergence: Tech Policy Institute.
About WTIA
The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit member trade association which operates as part of a consortium that includes a regulated 501(c)(9) association health plan and Portalus, a for-profit corporation providing 401(k) and healthcare services to small and medium-sized companies. Together, they create pathways for companies to grow, innovate, and compete on a global scale.
WTIA is the trade association in Washington state that serves the local tech ecosystem through policy and advocacy to help maintain the state as a hub for innovation, workshops and accelerators to help entrepreneurs launch their businesses, and employee benefits programs that enable startups and small and medium businesses to grow.
About NQN
The Northwest Quantum Nexus (NQN) is a regional coalition shaping the future of quantum. NQN unites universities, national labs, and industry to advance quantum information science and build a thriving Northwest quantum economy. The Northwest Quantum Nexus is committed to accelerating discovery and innovation in the rapidly evolving field of quantum technologies. Our mission is to advance the science and engineering of quantum information, attract and retain world-class talent, secure long-term investment, and build a sustainable quantum economy rooted in the Northwest. NQN serves as a collaborative engine for researchers, companies, universities, and government partners — creating a dynamic environment where ideas move from theory to impact.
About Moonbeam
Moonbeam Exchange is an AI-powered innovation brokerage that helps economic development agencies, governments, and corporations source, evaluate, and scale emerging technologies. Drawing on a research-backed database, Moonbeam has supported private-sector and public-sector partners across the U.S. and internationally in mapping innovation clusters, identifying capability gaps, and building technology strategy grounded in data. The firm has collaborated with the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) on regional innovation initiatives, and its research has informed policy discussions with international governments and informed domestic legislative priorities around AI, quantum, and other frontier technologies.