IonQ to acquire zero‑trust firm Elisity for up to $1.3 billion

IonQ announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Elisity via an all‑stock deal valued at up to $1.3 billion.

IonQ said the acquisition intends to combine Elisity’s zero‑trust (a security model that assumes no implicit trust and verifies every request) network access controls with IonQ’s post‑quantum cryptography (PQC, encryption methods designed to resist quantum computers) and quantum key distribution (QKD, a method that uses quantum physics to secure communication keys) offerings. The deal includes up to $150 million of earnout consideration and IonQ will set its share count based on the 20‑day volume‑weighted average price before closing, with a per‑share range of $33.07 to $49.61.

Elisity said Elisity notes it has over 100 global customer deployments, that its revenue and customer base have each doubled on a yearly basis with zero churn, and that, founded in 2019, it operates from California. Elisity’s platform regards AI agents and also other non‑human identities as subjects of its access‑control policies.

IonQ said IonQ’s core business is quantum computing, and it has developed offerings in post‑quantum cryptography (PQC, encryption methods designed to resist quantum computers) and quantum key distribution (QKD, a method that uses quantum physics to secure communication keys). The acquisition intends to combine Elisity’s zero‑trust (a security model that assumes no implicit trust and verifies every request) network access controls with IonQ’s PQC and QKD to address current cyber threats and the “harvest now, decrypt later” (the practice of stealing encrypted data now to decrypt it later when quantum computers become powerful) risk.

IonQ said IonQ pointed to recent White House executive orders promoting quantum technology and urging quicker federal adoption of post‑quantum cryptography as a motivation for the acquisition. IonQ anticipates the deal will finish in Q4 2026, pending regulatory approval.