Israel Quantum Computing Infrastructure Call 2026: Separate from the Closed Startup Opportunity

Israel Quantum Computing Infrastructure Call 2026: Separate from the Closed Startup Opportunity

The opportunity originally described on this page was a startup-only quantum funding listing. That 2025 opportunity is closed, and there is no confirmed successor that offers the previously stated per-startup amount or startup-only eligibility. Do not use this page as evidence that an individual company can apply for a quantum grant under the old listing.

The current official listing is a different program: the Israel Innovation Authority’s Access to Quantum Computing R&D Infrastructure call. It opened on 19 July 2026 and accepts applications until 8 October 2026 at 12:00 noon Israel time. The call is intended to establish or provide access to a national-level R&D infrastructure for quantum computing. Its direct target audience is an industrial corporation or a user group, while Israeli companies and research institutions are expected to use the resulting services.

That distinction is the central correction. A quantum startup may benefit from the infrastructure later, and a company could potentially participate in a qualifying user group, but the call is not a cheque to each startup that wants to develop a product. The amount, application requirements, and evaluation criteria are designed for an entity that can build, integrate, operate, and sustain a shared R&D facility.

Current status at a glance

What the current call is funding

The call sits within the Innovation Authority’s R&D Infrastructure Fund. Its stated purpose is to establish or provide access to R&D infrastructure in quantum computing and make that infrastructure available to the wider community. The facility is meant to accelerate Israeli research and development across the full stack rather than support only one hardware vendor or one application company.

The required scope is unusually broad. The official call describes work spanning hardware and qubits, control and measurement, error correction, software and algorithms, user interfaces, and applications built on quantum computers. The infrastructure must include at least three different quantum-processing technologies. The listed examples are superconducting, trapped-ion, neutral-atom, photonics-based, and quantum-dot-based systems. An applicant therefore needs a credible multi-platform plan, not a proposal centered on a single processor that happens to be available today.

The facility is expected to provide practical R&D services. These include benchmarking and technology comparison, performance measurements such as fidelity and error rates, algorithm development and testing, software tool chains and programming interfaces, hybrid quantum-classical or high-performance-computing integration, proof-of-concept experiments, error-mitigation and control work, and integration of systems such as cryogenics, optics, electronics, and measurement equipment.

The call also names industry services and knowledge transfer. A successful infrastructure can support companies in assessing whether a use case is ready for quantum experimentation, adapting quantum methods to industrial problems, and developing applications for end users. Training and workforce development are part of the described service set as well. This is why the program should be read as a shared technical facility with an operating model, not as a conventional startup competition.

Who can apply, and who benefits

The official target audience includes an industrial corporation and a user group for the relevant activity period. The threshold conditions require the program to be carried out in Israel by Israeli residents unless the Research Committee accepts and records a reason that part of the work must happen outside Israel or involve non-residents. The applicant must carry out the approved program itself, use a designated implementer, or use an implementer approved under the applicable incentive track.

The infrastructure’s users are a broader group. The call specifically refers to Israeli corporations and Israeli research institutions active in quantum computing. Startups are included in the service picture: the infrastructure may provide development support to startups and companies, access to hardware, and assistance with application development. That does not turn the infrastructure award into a startup grant. It means the facility is intended to lower access barriers for companies that cannot independently purchase and operate several quantum platforms.

Applicants also need to satisfy the call’s other threshold conditions. The application cannot duplicate a financing request under another Innovation Authority track, and a program that already received relevant government or Authority support cannot receive an additional benefit contrary to the program rules. The applicant must not have restricted bank accounts or be in receivership, a stay of proceedings, liquidation, or similar proceedings. The applicant must undertake to own the know-how and related rights arising from the approved R&D program, including intellectual-property rights, from their creation. These are infrastructure-call conditions; they are not the age cap, lab-partnership rule, or per-company grant terms that appeared in the old startup description.

Amount and funding structure

The current call provides up to NIS 100 million for the entire approved program period. The official page states that the grant rate will be 55% or 66% of the approved budget, according to the applicable program. The balance is therefore part of the applicant’s financial plan. The NIS 100 million figure is a ceiling for an approved infrastructure program, not an amount reserved for each participant, user group, or startup.

The proposal must show how the infrastructure will work during the grant period and remain viable afterward. The Authority asks applicants to describe a near-term operating concept, continuing sustainability, expected sales and revenue, profitability, complementary financing, and income from services beginning in the first year. The business model must address both the approved period and continued independent operation. Pricing for users matters because the call evaluates the terms under which industrial corporations can access the equipment, including service availability and price.

