South America

As of: late September 2026 (research cutoff ~Sep/Oct 2026)
Method: WebSearch / WebFetch only; no fabrication. Claims that could not be confirmed in primary or strong secondary sources are marked [unverified] or [secondary / soft source].
Scope: Brazil (primary depth), Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay; brief notes on other SA countries.

Executive summary

South America’s quantum landscape is highly asymmetric. Brazil is the only country with a multi-institution industrial–academic stack approaching an “ecosystem”: national funding programmes, metropolitan QKD networks, device-fabrication labs, competence centres, educational hardware, a thin but real startup layer, and—critically in 2026—on-premises quantum computer procurement (Chinese CETC systems for Paraíba’s CIQuanta; Finnish IQM Spark for Eldorado in Campinas). Even so, Brazil remains early-stage: most “quantum computers” in-country until late 2026 were simulators or pedagogical devices; cloud access (IBM, AWS, others) still dominates day-to-day research.

Argentina has strong physics talent (CNEA, Balseiro, CONICET university groups) and an inter-institutional quantum programme funding hardware projects (including a CNEA fluxonium processor effort), but chronic underfunding and a thin startup base. Chile launched a credible three-year ANID “Anillo” to build a neutral-atom machine (Quantü) at UC Chile / USM—foundational, not commercial. Colombia has a MinCiencias funding line (ColombIA Inteligente) and an ion-trap processor effort at Univalle’s CiBioFi—still experimental. Uruguay punches above its weight via Quantum-South (Montevideo), a cargo-optimisation software firm that is a documented IBM Quantum Network and Microsoft Quantum Network member. Peru is mainly a conference/community node (Quantum Latino 2023 in Lima). Other SA countries show negligible industry activity as of this cutoff.

There is no EuroHPC-style shared regional quantum–HPC infrastructure in South America. Cross-border coordination is soft (CLEI GT-1, RIPAISC, hackathons, LAQNet mentions [secondary]), not a funded federated compute fabric.

Regional comparison (honest)

1. Brazil (primary depth)

1.1 Government programmes and strategy

MCTI national quantum push (2025–). In April 2025, Folha reported MCTI working on a quantum computing development plan proposing ~R$ 5 billion public–private mobilisation through 2034, with indicative allocation of R$ 3 bn through 2029 (R$ 1.7 bn infrastructure, R$ 300 m training, R$ 500 m sensing, R$ 500 m processing) and R$ 2 bn for 2030–34. Officials framed it on the model of Brazil’s AI plan and cited brain-drain concerns. As of this research cutoff, reporting describes an evolving Iniciativa Brasileira para Tecnologias Quânticas (IBQuântica) and project-level execution (CIQuanta, residency programmes, centres) more clearly than a single publicly scraped “portaria” text; treat the R$ 5 bn figure as the stated policy ambition, not as fully appropriated cash in hand.

QuIIN — Quantum Industrial Innovation (SENAI CIMATEC, Salvador, BA). Brazil’s first EMBRAPII competence centre in quantum technologies. Partnership of SENAI CIMATEC + MCTI + EMBRAPII, investment reported at R$ 60 million. Focus: continuous-variable QKD R&D (protocols, bench hardware, real-time post-processing), workforce training, technology association, and startup incubation/acceleration. Leadership publicly listed includes Valéria Loureiro da Silva (QuIIN coordinator), André Dantas (executive manager), Liou Kuo Chin (SENAI CIMATEC computing executive manager), João Marcelo Souza (LAQCC head / classical–quantum networks), among others. Address: Av. Orlando Gomes 1845, Piatã, Salvador.

