QEst Hack 2026
Access quantum computing now. Experiment on your own problem.
2.5 days in Tallinn, 11–13 November. Your problem, your data, five company teams.
Over 300 companies worldwide have decided that quantum computing is mature enough and have launched their own quantum teams to solve business problems. These companies include names like Airbus, JPMorgan Chase, E.ON and Liberty Mutual.
Investors are moving with them. In 2025 alone, €10.9 billion went into companies building quantum computers. That is more than half of Estonia’s state budget!
According to McKinsey, Europe now has more corporates with a quantum computing budget than the US. They are experimenting on problems in:
- Logistics, transport and routing
- Energy and materials
- Financial services
- Pharmaceuticals and life sciences
None of that means a quantum computer will solve your problem next year. It means the companies that will know where quantum pays off in 4-5 years are the ones getting their hands on it now.
QEst Hack 2026 gives Estonian companies unique access to quantum knowledge and experimentation.
Getting beyond pilot phase
Among the enterprises IQM and The Quantum Insider surveyed in 2026, some companies are already at the scaled production deployment stage. There is momentum beyond doing pilots.
What actually happens
Five company teams. 2.5 days. No quantum background required.
Part one — from zero. You learn what makes a quantum computer different, and why quantum programming works nothing like programming a classical machine, even when the language is Python. Then every team solves the same optimization challenge, and we compare results.
Part two — your problem. Your team takes a real business problem from your own company, with your own data at a very small scale, and works on it alongside quantum experts from Canada, Finland and Estonia. You leave knowing whether your problem fits a quantum framework, what it would take, and what it would be worth.
The honest part
Quantum computers will not replace supercomputers next year. 2.5 days at a hackathon will not hand you a quantum advantage. Most business problems will never need a quantum computer.
A few will: the hardest ones, where solving them better than everyone else is worth real money. The price of using a quantum computer will keep falling. The two years it takes an engineer to become useful with one will not.
What 2.5 days will give you is the fastest and cheapest route we know to finding out whether one of your hard problems might be solved using a quantum computer.
What your team gets
- Training and personal mentoring from leading quantum experts from Canada, Finland and Estonia. Last year the same mentors were rated 4.7 out of 5.
- Students with quantum programming experience joining your team, who help you both during and potentially after the hackathon.
- A competitive round against the other company teams on a shared optimisation challenge.
- Hands-on work on your own business problem with expert support, at small data scale.
- A data or IT team that comes back changed. In last year’s words: “We now have an engineer able to run these algorithms and a data science team that understands what is being discussed, can map problems to specific algorithms, and knows where to turn when we run out of depth.”
Plus plenty of coffee, hot food, fruit and snacks on all days.
Is this for you?
For companies. No quantum knowledge needed. You need:
- A business problem where 1% better accuracy or 20% faster gives a business advantage.
- A hard optimisation or simulation problem inside it that you already know how to solve today, but solving it is expensive or time-consuming. Routes, schedules, portfolios, networks, production plans, grid balancing, material properties.
- Two people from your IT or data team who write Python.
- One business development person who wants to understand what quantum can do.
- Your own data.
Time commitment: 2.5 working days. Wednesday 15:00 to Friday 16:00, with Wednesday and Thursday evenings running until 21:00.
For explorers and students. We welcome professionals, students, graduates and researchers from the Nordic and Baltic countries who want to work on quantum with real companies. Python programming skills are a must. At least a basic understanding of quantum computing and programming is an advantage.
You join a company team, you work on a real problem with real data, and you sit next to a mentor who will debug your Qiskit code with you and explain the reasoning out loud. Last year’s most common reaction was not about the technology:
“Realizing that we have companies who are actually considering quantum computing as a realistic solution to the problems that we have.”
What last year’s participants said
Enefit, GScan, OIXIO and Aktiva Finance sent teams to QEst Hack 2025.
Average recommendation score: 8.8 out of 10.
“We could not have acquired this know-how anywhere else.” Head of a data team
“It is possible to start working on a topic you have zero knowledge of before.” Business developer
“Chill vibe compared to regular hacks. It felt more about learning and less about competing.” Data specialist
“All mentors were amazing, always ready to help, but most importantly always energetic and smiling, even though some of us did not understand much at some points.” Student participant
Key dates
| Info session (online, 30 min) | 29 September, 15:00–15:30 |
| Application deadline | 11 October |
| Kick-off (online) | 22 October, 15:00–18:00 |
| Scoping session with your mentor | Between 23 October and 6 November, 1 hour per team |
| QEst Hack 2026 | 11–13 November, Tallinn |
How to apply
Only five company teams take part, and participation is free.
Note: Travel and accommodation are not provided.
Apply here by 11 October:
Additional questions: nataly.dubbelman@metrosert.ee
QEst Hack 2026 is organised by Metrosert, the Institut quantique of the Université de Sherbrooke, and Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
Sources: Where quantum is expected to pay off, industry by industry: [read our analysis of the McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor 2026 →]
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