IonQ announced Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Elisity in an all-stock transaction valued at up to $1.3 billion.
Up to $150 million of this amount is earnout compensation, depending on Elisity’s business performance. IonQ expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The number of IonQ shares issued depends on the company’s volume-weighted average price over 20 trading days ending shortly before the close, but the price is maintained between $33.07 and $49.61.
Founded in 2019, Elisity sells software that limits which users, devices, workloads, and AI agents can communicate on corporate networks based on least-privilege policies. A component called IdentityGraph combines what Elisity itself collects with data from partner tools, including identity, asset and risk details, to drive access decisions.
According to IonQ, Elisity has more than 100 customer implementations. The startup raised more than $70 million.
IonQ’s portfolio includes quantum computing, networking, sensing and security, and the company already offers post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and quantum key distribution (QKD). The company plans to leverage Elisity’s customer and CISO relationships to reach more enterprise and government buyers for these technologies and its quantum computing products.
The two companies plan to expand IdentityGraph to include cryptographic inventory and risk data. The goal is to help companies decide which post-quantum upgrades to tackle first, balancing the business risk and criticality of affected operations.
“Access controls reduce exposure; cryptographic upgrades would address underlying vulnerabilities,” Elisity CEO James Winebrenner wrote in one Blog post on the deal. In a press release, he noted: “Our customers must prioritize post-quantum cryptography initiatives while securing existing assets to keep essential operations running.”
Niccolo de Masi, CEO of IonQ, referred to Q-Day, the point at which quantum computers could break widespread public-key encryption. “Q-Day is coming much quicker than predicted,” he said. IonQ also noted recent White House orders promoting quantum technology and urging federal agencies to adopt PQC sooner.
Following the completion of the transaction, the existing management team of Winebrenner and Elisity will remain responsible for the business.
SecurityWeek’s cybersecurity M&A tracker has cataloged around 300 deals so far in 2026.
Related: Cybersecurity M&A Roundup: 39 deals announced in September 2026
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