Bengaluru-based quantum compute startup Quanfluence has raised $10 Mn (around ₹92 Cr) in a funding round led by Chiratae Ventures, with participation Rainmatter by Zerodha and existing backer Pi Ventures.

Quanfluence plans to deploy the fresh capital to further develop its full-stack photonic quantum computing system, bringing together indigenously designed photonic chips, control electronics and software into a single architecture.

The startup is targeting early processors by 2027, followed by larger and scalable quantum machines by 2029.

Founded in 2021 by Sujoy Chakravarty, Ravi Mehta, Biman Chattopadhyay, Aditi Vaidya, Anil Prabhaka, and Sandeep Goyal, Quanfluence is building a universal photonic quantum computer and has deployed a quantum-inspired optical Ising machine.

The IIT-Madras incubated startup’s core technology includes an optical Ising machine that uses light waves as computational units. The system can process hundreds of interconnected variables simultaneously, making it 100X faster than traditional optimisation methods. 

Chakravarty told Inc42 that Quanfluence has already commercialised its optical Ising machine, selling the physical systems to customers as well as offering remote access to the machines on a usage-based model. 

The startup has sold around three machines and currently runs paid pilots with 10-15 corporations.

The approach could help Quanfluence generate commercial traction while it works on the significantly harder problem of building a scalable universal quantum computer. The startup’s immediate challenge, however, is less about proving the underlying concept and more about integrating its components, scaling manufacturing and navigating long chip-production and hardware-delivery cycles. 

With a current team size of 25 employees, it is expecting to scale their workforce to 40-member team over the next year.

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