This funding structure changes how a prospective applicant should budget. A credible submission needs to separate equipment procurement, facility and operating requirements, personnel, maintenance, integrations, training, service delivery, and the applicant’s complementary financing. It also needs to explain why the proposed infrastructure offers something that cannot be obtained effectively, affordably, or operationally from existing Israeli or international alternatives.

What an applicant should prepare

The official criteria give a useful checklist for the work behind the application.

First, document demand. Identify the Israeli corporations and research institutions that would use the facility, the services they need, and the technical or financial barrier that prevents them from obtaining those services now. Compare existing alternatives in Israel and abroad. A list of interested organizations is weaker than a quantified usage plan showing platforms, service types, expected demand, access terms, and likely timing.

Second, define the multi-technology architecture. Name the quantum-processing technologies that will be installed or made available, explain how they will be integrated, and describe the controllers, error-correction layers, operating software, physical or online interfaces, and supporting envelope. The proposal should make clear how users will compare platforms and how hardware, software, algorithms, and classical computing will work together.

Third, provide an implementation schedule. The Authority asks for a detailed work plan covering planning, procurement, equipping, installation, operation, qualification, process development, testing, characterization, and complete-process validation. Each major procurement and integration step should have an owner, a dependency, a test method, and a point at which the service can begin. A broad promise to provide access later is not enough.

Fourth, identify the people and partners who can execute the plan. The application should describe personnel with experience in planning and establishing quantum-computing systems, controlling processes, operating and maintaining equipment, integrating hardware, and providing access for application testing. Strategic partners and subcontractors should have clearly stated responsibilities. The Authority also asks for collaborations with industry and academia in Israel and abroad, and for a plan to train staff for R&D, support, operation, and related activities.

Fifth, explain service delivery and rights. The proposal should state what services users receive, when each service begins, expected usage costs, and how intellectual-property ownership will work. It should also explain how the infrastructure will be accessible to different users and how service quality, maintenance, redundancy, and process control will be managed according to accepted international standards.

Application process for the 2026 infrastructure call

The current deadline is 8 October 2026 at 12:00 noon Israel time. Late applications will not be accepted. The application must be submitted through the personal area on the Authority’s Hebrew website, using the procedure and forms associated with the call.

An applicant should follow this sequence:

1. Read the full call, the linked R&D Infrastructure Fund program, and the applicable procedures. Confirm that the applicant is an industrial corporation or qualifying user group and that the proposed work fits the infrastructure track.
2. Build the technical, operating, service, staffing, partnership, budget, and sustainability sections around the Authority’s threshold and evaluation criteria. Include the multi-platform plan and the required complementary financing.
3. Complete the application form and its budget spreadsheet or other required appendices in the Authority’s online system. Check that the named applicant, implementers, partners, and ownership arrangements are consistent across every attachment.
4. Submit through the personal area before 12:00 noon on 8 October 2026. Allow time for account access, uploads, validation messages, and any correction the system requests.
5. Monitor the official call page for procedural updates. The Authority states that updates, if any, will be published there, and that submitting an application does not create a commitment to approve it.

The Authority’s page also announces a webinar for 9 August 2026 at 11:00. Applicants should use the official page for the webinar details and the current channels for questions about the procedure or the personal-area submission process.

What this means for a quantum startup

If you are an early-stage Israeli quantum company, this page is not an application guide for a NIS 2.5 million startup award. That earlier amount was not confirmed on the Authority’s current official material, and the 2025 startup-only opportunity is closed. The current NIS 100 million program has a different applicant model and a different purpose.

The infrastructure could still matter commercially. A startup may become a user, customer, development partner, or member of a qualifying user group. Access to multiple processors, benchmarking, algorithm testing, control work, training, and application support could reduce the cost of proving a product claim. A company should wait for the selected operator’s access rules and pricing before treating that benefit as available. The current call sets the framework for the infrastructure; it does not promise a particular number of subsidized hours or a particular startup-access mechanism.

For a company seeking direct R&D support now, the relevant route must be checked separately under the Innovation Authority’s active startup, R&D, or international-collaboration programs. Those programs have their own application rules, deadlines, funding structures, and eligibility tests. They should not be presented as a successor to this closed startup listing unless the Authority publishes a quantum-specific call saying so.

Bottom line

The old startup opportunity remains closed with no confirmed successor on its former terms. The current official opportunity is the 2026 Access to Quantum Computing R&D Infrastructure call. It is open through 8 October 2026 at 12:00 noon Israel time, offers up to NIS 100 million for an approved infrastructure program at a 55% or 66% grant rate, and requires a shared facility covering at least three quantum-processing technologies. Its direct applicants are an industrial corporation or user group capable of operating the infrastructure. Israeli startups and research institutions are intended users of the resulting services, not automatic recipients of the infrastructure grant.

Official link

Access to Quantum Computing R&D Infrastructure — Israel Innovation Authority