New Mexico awards $25 million to Roadrunner Venture Studios for quantum innovation push

Roadrunner Venture Studios has won the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s $25 million quantum innovation and commercialization award, part of a larger state plan to become a national tech hub.

State officials agree that with the presence of two national laboratories and multiple research facilities, New Mexico is in a prime position to trail blaze the advancement of quantum technology. The global market for quantum technologies is expected to reach over $150 billion by 2040, according to a 2024 McKinsey Digital report, which would allow the state to reap those economic benefits.

“We’re very well positioned as a state to take advantage of the inherent resources we have (and) the workforce development we have,” Secretary of Economic Development Rob Black told the Journal.

The Albuquerque-based venture studio will lead a coalition of quantum researchers, funders and innovators from Elevate Quantum, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of New Mexico and others, in building a campus Downtown aimed at drawing in quantum-oriented startups from across the state.

“This grant validates the model we’ve been building at Roadrunner over the last two years,” Roadrunner CEO and Co-Founder Adam Hammer wrote to the Journal. “As a leading venture studio focused on commercializing deep technologies, our mission is to take world-class science out of the lab and turn it into companies that can grow.”

The Downtown Albuquerque campus will feature a multi-node quantum network, dilution refrigerators, a quantum testbed, packaging and demonstration facilities, and a prototyping facility.

Roadrunner says it will develop a company creation program focused on identifying new quantum talent and scaling quantum information companies. It will also create a new capital network explicitly for investing in New Mexico-based quantum startups.

“Over the next few years, we plan to build one of the most important six-block areas in the world for quantum computing, sensing, and networking,” Hammer said. “The goal is not just to build labs and offices, but to create a magnet for the best quantum scientists and founders in the world — a place where they know they can come to invent, build, and scale.”

The EDD put out requests for proposals in May, seeking an entity that could not only develop a physical space for a quantum venture studio but operate the program as well. That made Roadrunner, founded in 2022, a good fit.

Nora Meyers Sackett, director of the department’s Technology and Innovation Office, said the $25 million was appropriated to them in the 2025 legislative session specifically for quantum advancement in the state.

“New Mexico has a unique opportunity to capitalize on the growth of the quantum technologies industry. The state has unique core competencies and assets in this field,” Meyers Sackett said. “The industry’s expected to have a $200 billion market by 2040, (and) we want that activity to be growing here in New Mexico.”

Hammer said Roadrunner feels a “real urgency” to move quickly in the quantum tech race, and so too does the EDD.

“At the same time, we know this work takes years and requires reinvestment. We’re not just looking for quick wins. We’re laying a durable foundation for quantum innovation that will pay dividends for decades,” Hammer said.

Competing with five other proposals, Meyers Sackett said Roadrunner was selected for a “variety of reasons.” She noted that the company specifically integrates and strengthens existing quantum efforts in New Mexico.

“Their proposal was really, clearly integrated with the folks in New Mexico who are already doing the work in this industry and who are working to bring in additional outside opportunities and investments,” Meyers Sackett said. “It’s really clear that this will be a successful initiative for the state.”

The EDD will be closely involved moving forward, Meyers Sackett said, ensuring Roadrunner is meeting milestones and goals outlined in its proposal.

Roadrunner, whose facilities are already in Downtown Albuquerque, quickly jumped on the deep-tech scene in New Mexico when the State Investment Council made a $100 million commitment to America’s Frontier Fund in 2022, ultimately creating the venture studio. The SIC last year restructured that investment, giving Roadrunner $50 million to invest back into the company’s operations, which includes everything from offering startups access to capital to lab and office space.

The award comes at a time when quantum is gaining an even stronger foothold in New Mexico — and in particular, Albuquerque — as breakthroughs in the technology are nearing.

On Saturday, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said he wanted to make Albuquerque “a global leader in quantum computing,” during his State of the City address, believing it will soon drive burgeoning industries like artificial intelligence and health care.

Last month, Colorado-based Quantinuum said it is renovating an Albuquerque building to serve as its research and development facility.

And in April, Mesa Quantum, also from Colorado, said it would come to New Mexico for at least two years to develop the laser systems integral to quantum sensing applications.

Elevate Quantum CEO Zach Yerushalmi said he feels it’s a “really special” time for New Mexico’s quantum ecosystem, and the team is honored to help move the progress along.

As part of the coalition, Yerushalmi said Elevate Quantum’s role will be to accelerate the commercialization of quantum by creating connections through community engagement, articulating the needs of and setting conditions for entrepreneurs, and creating technology roadmaps.

He said New Mexico has been “doing the hard work” of quantum development, and that the state will always be an amazing research ecosystem. But, that’s only the beginning of the wave that can lead it to being known as a quantum commercial center worldwide.

“Given its research prowess, the ambition, the thoughtfulness of the state’s strategy, it’s kind of New Mexico’s to lose,” Yerushalmi said. “But, I’m excited they’re in that position for it. It’s just amazing.”