Quanfluence, a Bengaluru-based photonic quantum technology startup, has raised $2 million in a seed funding round led by pi Ventures, with participation from Golden Sparrow, Reena Dayal, and others.
The funds will be utilized to scale the company’s near-term products, advance its flagship quantum computing research, and prepare for market entry, Quanfluence said in a press release.
Pioneering Quantum Solutions
Founded in 2021 by Sujoy Chakravarty, Ravi Mehta, Biman Chattopadhyay, Anil Prabhakar, Aditi Vaidya, and Sandeep Goyal, Quanfluence aims to revolutionize quantum computing by overcoming key limitations in conventional systems. Its hardware-based optimization technology complements AI, enhancing decision-making capabilities across various applications.
The startup aspires to develop a fault-tolerant, general-purpose quantum computer within the next five to six years. Quanfluence integrates optics and computational technology to address challenges such as hardware instability, noise, scaling, complexity, and high-dimensional problems, delivering energy-efficient and scalable solutions.
Optical Ising Machine: The Core Innovation
Quanfluence’s technology is powered by its proprietary optical Ising machine, which leverages light waves as computational units. These waves are manipulated using advanced photonic circuits and high-speed field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), enabling the system to process hundreds of interconnected variables simultaneously.
Currently, Quanfluence’s system can handle 128 interconnected variables (~10,000 permutations). The company plans to release an upgraded version next quarter capable of processing 10–25 million permutations. This advancement is expected to tackle complex optimization challenges in areas like financial risk management, logistics, workforce scheduling, and delivery route optimization.
Vision for the Future
Quanfluence’s 100x faster optimization technology positions it as a key player in the quantum computing ecosystem. The startup’s innovations promise to bridge the gap between current computational limitations and the demands of real-world applications, setting the stage for quantum technology to redefine industries.
With its latest funding, Quanfluence is poised to take significant strides toward realizing its vision of a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum future.
