--- eventsindex_id: "EI-07110" slug: q-expo-2026 title: "Q-Expo 2026" title_alt: ["Q-Expo 2026: The European Quantum Event", "Q-Expo", "QuIC Q-Expo"] canonical_url: "https://eventsindex.org/events/q-expo-2026.html" next_edition_year: 2026 date_start: 2026-05-18 date_end: 2026-05-19 venue: "Palacio Euskalduna (Euskalduna Conference Centre)" city: "Bilbao" country: "Spain" organiser: "European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC), co-hosted with the Government of Bizkaia" organiser_url: "https://www.euroquic.org/" b2b: true vector: sector: [quantum-tech] audience: [industry, startup, corporate, investor, government, researcher] format: [expo, conference] purpose: [content, networking, deal-making] geography_scope: [Spain] season: spring meta_description: "Q-Expo 2026, QuIC's European quantum industry event, ran 18-19 May 2026 at Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao: exhibition, keynotes, ~800 attendees." editorial_take: "QuIC's attempt to give the European quantum industry a commercial meeting point of its own, smaller than the policy conferences it sits alongside and more useful precisely because banks and industrial buyers, not only physicists, are in the room." generated_by: "claude-max-cowork" last_verified: "2026-08-18" variables_filled: 19/58 language: "en" schema_version: "v6.0" --- # Q-Expo 2026 > *QuIC's European quantum industry event, held on 18 and 19 May 2026 at the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao and co-hosted with the Government of Bizkaia. Two days combining an exhibition floor with plenary keynotes and panels, drawing researchers, startups, hardware vendors, investors, policymakers and corporate buyers. The 2026 edition also served as the launch point for QOMPASS, a Quantum Flagship coordination initiative running from 2026 to 2029.* --- ## Quick Facts | DATES | VENUE | ORGANISER | ATTENDANCE | |---|---|---|---| | **18-19 May 2026** | **Palacio Euskalduna** | **QuIC** | **~800 (estimate, unconfirmed)** | | 2 days, annual, third edition | Bilbao, Spain | European Quantum Industry Consortium | Industry, research, public sector | ## Definition Q-Expo is the annual industry event of the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC), the association that represents commercial quantum technology companies across Europe. Its full title for 2026 was Q-Expo 2026: The European Quantum Event. The 2026 edition ran on 18 and 19 May at the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, co-hosted with the Government of Bizkaia, and was the third annual edition following 2024 and 2025. The format integrates a business exhibition with a plenary programme of keynotes and panels rather than running the two in parallel silos, and the audience mixes researchers, startups, technology providers, investors, policymakers and corporate technology buyers. Attendance is in the high hundreds: this record carries an estimate of around 800, which should be read as an upper-bound approximation rather than a confirmed count. ## What Q-Expo is: an industry expo with a conference attached, not a research conference with a trade floor The distinction matters when choosing between European quantum events. Q-Expo is built around commercial exchange: booths, supplier conversations, product demonstrations and the kind of buyer-side questions that come from banks, telecoms operators and industrial groups rather than from physics departments. The plenary programme sits inside that frame instead of alongside it, so keynotes and panels run against a floor that stays open, and the schedule is deliberately compressed into two days. Research content is present, but it arrives filtered through the question of what can be bought, deployed or funded now, which is close to the opposite of how the Quantum Flagship's own conference organises its agenda. ## The 2026 edition: Bilbao, Basque backing and the QOMPASS launch Two things gave the 2026 edition its character. The first is the host: the Government of Bizkaia co-hosted the event, part of a wider Basque push to attach a quantum industrial specialism to the region's existing manufacturing and energy base, and that regional sponsorship shaped both the venue choice and the public sector presence in the room. The second is QOMPASS, a new Quantum Flagship coordination initiative covering 2026 to 2029, which used Q-Expo 2026 as its launch point. Choosing an industry expo rather than a research conference to announce a Flagship coordination programme is itself a signal about where European quantum funding bodies expect the next phase of work to be judged. ## Who was in the room The 2026 speaker and participant list spanned four fairly distinct groups, which is the point of the event and also the reason its content can feel uneven to attendees who only