Los Alamos National Lab’s LEEP initiative introduces fifth cohort focused on AI, quantum

When Stephen Buchanan left the U.S. Army to enroll in Harvard Business School, he knew he eventually wanted to do “something entrepreneurial.”

But Buchanan didn’t think that venture would include quantum technologies. 

“I would have never expected it to be a quantum startup, to be honest, but I’m really glad it is,” said Buchanan, founder and CEO of Bandelier Technologies.

Buchanan, along with entrepreneurs Sonia Dagan and Holly Eagleston, make up the fifth cohort of the New Mexico Lab Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, or NM LEEP. Based at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the two-year fellowship supports startups that are looking to accelerate the commercialization of their technologies. 

Members from companies like Space Kinetic, Filtravate and Rarefied Technologies have been in previous cohorts, eventually graduating from NM LEEP and establishing New Mexico businesses.

Since its launch in 2021, NM LEEP has supported 10 startups and innovators who have raised $36 million to advance product development, establish strategic partnerships and create high-quality jobs throughout New Mexico.

Bandelier Technologies, founded in 2025, is currently made up of four employees, including Buchanan. The company focuses on quantum sensing, imaging and communications through a “quantum radar,” he said, aiming to enable the transition from lab experiments to real-world deployment for defense, space and biotech applications.

Buchanan, who has traveled the world throughout his life, said New Mexico’s recent embrace of the quantum industry played a large part in his interest in bringing Bandelier Technologies to the state. 

“I was more open to unique opportunities that maybe weren’t, per se, where everyone else was looking at, but that had a compelling reason why you’d go there,” Buchanan said. “And the opportunity to work with world-class scientists in the labs, the amazing facilities and technology, to me, was very appealing.”

Dagan, founder and CEO of Atolla Tech, agrees. 

Atolla Tech, founded in 2018, develops artificial intelligence-powered drone threat detection and classification sensors used in defense and critical infrastructures, Dagan said. But that wasn’t the goal until about a year ago, she said, as the company first started in agriculture, identifying insects based on wing and flight patterns. 

“It’s such an added value,” Dagan said. “You’re a startup, you’re very limited with funds, you can’t always hire the best-of-the-best, especially not in the early days. Here, you’re given this access to scientists, and it’s being paid through this program.”

As Atolla Tech attempted to automate pest management processes, Dagan said the company happened upon this new potential. 

“We had everything going on in Ukraine, and drones started becoming more of a real-time threat,” Dagan said. “We decided to pivot to counter drones and develop a solution for that, where we are detecting and classifying drones based on their propeller and flight patterns in order to provide a recognition of air-based objects, as well as threat assessments.”

Dagan said being a startup in the agriculture industry is tough, in part due to slow development, which didn’t make Atolla Tech particularly attractive to potential venture capital firms. But in this new sector, there’s an urgent need from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. 

Eagleston is the founder and CEO of Firescape AI, a wildfire risk platform for electric utilities that combines daily situational awareness with long-term mitigation planning.

“NM LEEP represents an incredible opportunity to leverage physics-based wildfire simulation technology from Los Alamos Labs and bring it into the energy industry to enhance grid resiliency,” Eagleston said in a statement.

With the most years under her belt, Dagan said one of the hardest things about being a startup is never having a “chance to simmer and enjoy the moment.”

“When you get a win, you never really get to celebrate it because everything is so fast-paced,” she said. “You think, ‘Wow, if I get this, it’s just going to be awesome,’ and then you do get it, and you’re already on to the next thing.” 

Dagan and Buchanan recognize that their journey with LANL is the pathway to creating something bigger for their companies. 

“There’s been some great examples of companies that have used the LEEP program exceptionally well,” Buchanan said. “We really want to, in our own way, emulate the way that they were able to use this program to advance their technology, advance their team and make sure that they’re providing the technology that best solves problems for their customers.”