Quanfluence raises $10 million for photonic quantum computing
Bengaluru-based quantum startup Quanfluence secured $10 million in funding led by Chiratae Ventures to scale its photonic quantum computer development, building on existing sales of its optical Ising machines.
Quanfluence has raised $10 million, approximately Rs 92 crore, in a funding round led by Chiratae Ventures. The round saw participation from new investor Rainmatter by Zerodha and existing backer Pi Ventures, fueling the startup's mission to build a full-stack photonic quantum computer.
Since a $2 million seed round in December 2024, the IIT-Madras incubated startup has designed and fabricated multiple photonic and electronic integrated circuits. The fresh capital will be deployed to further develop its full-stack system, which integrates indigenously designed photonic chips, control electronics, and software in a single architecture.
Technology and current commercial traction
Quanfluence is a Bengaluru-based startup building quantum computers with light instead of silicon circuits. It has already commercialized a quantum-inspired optical Ising machine that uses light waves for computational processing, handling hundreds of interconnected variables simultaneously. The company claims this machine is about 100 times faster than traditional optimization methods.
Quanfluence sells physical systems and offers remote access via a usage-based model. It has sold around three machines and currently runs paid pilots with 10-15 corporations. Revenue from this commercial product buys time while the team tackles the harder work of building a full quantum computer, which involves integrating components, scaling manufacturing, and managing long chip-production cycles. The company plans to launch a four-qubit quantum computer in the near term.
Team, timeline and roadmap
The startup, founded in 2021 by Sujoy Chakravarty, Ravi Mehta, Biman Chattopadhyay, Aditi Vaidya, Anil Prabhaka, and Sandeep Goyal, currently employs 25 people. It expects to scale to a team of around 40 employees over the next year.
Quanfluence is working toward delivering early quantum processors by 2027. Its longer-term aim is to produce larger and scalable quantum machines by 2029.
Context in India’s quantum ecosystem
This funding comes amid growing investor interest in deeptech startups moving toward commercial and industrial applications. It aligns with India’s National Quantum Mission, which is strengthening links between startups, researchers, and government-backed quantum hubs.
Quantum computing remains largely experimental, with no company yet reaching the scale needed for mainstream commercial workloads. Quanfluence has demonstrated the generation of quantum light states and is taking a photonics-led approach to bridge the gap between research and deployment. Quanfluence plans to deploy the fresh capital to further develop its full-stack photonic quantum computing system.