LAQCC — Latin America Quantum Computing Center (same campus). Partnership historically with Atos (now Eviden / Atos quantum line). Hosts CIMATEC Kuatomu, described as Brazil’s first quantum simulator on classical HPC, simulating up to ~35 qubits. Research themes advertised: quantum finance, physical problems, sustainability, quantum chemistry, education (including training for the Brazilian Army). Since Oct 2024 activities sit inside the CIMATEC QUANTUM lab inaugurated at the Piatã campus (QKD demo/test infrastructure + QuIIN + LAQCC). Third-party directories list LAQCC as an IBM Quantum Network hub (2022) and Classiq user [secondary directory — treat as plausible but confirm against IBM’s live member list]. Official QuIIN/LAQCC pages emphasise Atos/Kuatomu more than IBM.

FAPESP QuTIa (São Paulo state). Quantum Technologies InitiAtive launched 11 Dec 2024. Headline budget R$ 150 million over 5 years. Mission: sensors, communications, and computing; make São Paulo Latin America’s main quantum innovation centre. Programme coordination publicly associated with Gustavo Wiederhecker (IFGW-Unicamp), Ben Hur Viana Borges (EESC-USP São Carlos), Felipe Fanchini (Unesp Bauru). By late research window: multiple young-investigator awards and collaboration networks (e.g. QuaDRA sensing network—Thiago Alegre; QuantaNet computing network—Celso Villas-Bôas), plus FAPESP–FAPERJ thematic quantum calls (SP–RJ).

INCT-DQ — Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Dispositivos Quânticos. Approved/activated 2025, headquartered at CNPEM (Campinas, SP). ~13 partner institutions across five states; ~40 researchers. Continues a lineage from the 2001 Millennium Institute of Quantum Information through earlier INCT phases. Focus: solid-state and photonic quantum devices, metrology, sensing—first- and second-generation quantum tech.

CIQuanta / CIQUANTA-PB (João Pessoa, Paraíba). State-led Centro de Computação Quântica da Paraíba, hosted at Estação das Artes (building adapted for EM shielding, cryogenics, ~6 m height). ~R$ 150 million initial investment reported. Two superconducting systems from Chinese state firm CETC: 20-qubit and 100-qubit. July 2026 G1 reporting: first parts due Aug 2026; technicians training in China; assembly/completion target October 2026; technology transfer (incl. cryogenics, sensors, OS) with intent to build subsequent machines locally. Initial users: UFPB, UFCG, IFPB; scientific leadership named: Amir Aldas Caldeira (Unicamp). Status at cutoff: installation underway / not yet a mature shared national facility—treat October 2026 go-live as a stated schedule, not independently verified operational uptime.

Eldorado Research Institute × IQM (Campinas). 17 Sep 2026 Business Wire: Eldorado purchases an IQM Spark (on-prem at Campinas HQ, adjacent to Unicamp/tech cluster), first IQM system in South America and first quantum computer purchase by a private Brazilian research institute. Install target Q1 2027, plus remote access to IQM’s 54-qubit European cloud system. Superintendents/CEOs quoted: José Bertuzzo (Eldorado), Jan Goetz (IQM). Intended open use across Eldorado’s university/startup/industry network (auto, energy, O&G, fintech, agri, health).

Other federal/state actions (2024–26).

• Rede Rio Quântica (see §1.3) — metro QKD.
• Parallel early metro QKD efforts: Recife (UFPE–UFRPE) and São Carlos (UFSCar–IFSC-USP–von Braun), CNPq-backed, earlier stage than Rio (FAPESP magazine, updated mid-2025).
• MCTI quantum technologies residency programme announced mid-2026 (gov.br news title; page was CAPTCHA-blocked on fetch)—secondary digests cite deeptech/bolsa framing [details of bolsa counts not independently verified here].
• Pedagogical hardware: Folha (Apr 2025) noted only pedagogical machines at UFPE and SENAI-SP at that time; by Sep 2026 Firjan SENAI DigiTech (Rio) installed SpinQ Triangulum II with Dobslit—one of three educational units in Brazil per Agência Brasil.

1.2 Companies (founders / C-suite / cities / tech)

Honest assessment: Brazil’s private quantum sector is small, software/PQC/education-heavy, with almost no domestic full-stack qubit OEM. Hardware path is public labs + foreign systems (CETC, IQM, SpinQ educational, Atos simulator).

