This year, in collaboration with Elevate Quantum, three Colorado universities have announced that a new facility for fostering quantum technologies is coming to Colorado.
The State of Colorado has taken action to help bring the advances in quantum physics out of the lab and into the real world through its investment in the Quantum Incubator and related quantum assets throughout the state.
This facility will be housed in a 13,000-square-foot space in east Boulder. It is funded by a state tax incentive and spearheaded by CU Boulder in partnership with Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, and Elevate Quantum, a coalition of 120 organizations, including the three campuses, in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. And CU Boulder is providing leadership and staff resources for its development and launch.
And this facility will include a collaborative office environment for early-stage quantum companies and state-of-the-art scientific equipment — offering a testbed to transform ideas for quantum technologies into products that will benefit consumers in Colorado and beyond there. And quantum technologies could include sensors for detecting signs of illness in human breath or networks that may one day send data that can’t be hacked over long distances.
The quantum incubator is one way of growing the Mountain West region as a center of mass for quantum technology, said Scott Sternberg, executive director of the CUbit Quantum Initiative at CU Boulder. And it is especially timely as UNESCO has deemed 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. JILA, a joint research institute between CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), served as the regional epicenter for quantum research for over 60 years.
In 2023, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) named Elevate Quantum, headquartered in Denver, as an official tech hub for quantum information technology. Since that designation, the coalition has secured over $120 million in funding to grow the quantum industry in Colorado and the Mountain West.
As part of that effort, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law House Bill 1325 last year, which directed funds to create the new incubator. The quantum industry now supports about 3,000 jobs in the state, but that number could grow to more than 10,000 in the next decade.
In June, the U.S. National Science Foundation also announced a $20 million National Quantum Nanofab facility that will be constructed on the CU Boulder campus. Elevate Quantum is also launching a 70-acre campus in Arvada, Colorado, called the Quantum COmmons, with an initial 30,000 square feet of shared-use facilities developed by the Colorado School of Mines to support Elevate Quantum partners.
This new Boulder facility will also be a vibrant place to work. Physicists, engineers, lab workers, and businesspeople can meet quantum experts from Colorado and worldwide to share ideas and expertise. They’ll also be able to run experiments on equipment rarely seen outside large universities. That could include working atomic clocks or devices that measure the extremely fast ticking of atoms.
The quantum incubator will be located in BioMed Realty’s Flatiron Park at 5555 Central Ave. in Boulder. And Flatiron Park, a hub for life science and technology innovation, consists of 23 buildings and more than 1 million square feet of lab and office space.
KEY QUOTES:
“I couldn’t be prouder of the role CU Boulder is playing in this important work. By stepping up to secure the physical facility, establish the operating entity, identify prospective tenants and ready the building to ramp up operations starting in January, we are positioning the incubator to quickly fill an important need in advancing quantum innovation across the region.”
- Massimo Ruzzene, vice chancellor for research and innovation and dean of the institutes at CU Boulder
“Quantum science and technologies will enable life-changing advances that touch every segment of society. This collaborative facility will allow our researchers’ discoveries to progress more quickly from lab to market and will help cement Colorado and the United States as global leaders in this exciting field.”
- Chancellor Justin Schwartz
“We asked the question: What is Boulder great at when it comes to quantum? And how can the incubator provide a catalyst to make these assets even greater?”
- Scott Sternberg, executive director of the CUbit Quantum Initiative at CU Boulder
“Colorado’s new quantum facilities will help turn discoveries in the lab into real-world applications, continuing our leadership in quantum science and creating thousands of new jobs for Coloradans. We are excited to celebrate this milestone and look forward to the achievements it will bring to our state.”
- Eve Lieberman, executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade
“Colorado is the national hub for innovation in the fast-growing quantum industry and this new incubator will strengthen the industry in our state. By bringing together our world-class higher education system with the companies who are helping to shape this industry, this incubator will help drive forward the next chapter for quantum in Colorado, driving more jobs and economic development.”
- Gov. Jared Polis
“Thanks to the partnership of CU Boulder, Colorado State University and Colorado School of Mines, we were successful in designating Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West the nation’s leading quantum tech hub under the CHIPS and Science Act. And as we cheer the development of our state’s new quantum incubator—right here in Colorado’s 2nd—we are also celebrating the advancements and developments still to come.”
- U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, House Assistant Minority Leader
“Quantum technology will revolutionize industries, solve complex problems and significantly improve lives. CSU is proud to collaborate with other quantum experts across the state as part of this effort. We will continue to develop a leading-edge degree program infrastructure that will meet future workforce needs in this high-demand space.”
- CSU President Amy Parsons
“The new quantum incubator is a great example of the strong collaborative spirit driving Colorado’s leadership in quantum innovation. The quantum incubator and the Quantum COmmons shared-use campus in Arvada will be great attractors for and enablers of the technological innovation and quantum industry growth that is the Elevate Quantum vision.”
- Colorado School of Mines President Paul C. Johnson
“With these new facilities from CU and our R1 universities, we’re strengthening the foundation of what is already the world’s largest quantum industry cluster. Elevate Quantum could not be more excited to see this vital piece of infrastructure come to life.”
- Elevate Quantum CEO and Regional Innovation Officer Zachary Yerushalmi
“As a longstanding leader in this research, CU is excited to team up with CSU, the School of Mines, our partners at Elevate Quantum and the State of Colorado to realize this wonderful new facility. This meaningfully advances our efforts to establish Colorado as a global epicenter of quantum research and technology, and it will enable our great state to continue to drive this critical industry.”
- University of Colorado President Todd Saliman
