Post-quantum cryptography: Companies, research and approaches

Organizations active in post-quantum cryptography include the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Google, IBM and Microsoft. NIST develops and standardizes algorithms; Google and CloudFlare are integrating quantum-safe capabilities into services, while IBM and Microsoft contribute research and implementation work. PQShield, QuSecure and CryptoNext Security are specialist startups focused on cryptographic products or migration.

The listed startups include PQShield, QuSecure and CryptoNext Security. PQShield develops post-quantum hardware and software, while QuSecure focuses on migration management and cryptographic agility. CryptoNext Security develops standards and implementation solutions. The available facts identify their areas of work, but do not rank their commercial prospects or establish which is most promising.

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and SRM University are notable research organizations in the field. The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences has 51 publication records in the provided data, and SRM University has 43 publications. NIST focuses on developing and standardizing post-quantum algorithms.

Recorded grants total $145,330,742 across 142 awards since 2020. The data also lists funding rounds, but those entries include investments associated with broader corporate activity, so they are not a clean measure of funding directed specifically to post-quantum cryptography. The grant total is the more relevant field-level figure available here.

Recent work in 2026 focuses on implementation and deployment, including a September energy-consumption benchmark for ML-KEM, ML-DSA and SLH-DSA. In August, researchers evaluated these algorithms on ESP32-C6 hardware, and NXP Semiconductors, Catholic University of Leuven and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences studied module-lattice parameter selection. TOPPAN also announced PQC CARD Dual, a dual-interface smart card, in August.

Post-quantum cryptography is moving from standards into practical deployment: NIST-standardized ML-KEM, ML-DSA and SLH-DSA are being evaluated on embedded systems and general-purpose architectures. Recent work also tests energy use, memory requirements and implementation performance. Adoption still requires changes to protocols, devices and certificate infrastructures, so standard selection does not by itself complete an organization’s migration.

Siemens AG leads the listed patent holders with 17 patents, followed by Thales Dis France Sas with 12 and China Telecom Quantum Technology Co Ltd with 11. Other listed holders include Panasonic and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., with 9 each, and the French Atomic Energy Commission and Bank of America, with 8 each.

Applications include financial services and blockchain (4,546 documents), internet and network security (3,396), digital identity and software trust (2,210), embedded devices and IoT (1,527), and cloud and data protection (1,236). These uses involve protecting communications, certificates, device connections and digital transactions against future quantum-enabled attacks.

The main approaches listed are lattice-based, code-based, hash-based signatures, multivariate cryptography and symmetric-key strengthening. Lattice schemes support key establishment and signatures, while code-based methods rely on error-correcting codes. Hash-based methods build signatures from hash functions; multivariate schemes use polynomial equations. Symmetric-key strengthening improves symmetric cryptography but does not replace public-key key exchange or signatures.