France Quantum 2026

The fifth edition of France's national quantum summit, held on 16 June 2026 at Station F in Paris: one day, two stages and a demo zone gathering more than 1,500 attendees and over 60 speakers from research labs, hardware startups, corporate end-users, investors and government.

DATES
16 June 2026
1 day, annual, 5th edition
VENUE
Station F
Paris, France
ORGANISER
France Quantum
Artefact Open Innovation
ATTENDANCE
1,500+ attendees (organiser-declared)
60+ speakers, 2 stages

Definition

France Quantum is a one-day quantum computing and quantum technology summit held annually at Station F in Paris since 2020. It brings together French and European research laboratories, quantum hardware startups, corporate end-users, investors and public officials in a single-day format built around two stages and a demonstration zone. The fifth edition took place on 16 June 2026 and drew more than 1,500 attendees and over 60 speakers, with sessions covering quantum hardware architectures, post-quantum cryptography and industrial adoption. It is organised by France Quantum, an initiative run by Artefact Open Innovation. The date of the sixth edition has not been disclosed at the time of writing.

What France Quantum is: a national summit in a startup-campus setting

France Quantum is the annual convening point for the French quantum effort rather than a general-purpose European quantum conference. Its centre of gravity is the relationship between three groups: the state programmes that fund quantum hardware development, the French companies building that hardware, and the large industrial and financial firms being asked to become their first customers. The venue reinforces that positioning. Station F is a startup campus rather than a convention centre, which caps the event at a size where a single day and two stages remain workable and keeps the format closer to a conference with demonstrations than to a trade show with exhibition halls.

Five editions since 2020 have tracked the maturing of that conversation, from early research showcases toward sessions about procurement, migration timelines and integration with existing high-performance computing infrastructure. The organiser does not publish a year-by-year attendance series, so growth across editions is not independently verifiable here.

The 2026 edition: PROQCIMA, a listing plan and a minister on stage

Two threads dominated the fifth edition. The first was PROQCIMA, the French state-backed programme to develop domestic fault-tolerant quantum computing hardware, which frames how public money reaches the country's hardware companies and was a recurring reference point across sessions. The second was the financing question, given prominence by Pasqal's announced plan to list on Nasdaq, one of the clearest signals yet that French quantum hardware companies are looking beyond national and European funding sources for their next capital raise.

Anne Le Henanff, French Minister Delegate for AI and Digital, and Octave Klaba, founder and chief executive of OVHcloud, both appeared on the programme, which is a fair summary of the event's dual character: public policy on one side, commercial infrastructure on the other.

Who was on stage: the 2026 speaker mix

Category Organisations represented
Government and policy Anne Le Henanff, French Minister Delegate for AI and Digital
Quantum hardware companies Alice & Bob, Pasqal, Quandela, Quobly, C12
Research institutions CEA, INRIA
Compute and infrastructure OVHcloud (Octave Klaba, founder and CEO)
Corporate end-users Credit Agricole CIB, Airbus, SNCF

The list is notable for how few foreign hardware vendors appear on it. France Quantum is, by composition, a national programme review with an industrial audience attached, not a vendor-neutral international marketplace.

What the programme covered

Theme Scope
Quantum hardware architectures Competing qubit modalities and the engineering path to fault tolerance
Post-quantum cryptography Migration of existing systems to quantum-resistant algorithms
Quantum-HPC integration Coupling quantum processors to classical supercomputing resources
Industrial quantum applications Use cases in finance, aerospace, transport and energy
Quantum networking Links, repeaters and distributed quantum infrastructure
National quantum funding PROQCIMA and the public financing of French hardware development

Where France Quantum sits on the European quantum calendar

France Quantum occupies the mid-June slot as the national anchor event for France, distinct in scope from the pan-European fixtures later in the year. It is not the only quantum event in Paris: Quantum Networks Summit 2026 is also held in the city but is narrower, focused on networking and telecom infrastructure rather than the full industry agenda, and QBC Summit 2026 sits in the Paris region with a membership-driven format. Against those, France Quantum is the broadest of the three in subject matter and the most exposed to French public policy, which is its main differentiator and also its main limitation for anyone whose interest is not French.