1.3 Universities and labs

• Unicamp (IFGW) — Lab. de Física de Dispositivos Quânticos (Francisco Rouxinol). First fully Brazilian Transmon superconducting qubit (work from ~2019; functional qubit ~2021; fabrication process matured mid-2020s). Public presentation of ~4-qubit superconducting chip (2025). Dilution-fridge infrastructure; collaboration with CTI Renato Archer and CNPEM/Sirius. Folha (2025) called this the only group then focused on developing a quantum chip. Also QuTIa-linked photonics (e.g. Saimon Covre da Silva single-photon sources).
• CBPF (Rio) — Laboratório de Tecnologias Quânticas / QuantumTec. Finep package historically ~R$ 23 m for CBPF (of which ~R$ 22 m lab build for cryogenic chip prototypes—Ivan Oliveira). IBM Quantum Network membership reported with applied work alongside ExxonMobil Brasil (energy / materials / carbon capture) [IBM Brazil / LinkedIn-class announcement]. Quantuloop linked to OS work for CBPF superconducting machine under construction [UFSC Jul 2025 reporting via secondary].
• Rede Rio Quântica — coordinator Antonio Zelaquett Khoury (UFF); nodes UFRJ, PUC-Rio, CBPF, UFF, soon IME. Fibre + free-space laser (UFF–CBPF across Guanabara Bay ~6.8 km). Goal: metro QKD (MDI-style protocols; Alice/Bob/Charlie roles). Funding: FAPESP–MCTI thematic + CNPq + Finep slices. Still in test/instrumentation phase as of FAPESP magazine (orig. Aug 2024, update note Jul 2025)—not a commercial telecom product.
• USP — IFUSP / IFSC São Carlos QuTIa projects (transduction, structured light, ion traps—Amilson Fritsch); InovaUSP/SC Quantum Computing Innovation Center collaboration with IBM for HR training and limited IBM Quantum Platform time.
• Unesp Bauru — Fanchini group; QuTIa coordination; QuaTI.
• UFSCar — Celso Villas-Bôas (QuantaNet; São Carlos QKD network).
• UFPA — Antonio Abelém; quantum communications emphasis (Quantum World Tour panel).
• LNCC — Renato Portugal (algorithms / QC theory; QWT panel).
• PUC-Rio — Guilherme Temporão, Thiago Guerreiro (quantum photonics/comms; TRAP-Q with Unicamp under FAPESP–FAPERJ).
• UFSC — Ket / Quantuloop origin; Quantum Computing Group / QuBOX simulator.
• IMPA — workshops with IBM Research Brazil (Neumann, Barroca, Duriez et al.).
• UFPE — pedagogical QC hardware (per Folha 2025); Recife QKD network node.

1.4 Foreign cloud access and “hubs”

• Cloud (default path for most Brazilian users): IBM Quantum Platform, AWS Braket, Azure Quantum, and vendor clouds (IQM cloud via Eldorado deal). Folha explicitly noted Brazilian researchers’ dependence on AWS/IBM cloud in the absence of local machines (Apr 2025).
• IBM Quantum Network: Confirmed-style announcements for CBPF; education partnerships (USP São Carlos, IMPA workshops); LAQCC hub status [secondary]. Not a EuroHPC analogue.
• Atos/Eviden: LAQCC / Kuatomu simulator (Salvador).
• IQM (Finland): Eldorado Spark + 54-qubit cloud (announced Sep 2026).
• CETC (China): CIQuanta hardware supplier / tech-transfer partner.
• SpinQ (China) + Dobslit: educational systems at SENAI network.
• No EuroHPC-style SA federation found. Closest “regional centre” branding is LAQCC (“Latin America” in the name) and CIQuanta’s “first operational QCs in Latin America” claim—both Brazil-hosted, not multilaterally governed.