care about one of them. | Participant group | Organisations named at the 2026 edition | |---|---| | Corporate and financial end-users | BBVA, Santander, Telefonica, Repsol | | Quantum vendors and startups | Multiverse Computing, Qblox, Single Quantum, ThinkQuantum | | Public research and large-scale programmes | Quantum Flagship, CERN Quantum Technology Initiative | | Industry body and public authorities | QuIC (organiser), Government of Bizkaia | The Spanish corporate contingent is worth noting on its own. BBVA and Santander have both run quantum computing pilots in finance, Telefonica sits on the quantum communication and network security side, and Repsol brings an industrial process and materials angle. Few European quantum events assemble that particular set of buyers, and their presence is a large part of what a vendor is paying for when it books a booth. ## What Q-Expo covers The 2026 programme was organised around six theme areas: - Quantum computing - Quantum communication and cybersecurity - Quantum sensing - Industrial adoption - Quantum internet - European quantum strategy The balance leans toward the middle three. Industrial adoption and European strategy are the threads that distinguish Q-Expo from purely technical gatherings, and quantum communication carries extra weight in a European context because of the continent's investment in quantum key distribution and network infrastructure. ## Where Q-Expo sits on the European quantum calendar Q-Expo occupies the spring commercial slot in a calendar that has become genuinely crowded. It is QuIC's public-facing event, which makes QBC Summit its closest relative: same organiser, but restricted to QuIC members and much smaller. EQTC, run by the Quantum Flagship, is the research and policy anchor at the other end of the year. Commercialising Quantum Global in London and Q2B Copenhagen compete for some of the same commercial audience, with London skewing toward investors and enterprise adoption. | Event | Host city | Organiser | Character | Access | |---|---|---|---|---| | Q-Expo 2026 (18-19 May) | Bilbao, Spain | QuIC | Industry exhibition with integrated plenary programme | Open, B2B | | EQTC 2026 (30 Nov-3 Dec) | Dublin, Ireland | Quantum Flagship | Research and policy conference | Open registration, tiered pricing | | QBC Summit 2026 | Paris-Saclay, France | QuIC | Members-only summit | QuIC members only | Read across that table, the logic of QuIC running two events becomes clear: QBC Summit is where members talk to each other, Q-Expo is where the association turns outward to buyers, regional governments and the press. ## FAQ · Identity and audience ### Who should attend Q-Expo rather than EQTC? Anyone whose interest in quantum technology is commercial: vendors looking for customers, corporate technology teams evaluating suppliers, investors screening the European market, and regional development agencies. EQTC is the better fit for those tracking European research funding, standards work and policy direction, since that is where the Quantum Flagship's own governance plays out. ### Is Q-Expo restricted to QuIC members? No. Q-Expo is QuIC's open, public-facing event, in contrast to QBC Summit, which is reserved for the consortium's members. QuIC membership brings a discount on exhibition costs but is not a condition of attending. ### How large is Q-Expo? Smaller than the headline European quantum conferences. This record carries an estimate of around 800 attendees, but independent reporting on the 2025 edition produced figures ranging from roughly 590 to roughly 800, so treat any single number with caution. The organiser has not published an audited attendance figure. ### What is QOMPASS and why did it launch here? QOMPASS is a Quantum Flagship coordination initiative covering the 2026 to 2029 period, announced at Q-Expo 2026. Its launch at an industry expo rather than at a research conference reflects an intent to be visible to commercial participants from the outset. ## The venue: Palacio Euskalduna The Palacio Euskalduna, also known as the Euskalduna Conference Centre, is Bilbao's main congress and concert venue, built on the site of the former Euskalduna shipyard on the bank of the Nervion river. It sits within walking distance of the Guggenheim Museum and central Bilbao, and is served by the city's metro and tram network. Bilbao Airport is roughly fifteen kilometres north of the centre with a direct bus connection. The building's combination of a large auditorium and adjacent exhibition halls suits the integrated expo-plus-plenary format Q-Expo runs. ## The organiser: the European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC is the industry association for European quantum technology companies, formed to represent commercial interests alongside the publicly funded research programmes that dominated the sector's first decade. Its membership spans hardware manufacturers, component suppliers, software companies, integrators and end-user corporations. QuIC runs Q-Expo as its open annual event and QBC Summit as its members-only counterpart. For the 2026 edition the consortium co-hosted with the Government of Bizkaia, which supplied regional backing and the Bilbao venue. --- ## Editorial take *QuIC's attempt to give the European quantum industry a commercial meeting point of its own, smaller than the policy conferences it sits alongside and more useful precisely because banks and industrial buyers, not only physicists, are in the room.