Qunnect Brings Multimillion-Dollar Quantum Infrastructure to New Mexico Supporting Startup and Commercial Technology Development

Albuquerque, N.M., and Brooklyn, N.Y. — February 24, 2026 — Qunnect announced today that ABQ-Net, America’s first open-access entanglement-based quantum network, is now live in New Mexico. The network will support startups and companies as a testbed for the development of commercial quantum technologies and launches with two active nodes connected over commercial fiber. Entanglement-based quantum networking supports use cases across cybersecurity, distributed quantum computing, and quantum sensing, with immediate applications in the defense, finance, telecom, and energy sectors. Aliro Quantum, a Boston-based quantum network software company, is among its first users, providing quantum security services on the network.

ABQ-Net addresses the cost and lack of access to real world network environments in which to test developing quantum technologies, a major obstacle for start-ups bringing quantum technologies to market. ABQ-Net provides a testbed with full-stack quantum networking capabilities, allowing founders to test their technologies on live, commercial systems and fiber, potentially saving startups millions in development costs. The hardware underpinning the network is powered by Qunnect’s flagship turnkey entanglement distribution system, Carina.

“ABQ-Net delivers on New Mexico’s investments to create an innovation hub for quantum in Albuquerque, providing a quantum networking test bed to help technologies emerge from the lab and enter into the real world," said Noel Goddard, CEO of Qunnect. “ABQ-Net is a functioning quantum network operating today, where founders and researchers can validate their technologies on live fiber. That advantage doesn’t just save time and cost, it gives companies confidence that their systems are deployment ready.”

ABQ-Net was established through funding from Roadrunner Venture Studios and with backing from the New Mexico Economic Development Department. The first two anchor nodes are located at Qunnect's downtown Albuquerque office and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), a Department of Energy-funded facility operated by Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The network is positioned to connect other entities across Albuquerque including Air Force Research Lab, University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College.

“When we were first imagining our quantum innovation platform, Qunnect’s deployment-ready technology was an obvious fit for driving forward a quantum network commercialization thesis," said Adam Hammer, Co-founder and CEO of Roadrunner Venture Studios. “Now quantum founders across the country now have a proving ground here in Albuquerque where they can validate their innovations on live infrastructure and save millions on development costs. We are proud to partner with Qunnect to offer this open-access quantum network to early-stage companies so they can go to market with their quantum innovations without leaving the state.”

Aliro will use ABQ-Net to deploy, test and validate its quantum security services. “Deploying quantum services and applications requires working on actual quantum networks operating under real-world conditions,” said Michael Cubeddu, Aliro’s Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer. “ABQ-Net gives us access to live infrastructure where we can deploy and validate joint solutions with Aliro’s network management software and real-time key generation operating system alongside Qunnect’s Carina entanglement distribution systems. Utilizing a live facility allows Aliro to refine and scale its quantum software solutions, accelerating the essential transition of these networks from lab experiments into resilient, real-world infrastructure.”

ABQ-Net is part of New Mexico's over $300 million commitment to building a quantum economy and the state's broader strategy to build quantum infrastructure that supports commercialization. By providing open access to quantum networking infrastructure, ABQ-Net positions the state as a national leader, giving founders the tools to take research to the market.

The network was commemorated by an opening event at Qunnect's Albuquerque facility, where policymakers, scientists, and industry leaders toured the live infrastructure and participated in a workshop with quantum networking researchers. Researchers and entrepreneurs interested in accessing ABQ-Net can email contact@quconn.com.

About Qunnect Qunnect builds deployable quantum networking infrastructure for provably secure, scalable connectivity over existing fiber-optic cables. Based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City, Qunnect commercialized the first room-temperature quantum memory in 2021. Its Carina suite — entanglement sources and stabilization tools — became the first entanglement-based hardware to run on live metro fiber optics in cities including NYC and Berlin. The company’s U.S. government partners include the U.S. Department of Defense, Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL), Department of Energy (DOE), and National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST). To learn more, visit www.qunnect.inc.

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