Following in the footsteps of tech giants working on the next big wave to hit the world, a Pune-based start-up is also continuously working on quantum computing. Co-founder Sujoy Chakraborty tells the story of the birth and growth of ‘Quanfluence’.
Quantum computing is being touted as the next big technological invention that will change the way we see the world. And as the US, Germany, France, Japan have rolled up their sleeves to build quantum computers, big multinationals with deep pockets and vast talent like Google and IBM are following suit. So, how does a small start-up like Quanfluence find a place in the big boys’ game?
It all comes down to “cool, smart thinking”, says Sujoy, who is one of the four six (Aditi Vaidya, Biman Chattopadhyay, Ravi Mehta, Professor Sandeep Goyal and Professor Anil Prabhakar) who launched their first start-up, Silicon & Beyond.
“After the three of us (Sujoy, Biman and Ravi) successfully sold our equity in Silicon and Beyond, we started considering the next big thing in physics. We saw that quantum computing would bring a paradigm shift in the way we compute and live, so we started researching various technologies in this area. And in 2021, we founded Quantfluence.”
Find a technique that’s appropriate
All three did not take immediate action. Sujoy said, “Before we started, we studied everything there was to know about quantum computing. We spent time understanding all the established methods that were being used, such as superconducting and ion traps. We spent time understanding the landscape to see if anything else was needed. All of this took us six months.”
After a year of studying the scenario, they realized that a fundamentally different path was needed that could lead to scalable quantum computing. “Our team explored several architectures and focused on photonics because it offered inherent advantages – operation at room temperature, telecom-grade components and natural scalability,” said Sujoy.
Keeping this in mind, they decided to set up their laboratory in Bengaluru and signed an MoU with IISER while incubating it at the IIT Madras Research Park. “To get proof that our approach would work on paper, to see how things would be different if we employed photonics, we set up the laboratory. This required dragging a 300-kilogram optical table with the laser and other components mounted on it. Even a small, minute vibration can disturb and misalign the laser, so it has pneumatically controlled shock absorbers to control this.”
All had to be built from scratch and included both electronics and optical sections. He also designed several semiconductor ICs, both photonic and electronic, and established a clean room facility for chip testing and characterization. “To get the tables up to our lab on the third floor, we had to open glass windows and get a crane. We imported one table and made another to order.”
designing a qubit
Quantfluence focused on photonics as a way forward for quantum computing as existing quantum computing technologies revolve primarily around superconducting and ion-trap systems. And these technologies struggled with fundamental scalability barriers such as extreme cryogenic requirements, complex control electronics, and limited qubit connectivity.
Photonic methods involve the manipulation of light and its waves. Electric field qubits (waveforms) Photonics are used to manipulate photons in two ways to create specific quantum states – one approach (a continuously varying light waves) and discrete varying light waves GKP qubits. These qubits are capable of performing universal quantum computing because they can exist in superpositions of 0 and 1 and can interact with other such qubits. The beam splitter may have the presence or absence of light (this gadget splits the light wave). When light is present, the status is considered 1 and when it is absent, it is considered 0. Therefore its probability is 0 or 1. Quantum computing considers not only the states 0 and 1, but also all the states within.
“There are many ways to make a qubit. With photonics, you need to cool a part down to 4 Kelvin, and that in itself became a problem. That required cooling in a special dispersion refrigerator. So, our work shifted from designing the qubit to designing the dispersion refrigerator, which gave rise to some fundamental scaling challenges. On the other hand, the advantage of the photonic approach was that it did not require large cooling, and the component chips, fiber optics all “Telecoms were part of the infrastructure that was made easier to move forward.”
Why the photonic chip approach
Sujoy said he believes his solution will work because it is based on both strong physics and practical engineering. Photonics has already proven itself as a scalable, low-noise platform in communications and sensing. These technologies have been in use for decades, and the same advantages translate directly into quantum computing.
“Our approach takes advantage of continuously-variable optics, squeezed light, and integrated photonic circuits – technologies that inherently support higher connectivity, room temperature operation, and long-term scalability than cryogenic qubit systems. Many of the core building blocks of our photonic architecture – squeezed light sources, photonic-electronic co-packaged chips, and balanced detectors for room temperature readouts – are already Have been demonstrated in our laboratory.”
Quantfluence has worked with foundries in Europe and the United States to develop chips that include parts of quantum computers. The start-up sent its designs to the foundries and is ready with four photonic chips and two electronic chips. In two years’ time, he hopes to develop 50 chips.
funds used
According to Sujoy, building a quantum computer is an extremely money intensive project. They have raised $2 million in private funding so far, and have received a government grant of over $1 million from the DOT for specific pieces of circuitry used in the computer. They plan to raise another $15 million in 2026 to further their work and obtain the first set of qubits by 2029.
“Developing a quantum computer is a long-term process. We incorporated the company in 2021, and have since established a fully equipped optics lab in Bengaluru. Over this period, we have set up a clean room facility where photonic and electronic chip designing, testing and characterization is carried out. So far we have applied for nine patents. We have made steady progress on the quantum computing roadmap that we prepared. We have so far raised $ Has also generated revenue close to Rs 0.5 million,” said. Sujoy.
intense competition
The global quantum computing landscape is highly competitive, with multiple technology paths being pursued in parallel. In the superconducting domain, companies such as IBM, Google Quantum AI, and Righetti lead with large teams and mature manufacturing processes, but face scalability limitations due to excessive cryogenic requirements and wiring scaling complexity. Trapped-ion players like IonQ and Quantumum offer high-fidelity qubits, but face slow gate speeds and challenges in scaling beyond hundreds of ion qubits.
Sujoy explained: “On the photonics approach, competitors include PsiQuantum, And that’s not as low as other approaches. We just need 4K temperatures.”
looking ahead
The start-up plans to offer quantum computing as a service, as purchasing would be unaffordable for many customers. It plans to focus on customers in the pharma, materials, finance and AI sectors.
“This is a completely indigenous technology that we have developed in-house, and while other technologies are currently working on creating around 4000 qubits, it becomes difficult for them to scale to the scale that quantum computing really requires – a million qubits or more. We are confident that our technology has the potential to scale from 50 qubits to over a million,” Sujoy said.
Their first photonic qubit will be ready by 2028-29. Sujoy said, “We will further scale up qubits with a roadmap to hundreds of thousands in the 5,000 plus range by 2030-31. Starting with use cases in pharma, materials, finance and AI domains, we will expand to other use cases in security, defence, climate and energy systems domains.”
money story
As far as funding is concerned, Sujoy revealed, in the first few years, he “bootstrapped the company”. Along the way they received support from government grants and later raised their first private funding round from Pi Ventures, Golden Sparrow and some angel investors.
“Our next funding round is planned for 2026 – $15 million. This will be used to reach our milestone of 50 qubits by 2029,” he said.
With such lofty goals, Quanfluence and its creators are preparing themselves to take a quantum leap soon.
