Startup Mantra: Photonics bet pays off for Quanfluence
Pune start-up Quanfluence aims to revolutionize quantum computing with a photonic approach, competing against major tech firms and seeking $15M in funding.
Following in the footsteps of tech giants working on the next big wave that will hit the world, a start-up from Pune is also steadily working on quantum computing. Co-founder Sujoy Chakravarty tells the story of the birth and growth of ‘Quanfluence’.
Quantum computing is pipped to be the next big technological invention that will change the way we see our world. And as the US, Germany, France, Japan have rolled up their sleeves to build a Quantum Computer, large MNCs with deep pockets and huge talent like Google and IBM are matching their steps. So, how does a small start-up like Quanfluence find a place in the Big Boys’ game?
It all boils down to some “cool-headed smart thinking”, says Sujoy, who is one of the four six (Aditi Vaidya, Biman Chattopadhyay, Ravi Mehta, Prof Sandeep Goyal and Prof Anil Prabhakar) to start their first start-up, Silicon and Beyond.
“After the three of us (Sujoy, Biman and Ravi) successfully sold off our equity in Silicon and Beyond, we started looking at the next big thing to do in physics. We saw that Quantum Computing would bring about a paradigm shift in computing and the way we live, so we began researching the different technologies in the domain. And in 2021, we set up Quanfluence.”
Search for technology that fits
The trio did not take the plunge straightaway. Sujoy said, “Before we began, we studied all 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 there was a need for something more or not. All this took us six months.”
After a year of studying the landscape, they realised there was a need for a radically different path that could lead to scalable quantum computing. Sujoy said, “Our team explored multiple architectures and converged on photonics because it offered inherent advantages — room-temperature operation, telecom-grade components, and natural scalability.”
With this in mind, they chose to set up their lab in Bengaluru, and signed an MoU with IISER, while incubating at the IIT Madras Research Park. “To get proof that our approach will work on paper, how things would be different if we put photonics into play, we set up the lab. It required hauling up a 300-kg optical table that has lasers and other components mounted on it. Even a small, minute vibration can disturb and misalign the lasers, so it has pneumatically-controlled shock absorbers to control.”
All had to be built from scratch and contained both electronics and optical sections. They also designed several semiconductor ICs, both photonic and electronic, and set up a clean room facility for chip testing and characterisation. “To get the tables up to our lab on the third floor, we had to open up the glass windows and get a crane. We imported one table and got the other made to order.”
Designing a qubit
Quanfluence had zeroed in on Photonics as the way forward for quantum computing as existing quantum computing technologies mainly revolve around superconducting and ion-trap systems. And these technologies were struggling with fundamental scalability barriers such as extreme cryogenic requirements, complex control electronics, and limited qubit connectivity.
The Photonic way involves light and manipulating its waves. The electric field quadrature (waves) photonic is manipulated in two ways photons to create specific quantum states – isan approach (thea continuous variable light waves) and discrete variable lightwaves GKP qubit. These Qubits are capable of doing universal quantum computing as they can exist in superpositions of 0 and 1 and interact with other such qubits. There may be presence or absence of light in the beam splitter (this gadget splits the light wave). When light is present, the state is considered as 1 and when it is absent, it is considered as 0. So there’s a probability of it being a 0 or a 1. Quantum computing considers not just the 0 and 1 states but also all the states within.
“There are multiple ways of building a qubit. With photonics, you need to cool down a part to 4 kelvin, and that itself became a problem. This required cooling down in a special dilation refrigerator. So, our task shifted from designing qubits to designing dilation refrigerators, which threw up some fundamental scaling challenges. On the flip side, the benefits of the photonic approach were that it didn’t require large cooling, and component chips, fiber optics were all part of the telecom infrastructure that made scaling up easy.”
Why photonic chip approach
Sujoy said that they believe that their solution will work because it is grounded in 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 since decades, and the same advantages directly translate to quantum computing.
“Our approach leverages continuous-variable optics, squeezed light, and integrated photonic circuits — technologies that inherently support higher connectivity, room-temperature operation, and long-term scalability compared to 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 demonstrated in our lab.”
Quanfluence has worked with foundries in Europe and USA to develop chips that contain parts of the quantum computer. The start-up sent their designs to the foundries and is ready with four photonic chips and two electronic chips. In two years’ time, it hopes to develop 50 chips.
Funds utilised
According to Sujoy, building a quantum computer is an extremely fund intensive project. They have raised private funding of $2 million so far, and have received government grants upwards of $1 million from DOT for specific pieces of circuitry used in the computer. They plan to raise $15 million more in 2026 to further their work and get the first set of qubits by 2029.
“Developing a quantum computer is a long-term process. We incorporated the company in 2021, and since then have set up a fully equipped optics lab in Bangalore. In this duration, we set up a clean room facility, where photonic and electronic chip designing, testing, and characterisation are performed. Till date we have filed for nine patents. We have made steady progress on the quantum computing roadmap that we had chalked out. We have also generated revenue close to $0.5 million so far,” said Sujoy.
Stiff competition
The global quantum computing landscape is highly competitive, with multiple technology paths being pursued in parallel. In the superconducting domain, companies like IBM, Google Quantum AI, and Rigetti lead with large teams and mature fabrication processes, but face scalability limits due to extreme cryogenic requirements and wiring scaling complexity. Trapped-ion players such as IonQ and Quantinuum offer high-fidelity qubits but struggle with slow gate speeds and challenges in scaling beyond hundreds of ions qubits.
Sujoy explained: “In the photonics approach, competitors include PsiQuantum, Xanadu, QuiX Quantum, and ORCA Computing, each taking different approaches to integrated optics, discrete-variable qubits, or continuous-variable sampling – all promising scalable computers. What differentiates Quanfluence is our ability to operate most of the computer at room temperature. A very small part of the computer needs cooling, and that too not temperatures as low as other approaches. We just need about 4K temperature.”
Looking ahead
The start-up plans to offer quantum computing as a service, as purchase will be unaffordable for many clients. It plans to focus on customers from 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 building maybe 4000 odd qubits, it becomes difficult for them to scale to what quantum computing truly needs - a million qubits or more. We are confident that our technology will have the capability to scale up from 50 qubits to more than a million,” said Sujoy.
Their first photonic qubits will be ready by 2028-29. Sujoy said, “We will further scale the qubits with a roadmap of hundreds of thousands in the 5,000 plus range by 2030-31. Starting with use cases in the pharma, materials, finance and AI domains, we will expand to other use cases in the domains of security, defence, climate and energy systems.”
Money story
As for funds, Sujoy revealed, the first couple of years, they “bootstrapped the company”. They were supported along the way by government grants and later raised their first private funding round from Pi Ventures, Golden Sparrow, and a couple of angel investors.
“Our next funding round is planned for 2026 - $15 million. It will be used to reach our milestone of 50 qubits by 2029,” he said.
With targets that high, Quanfluence and its creators are readying themselves to take a quantum leap soon.
