FUNDING

Quanfluence Funding: $10 Million Raised to Build Photonic Quantum Computer

By Thanushree

Quanfluence has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Chiratae Ventures. Rainmatter by Zerodha and existing investor Pi Ventures also participated in this funding round. 

• This comes after a $2 million seed round in December 2024, led by Pi Ventures along with Golden Sparrow and others. Total private funding now stands at approximately $12 million.

• Quanfluence is a Bengaluru-based photonic quantum technology startup.

• Quanfluence was founded in 2021 by a team of 6: Sujoy Chakravarty, Ravi Mehta, Biman Chattopadhyay, Aditi Vaidya, Prof. Anil Prabhakar and Prof. Sandeep Goyal. 

What Is Quanfluence?

Quanfluence was founded in 2021 and incubated at IIT Madras. It develops photonic quantum computing systems. Its approach uses light (photons) for computation instead of traditional superconducting qubits that need extreme cooling.

The company states that the key benefits of this technology include

• Operates at room temperature

• Combines optics, hardware (including FPGAs), and software

• Targets optimization problems that complement AI decision-making

The company’s current commercial product is an optical Ising machine (marketed as OPTIQON). It processes interconnected variables simultaneously and claims up to 100x speedup over classical methods for certain optimization workloads such as logistics, scheduling, risk management, and route planning.

Quanfluence has sold a small number of physical systems and runs paid pilots with multiple corporations while offering remote access on a usage basis.

How Will Quanfluence Use the New Funding?

The $10 million will support:

• Building and launching a four-qubit quantum computer in the near term

• Developing a larger prototype with around 100 qubits by 2029

• Advancing toward a fault-tolerant, general-purpose photonic quantum computer over the next five to six years

• Integrating indigenous photonic chips, control electronics, and software into a full-stack system

• Scaling the team (currently around 25 people) toward 40 members

The company has already designed and fabricated photonic and electronic integrated circuits and demonstrated quantum light states.

Quanfluence Funding History

Earlier government grants (including from the Department of Telecommunications) supported specific hardware development.

Why This Matters for India’s Quantum Ecosystem

India’s National Quantum Mission (with significant government allocation) is increasing activity in the sector. Quanfluence’s room-temperature photonic approach differentiates it from many cryogenic systems and aims for practical near-term use cases while pursuing longer-term universal quantum computing.

Other Indian quantum startups have also raised capital recently, reflecting rising investor interest in deeptech hardware.

Sources: 

• Official Quanfluence Funding Statement

• Economic Times

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