2. Argentina

2.1 Government / programmes

• Programa Interinstitucional de Fortalecimiento de la Ciencia y la Tecnología Cuánticas (PIFCyTC) under the national science/innovation apparatus—funds infrastructure and specialised training. Official argentina.gob.ar coverage confirms CNEA projects selected under this frame.
• CNEA (three funded lines, official):
  1. FLUXOPRO — Grupo de Circuitos Cuánticos: experimental fluxonium superconducting processor goal of 4–8 qubits, microwave control, micro/nanofab; narrative of “first Argentine quantum processor in the cloud” as a future outcome—not claimed as delivered.
  2. NMR / diamond NV-style quantum spin platform (optics + magnetic resonance).
  3. Topological superconductors characterisation (low-T lab).
• Iniciativa Cuántica Universitaria Argentina (ICUA) — inter-university articulation created Dec 2025 (national universities + CIC Buenos Aires + Asociación Física Argentina): training, research coordination, proposed postgraduate programmes, cloud/HPC access alliances. Lists national capabilities at CITEDEF (quantum crypto), UBA / UNLP / UNC (QC & software), INTI (quantum metrology), CNEA (sensors).
• ARSAT — CryptoComm: reported post-quantum cryptographic security system (Periferia / secondary tech press)—PQC product line, not QKD hardware deployment confirmed at scale.
• INVAP: LinkedIn/talk evidence of quantum-tech interest and visits; Impact Quantum (Aug 2025 PDF) claims INVAP roles in QKD pilots and dual-use sensing. Treat operational QKD pilot / payload claims as [secondary / not confirmed on invap.com.ar primary pages in this research pass].

2.2 Academia

• Instituto Balseiro (Bariloche, with CNEA): deep physics training; expanded quantum-applied seminars/masters mentioned in soft press.
• UBA / Centro de Tecnologías Cuánticas (CTC) — cited in secondary roadmap summaries as CONICET/ANPCyT-backed [verify ongoing funding under 2024–26 fiscal stress].
• UNSAM, UNC, UNLP, ITBA — active groups (theory, software, ion traps / superconducting / metrology per secondary overviews).
• Soft press (Inteligencia Argentina, 2025) claims QUBIT.AR (from 2022) still active with superconducting experimental platform build and Max Planck–UNSAM HR agreement; Quantum Sudamericana network with Chile/Brazil/Uruguay [secondary — not independently verified as a formal funded network].

2.3 Industry

• Startup ecosystem repeatedly described as underdeveloped (Impact Quantum Aug 2025). No Argentina-based IBM Quantum Network hub equivalent to Quantum-South found in this pass.
• Strengths: human capital, nuclear/metrology industrial base (CNEA/INVAP adjacency), PQC interest (ARSAT).
• Constraints: currency/import friction, lab underfunding, limited VC for deep tech.

Honest assessment: Argentina is a scientific peer to Brazil in pockets of physics, but far behind in deployed infrastructure, competence-centre industrialisation, and startups. CNEA fluxonium work is the clearest hardware bet—still R&D.

3. Chile

3.1 Flagship: Quantü (neutral-atom QC)

• Kick-off 22 Jan 2026 at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) Institute of Physics, with Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (USM).
• Funded by ANID Concurso de Anillos de Investigación en Áreas Temáticas Específicas 2025 (AI & Quantum Computing line)—one of three national awards in that call.
• Project title: Neutral-atom-based quantum computing in Chile; machine name Quantü.
• Leadership: Dardo Goyeneche (director), Jerónimo Maze (alternate director; experimental build), Ariel Norambuena (USM; quantum control / theory). Three-year horizon described as laying foundations, not delivering a commercial computer.
• Industry presence at kick-off: CoreDevX (CEO Javier Urrutia, CTO Victor Toledo). Foreign Ministry science-diplomacy attendees present—signals political interest, not a mega-budget flagship like Brazil’s R$5 bn ambition.

