Quantum Computing Hackathon for Financial Services
A hackathon where 15 + multidisciplinary teams moved from simulation to real quantum hardware, using synthetic finance data, to prototype quantum-driven solutions for banks, insurers and regulators.
Outcomes
15 - 16
Teams Selected
4 - 5 Weeks
From Team Selection to Final Presentation
Challenge
Financial institutions and regulators face increasing modelling and compute strain: portfolio optimisation, market simulation, fraud detection, post-trade work all reaching classical limits.
The City of London Corporation (via its “The Global City” insight arm) partnered with IBM and NayaOne to stage a hackathon to accelerate real-world quantum experimentation.
NayaOne provided the sandbox: secure workspaces, synthetic datasets reflecting financial workflows, and access to IBM’s Qiskit-based quantum simulators and hardware.
Scope
- Application period for teams followed by build phases, culminating in a live final.
- 15 – 16 teams selected from universities, research groups and industry
- Challenge tracks included:
- Portfolio optimisation & risk modelling
- Market simulation
- Fraud detection (quantum-classical hybrid approaches)
- Post-trade back-office innovation
- Participants got mentoring from IBM quantum experts, access to simulators/hardware, and used NayaOne’s sandbox to test end-to-end.
From Idea to Evidence with NayaOne
Teams used the NayaOne sandbox to build and test quantum prototypes using realistic financial data. They accessed synthetic datasets, integrated IBM Qiskit to run quantum and hybrid algorithms, and benchmarked their results against classical models. The sandbox gave them a secure workspace to iterate quickly, compare approaches, and generate evidence (charts, metrics, outputs) for judging. In short, it allowed teams to move from theory to working quantum demonstrations that reflected real financial-services scenarios.
Delivery Notes
Sandbox
Air-gapped workspaces, pre-integrated vendor tooling (IBM Qiskit + synthetic data) under NayaOne’s platform.
Synthetic Datasets
Designed to reflect financial workflows so solutions could handle realistic constraints without exposure of sensitive production data.
Final Execution
Final execution: Real quantum hardware (via IBM) rather than simulation only — raising credibility for enterprise adoption.
Multi-Discipline Teams
Quantum scientists + finance domain + tech delivery — emphasising that innovation isn’t just about algorithms but integration and domain fit.
KPIs
- Experimentation environments matter: Without data and sandbox controls you end up with theory only.
- The barrier to “quantum in production” is not just hardware readiness – it’s ecosystem, data, workflow, risk controls.
- Use-cases must link to “pathway to existing systems” – WarwiQC’s success was partly because they targeted integration rather than re-architecting.
- For innovation teams inside banks/insurers: Running equivalent sandbox/hackathon models gives you early signal on vendor/tech fit and faster decision-making.
Book a Sandbox Walkthrough, Begin Hackathon-style Sprint, or Map Out Your Partner-Ecosystem for Frontier Tech Validation.
If your organisation is exploring quantum computing (or other frontier technologies like GenAI, hybrid-quantum workflows) and you want to test from prototype to proof-of-value in a controlled environment with synthetic finance datasets, we can show you how the City of London / IBM / NayaOne model worked, and help you replicate it.