Who attends

The audience splits roughly into four groups: researchers and engineers from public laboratories and from the hardware companies themselves; startup founders and staff from the French quantum sector; corporate technology and risk teams from large French firms evaluating quantum timelines, particularly in banking, aerospace and transport; and investors plus public officials tracking where national funding is going. Students are explicitly catered for through a dedicated ticket rate, which keeps the recruitment dimension of the event alive.

FAQ · Identity and audience

Is France Quantum a research conference or an industry event?

Neither exclusively. It is a one-day industry summit with strong research and public-sector participation. Sessions are pitched at an informed general audience rather than at specialists presenting results, and the presence of corporate end-users such as Credit Agricole CIB, Airbus and SNCF alongside CEA and INRIA is characteristic of the format.

Do I need to speak French to attend?

The event is held in Paris with a predominantly French audience and French institutional participation. The organiser has not disclosed a formal language policy for the 2026 programme, so anyone attending without French should verify session languages with the organiser before booking.

How does it compare to the pan-European quantum conferences?

It is smaller, shorter and national in focus. Where the European fixtures assemble funded consortia and standards discussions from across member states, France Quantum concentrates on the French hardware companies, the French state programmes financing them and the French industrial firms expected to adopt the technology.

The venue: Station F

Station F is a startup campus on the Parvis Alan Turing in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, housed in a converted rail freight depot. It is served by Métro line 14 and RER line C at Bibliotheque Francois Mitterrand, a short walk away, and sits within reach of Gare d'Austerlitz and Gare de Lyon. The site hosts conferences in its event spaces rather than in exhibition halls, which shapes the two-stage plus demo zone configuration France Quantum uses.

The organiser: France Quantum (Artefact Open Innovation)

France Quantum is run by Artefact Open Innovation. The organiser has produced the event annually at Station F since 2020, making 2026 the fifth edition. Detailed corporate and sponsorship structures behind the event are not disclosed by the organiser.

Editorial take

One day a year, French quantum puts its state funders, its hardware companies and its first industrial customers in the same building, which makes the corridor more informative than the agenda.

How to register and what it costs

Registration for the 2026 edition ran through the official website on a three-tier structure, with an early bird deadline of 11 March 2026. The full-day standard ticket was priced at EUR 180 including VAT, a VIP ticket at EUR 850 added a private lunch, fast-track entry and reserved seating, and a student rate was available at EUR 35. Pricing for the sixth edition has not been disclosed.

Ticket Price (VAT included) What it includes
Standard, full day EUR 180 Full-day access to both stages and the demo zone
VIP, full day EUR 850 Full-day access plus private lunch, fast-track entry, reserved seating
Student EUR 35 Full-day access at the reduced student rate
Early bird deadline 11 March 2026 Applied to the 2026 edition

FAQ · Access and practicalities

How much did a ticket cost in 2026?

EUR 180 including VAT for a standard full-day ticket, EUR 850 for the VIP tier and EUR 35 for students. The early bird window closed on 11 March 2026.

What does the VIP ticket actually add?

Three disclosed benefits: a private lunch, fast-track entry and reserved seating. The organiser has not disclosed any additional content or session access attached to the tier.

When is the next edition?

The sixth edition has not been dated at the time of writing. The event has been held annually at Station F since 2020, with the 2026 edition falling in mid-June, so a comparable slot is the reasonable working assumption until the organiser confirms.

First time at France Quantum? How to prepare

Resources

Official website https://www.francequantum.fr/
Registration via https://www.francequantum.fr/ (no separate URL disclosed)
Programme not disclosed as a standalone URL
LinkedIn not disclosed