3.2 Rest of ecosystem

• CLEI Quantum Computing working group includes Mauricio Solar (USM).
• No Chilean IBM Quantum Network hub or large QC startup cohort verified in this research.
• UC Chile public communications stress industrial-application challenges remain long-horizon.

Honest assessment: Chile’s Quantü is credible academic infrastructure seed (neutral atoms—globally fashionable platform). It is not yet an industry. Sparse commercial activity.

4. Colombia

4.1 Government

• MinCiencias has elevated quantum in the ColombIA Inteligente call family (Convocatoria 966): joint AI + Ciencia y Tecnologías Cuánticas lines (quantum information processing & secure comms; quantum sensing/metrology incl. agri/health/demining; sustainable energy & materials). Expert working group defined priorities.
• Jun 2025: Minister Yesenia Olaya visited Universidad del Valle; MinCiencias publicly accompanies development of a first Colombian quantum processor narrative at Univalle.

4.2 Labs / universities

• Universidad del Valle — CiBioFi (Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Bioinformática y Fotónica), historically associated with John Henry Reina. Path described: ion-trap processor, quantum gates, specialised labs, HR formation. Status: under construction / experimental—not an operational multi-qubit product. Older (2020) coverage already framed Univalle as Colombia’s quantum beachhead with scarce resources.
• Universidad del Cauca / FUP Popayán: experimental papers and IBM hardware runs (e.g. quantum games on ibm_sherbrooke; Clifford/QOTP work with RIPAISC partners in Argentina/Uruguay)—cloud-access research, not local hardware.
• Quantum Latino 2026 planned for Universidad EIA, Envigado (Oct 21–23, 2026) per event ecosystem reporting—Colombia hosting regional community.

4.3 Industry

• No material Colombian quantum product company verified. arXiv ecosystem analysis (2024) already noted Latin America south of Mexico as largely “grey” on national investment maps aside from Brazil; Colombian policy advocacy aimed at CONPES / DNP pathways toward 2026—progress is grant-level, not industry-scale.

Honest assessment: Policy awareness + one university hardware attempt + cloud-using research groups. Sparse industry.

5. Peru

• Quantum Latino 2023 held in Lima (PUCP involvement)—important for regional community building.
• Later editions / 2025–26 activity appear hosted elsewhere (e.g. Colombia 2026); Peru’s role is conference/community, not industrial hardware or startups found in this pass.
• No Peruvian national quantum industrial programme, IBM hub, or notable QC company verified here.

Honest assessment: Sparse. Host/community node historically; not an industry location as of late 2026.

6. Uruguay

6.1 Quantum-South (Montevideo) — regional bright spot

• Founded 2019 from Universidad de Montevideo research (Airbus Quantum Computing Challenge cargo work).
• Business: quantum and hybrid optimisation for air and maritime cargo (revenue/cost).
• Leadership: Rafael Sotelo, PhD, MBA (co-founder; Dean of Engineering, Universidad de Montevideo; IEEE Senior Member); Martin Machin, MBA (co-founder; former TCS Uruguay lead); product/research team incl. Mateo Stipanicic, Laura Gatti, others.
• Networks: states membership in IBM Quantum Network and Microsoft Quantum Network; accelerators IoT Tribe (EU), Starburst (US).
• Sotelo also coordinates CLEI GT-1 industry-applications theme and co-organised Quantum Hackathon Latam 2025 (Montevideo; climate theme).

6.2 Academia / policy

• Universidad de Montevideo is the clear domestic anchor; CLEI GT-1 contacts include Sotelo and Laura Gatti (annealing/heuristics theme).
• No large Uruguayan public QC hardware programme found.

Honest assessment: Uruguay’s quantum “industry” is essentially one internationally networked software company plus academic outreach—small but commercially more mature than most of the region outside Brazil’s PQC/cyber niche.

7. Other South American countries

Individual researchers may collaborate internationally via cloud platforms; that does not constitute a national industry.