* ## How to register and what it costs Registration for the 2026 edition ran through qexpo.org and has closed. Attendee ticket pricing was not publicly disclosed on the official site, so the only firm figures available concern exhibiting. Booth costs were quoted as a range depending on stand size, with QuIC members receiving a discount. No 2027 edition dates had been announced at the time of verification. | Item | Cost | |---|---| | Exhibition booth, smallest | from EUR 5,000 | | Exhibition booth, largest | up to EUR 30,000 | | QuIC member discount on booth cost | 10% | | Attendee or delegate pass | not disclosed | | Sponsorship packages | not disclosed | ## FAQ · Access and practicalities ### What does it cost to exhibit at Q-Expo? Between EUR 5,000 and EUR 30,000 depending on stand size, with a 10% reduction for QuIC members. Sponsorship packages beyond floor space were not publicly priced. ### What did it cost to attend as a delegate? Not disclosed. The organiser did not publish attendee ticket pricing on the official site, so prospective delegates need to request it directly. ### Is joining QuIC worth it for the discount alone? No. A 10% saving on a booth is worth EUR 500 to EUR 3,000, well below typical association membership economics on its own. The discount is better understood as one benefit among several, alongside access to the members-only QBC Summit. ### How do I get to the venue from Bilbao Airport? Bilbao Airport is around fifteen kilometres from the city centre and connected by a direct bus service. From central Bilbao the Palacio Euskalduna is reachable on foot, by tram or by metro. ## First time at Q-Expo? How to prepare - **Treat it as a two-day sprint, not a conference week.** The compressed format means the exhibition floor and the plenary programme compete for the same hours. Decide before arriving which one is your priority, because you will not properly do both. - **Pre-book meetings with the corporate end-users, not the vendors.** Vendors are on the floor and easy to find. The BBVA, Santander, Telefonica and Repsol type of participant is the scarce resource, and those calendars fill weeks in advance. - **Budget realistically if you are exhibiting.** Booth cost alone spans EUR 5,000 to EUR 30,000 before travel, build and staffing. Confirm what the QuIC member rate would save you against the cost of membership itself. - **Do not expect published attendee pricing.** Ticket costs were not disclosed publicly for 2026, so contact the organiser early rather than waiting for a rate card that may never appear. - **Read the European strategy sessions as signal, not filler.** Programme announcements have landed here before, QOMPASS in 2026 being the clearest case, and the policy track is where funding direction gets set out. - **Book Bilbao accommodation near the river.** The Palacio Euskalduna is walkable from central Bilbao, which makes the city centre the practical base; the airport bus connection makes a late arrival on the eve of day one workable. ## Resources | Resource | URL | |---|---| | Official website | https://qexpo.org/ | | Registration | https://qexpo.org/ (2026 registration closed) | | Exhibitor and sponsorship information | https://qexpo.org/ | | Programme | not disclosed | | Organiser (QuIC) | not disclosed | --- **Last verified:** 2026-08-18 **Next review:** 2026-09-17 **Notes:** The 2026 edition took place on 18-19 May 2026 and is recorded here retrospectively; no 2027 dates were announced at time of verification. The ~800 attendance figure is an estimate and is contested: independent sources covering the 2025 edition reported figures ranging from roughly 590 to roughly 800, and the organiser has published no audited count. "Third annual edition" is inferred from the existence of 2024, 2025 and 2026 editions and is not an organiser-stated figure. Exhibition pricing (EUR 5,000-30,000, 10% QuIC member discount) is organiser-quoted; attendee ticket pricing was not publicly disclosed. Speaker and participant organisations listed are those named in connection with the 2026 edition. **Variables:** 19/58 **Concept definition:** not applicable