Due Diligence for the Quantum Technology Market
The quantum technology market is attracting billions in investment across computing, networking, sensing, and security. For investors, the challenge is evaluating companies whose technology claims require specialized expertise to assess, in a market where timelines are uncertain and vendor roadmaps are ambitious.
This course provides a structured due diligence framework for quantum technology investments. It covers all four quantum technology domains, computing, networking, sensing, and security, at a level sufficient for informed investment decisions, without requiring a physics background.
Course Outline
Module 1. The Four Domains of Quantum Technology (60 minutes)
The four domains of quantum technology. Quantum computing: the five hardware approaches, current capabilities, key players, and realistic timelines. Quantum networking: QKD deployment status, commercial providers, and the path to quantum internet. Quantum sensing: which devices are deployable today and which markets they serve. Quantum security (PQC): the migration wave and the companies enabling it. Market size estimates and their reliability.
Module 2. Investment Due Diligence (60 minutes)
A structured framework for evaluating quantum technology companies. Technology readiness: how to assess whether a company’s technical claims are credible without being a physicist. Team assessment: what backgrounds and expertise indicate real capability. Market timing: too early, too late, or right. Competitors: who else is doing this and what differentiation actually looks like. IP evaluation: what constitutes defensible intellectual property in quantum technology. Revenue models and paths to commercialization across each domain.
Module 3. Risk Assessment and Portfolio Strategy (60 minutes)
Technology risk: what could go wrong and how to assess probability. Market risk: government funding dependence, export controls, and geopolitical factors. Competitive risk: how quickly can advantages erode. Timeline risk: quantum computing timelines have historically been optimistic. Portfolio strategy: how quantum technology fits in a technology investment portfolio. The relationship between quantum computing investments and quantum security (PQC) investments, and they have different timelines and risk profiles.
Prerequisites
None.
Who this course is for
Venture capital and private equity professionals, sovereign wealth fund analysts, institutional investors, equity research analysts, and corporate development teams evaluating quantum technology investments.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Assess the technology maturity curve across quantum computing, networking, and sensing
- Evaluate the who competes with whom: who is building what, where funding is concentrated, and what public/private market activity signals
- Apply a structured framework for evaluating technical claims in pitch decks and earnings calls
- Identify supply chain dependencies and single points of failure in quantum technology stacks
- Understand the geopolitical risk dimension: export controls, investment restrictions, and quantum sovereignty
- Evaluate the quantum workforce and talent pipeline as an investment factor
What you leave with
You leave with the course handbook, a PDF of the full material with the instructor notes written out in place of the slides’ bullet points, and a PDF copy of Quantum Sovereignty, included at no extra cost. The handbook is yours to keep. For most organizations, that shared reference is the clearest return on a training budget.
Enrollment includes 180 days of access to the online on-demand course. Where that course is not yet published, the 180 days start on the day it is.
Where this course fits
Nothing is required, and no technical background is assumed. Quantum Computing for Executives for more technical grounding, and Quantum Supply Chains and Geopolitics for the sovereignty and export-control dimension.
Why we teach this
The material comes from Quantum Ready, the book on organizational readiness written by the course author, and from faculty who sit in these conversations on the other side of the table. We teach executives the questions we have watched go unasked.
Certificate of Completion
Upon completion, you will receive a Quantum Academy certificate of completion. This is not a professional certification.
About this program
Quantum Academy credentials are private professional credentials issued by Quantum Academy, a trade name of Post-Quantum Institute. They are not government-issued licenses, accredited degrees, or academic credit, and earning one does not guarantee employment, promotion, regulatory approval, or any other specific outcome.
Quantum Academy programs are educational and informational only, and are not legal, compliance, or engineering advice.