8. Cross-cutting themes

Foreign cloud vs local hardware

Until CIQuanta and Eldorado/IQM come online (late 2026–2027), cloud remains the workhorse across SA. Educational SpinQ boxes and Atos-class simulators support teaching, not utility-scale advantage.

“IBM Quantum Network hubs” and EuroHPC analogues

• Documented / strongly attested: Quantum-South (UY) IBM QN member; CBPF (BR) IBM QN join announcement; USP/IMPA education partnerships.
• Claimed / secondary: LAQCC as IBM QN hub.
• EuroHPC-style: None. No SA multinational shared quantum–HPC procurement vehicle comparable to EuroHPC/EuroQCS. Closest brands are national (QuIIN/LAQCC, CIQuanta, QuTIa, Quantü, CiBioFi).

Talent and risk

Brazilian officials and researchers (Folha 2025) openly cite brain drain, thin local chip groups, and the risk of buying labs without people. Argentina faces fiscal/import constraints. Chile/Colombia projects are three-year academic rings / grant programmes, vulnerable to continuity gaps.

Dual-use / defence adjacency

Brazil: army training via LAQCC; defence roadmap papers discuss MCTI–MD coordination [academic/policy literature]. Argentina: CITEDEF crypto; INVAP dual-use interest [partly secondary]. Colombia: demining sensing sub-lines in MinCiencias call. Treat dual-use as nascent aspiration, not fielded capability.

9. Verification checklist on user-supplied leads

10. Sources (selected)

• Folha de S.Paulo, 14 Apr 2025 — MCTI R$5 bn quantum plan reporting
• quiin.senaicimatec.com.br — QuIIN / LAQCC / CIMATEC QUANTUM
• fapesp.br/qutia — QuTIa programme pages
• pages.cnpem.br/inct-dq — INCT-DQ
• G1 Paraíba, 19 Jul 2026 — CIQuanta CETC 20/100 qb schedule
• Business Wire / Yahoo Finance, 17 Sep 2026 — Eldorado × IQM Spark
• Revista Pesquisa FAPESP — Rede Rio Quântica
• Digitais / Unicamp coverage, Jun 2025 — Rouxinol Transmon lab
• quati.tech — QuaTI team
• kryptus.com / ABES — Kryptus PQC
• dobslit.com; Agência Brasil 9 Sep 2026 — Triangulum II DigiTech
• quantum-south.com — Quantum-South
• fisica.uc.cl, 26 Jan 2026 — Quantü kickoff
• argentina.gob.ar — CNEA PIFCyTC projects (FLUXOPRO)
• ecci.unrn.edu.ar — ICUA
• minciencias.gov.co — ColombIA Inteligente; Univalle visit Jun 2025
• thequantuminsider.com, 4 Nov 2025 — Quantum World Tour Brazil
• Impact Quantum Argentina PDF, Aug 2025 — secondary roadmap synthesis
• CLEI GT-1 pages; RIPAISC / Unicauca / FUP notices — regional academic nets

11. Bottom line

Brazil is the only South American quantum industry story that can be told in industrial-ecosystem language—and even there, 2026 is the year of first real machines arriving, not of mature revenue markets. Argentina and Chile are science-first. Colombia is policy-seeded. Uruguay has one serious software exporter. Peru and the rest are sparse. Anyone diligencing the region should weight cloud access + PQC/cyber + education as near-term businesses, and treat local superconducting / ion / neutral-atom hardware as 2026–2030 capability bets, with China (CETC) and Europe (IQM, Atos/Eviden) as the foreign OEMs actually shipping into the continent.

Sources

This region’s commercial layer is thin, and so is the set of stable primary pages. Profiles below are the company sites confirmed for organisations the brief actually names.

• Quantum-South
• Kryptus
• Quantuloop
• QuaTI
• SpinQ (teaching systems deployed in the region; the company is Chinese)
• IQM (Eldorado purchase cited in the Europe and South America notes)

No EuroHPC-style regional federation is claimed. See what this site will not claim.