Startups power Indian quantum computing push with homegrown innovation

About 100 homegrown firms are building advanced hardware and supply chains for tech transformation, reports Shine Jacob

Artificial intelligence (AI) upending the technology industry is in the headlines, but a quieter disruption is gathering pace: Quantum computing. For India, a critical hub in the global technology ecosystem, the stakes are high. If the government’s road map succeeds, homegrown startups could become key players in the “Q revolution”. 

India’s plans got a boost in April when it developed a 1,000-km-long quantum network — the longest outside China — for ultra-secure communication and future quantum internet infrastructure. 

Bengaluru-based QNu Labs created the network and is now gearing up to lead the global quantum security solutions market. Organisations worldwide, including defence forces, are using this technology to upgrade standard encryption and shield sensitive data from future quantum hacker attacks. Beyond serving Indian banking, telecom, and defence clients, QNu has expanded into the United States and West Asia. 

“Like India provided vaccines to the world, our aim is to come up with quantum diplomacy by providing security for the entire world. We have large platforms like UIDAI and UPI. If we can safeguard them, we can become the quantum vaccine for the entire world, like we supplied the Covid-19 vaccine. We want to become the first global quantum technology company, making a mark in both software and hardware,” said Sunil Gupta, cofounder of QNu Labs, which was incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in 2016. 

Indigenous capability 

The company has invested around ₹200 crore and is in the process of raising $15-20 million to fund research and development that may require a capital expenditure of up to ₹400 crore. 

It is not just QNu Labs: A pool of nearly 100 startups under the National Quantum Mission is transforming India into a centre of quantum computing, a powerful technology that uses advanced physics to solve complex problems at speeds unimaginable with today’s computers. 

“As a country, we are developing a 360-degree strategy focusing on developing both the software and hardware ecosystem driven by startups,” said C V Sridhar, mission director of the Andhra Pradesh State Quantum Mission and one of the architects of the Amaravati Quantum Valley (AQV). 

“India already has a strong pool of over 100 startups which are in advanced stages of contributing to the quantum ecosystem — including development of quantum computers, hardware manufacturing, design, software and applications, and even providing advanced computing services for global clients,” he said. 

AQV is expected to be among the top five hubs in the world in its field, targeting ₹5,000 crore in annual quantum technology exports by 2030. 

Take Qute Electronics, a spinoff from the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) in New Delhi. IUAC is building a quantum computer using a unique magnetic trap to hold charged particles — a breakthrough technology never before demonstrated anywhere in the world. With it, IUAC is on track to debut a first-of-its-kind, 7-qubit computer by the end of this year. [Qubit is the basic unit of quantum information, similar to standard computer bits.] 

Import potential 

Originally created to supply critical power components for this computer, Qute is now becoming a backbone for other quantum projects in India and abroad. It is the first Indian company to export a quantum component to the global market, securing orders from the Helmholtz Institute Jena in Germany. 

“To make a one qubit computer, we need at least three to four multichannel direct current (DC) voltage sources and high stability. If we are going to import this, it will cost a lot. Hence, we developed it indigenously,” said Sugam Kumar, a non-executive director of Qute Electronics and a scientist at IUAC. 

“This will reduce the cost to one-fifth of what it is. It was started to cater to our requirement. Later on, we started getting demand from others as well, as others are also importing this, and hence it got commercialised. We are making it to meet the needs of all types of quantum computers and fulfilling the needs of clients not just in India, but abroad as well,” he said. 

Qute is helping quantum computing by delivering precision energy solutions for a variety of advanced quantum systems. To fuel this growth, the startup has secured a ₹2.5 crore funding boost from IIT Delhi’s QMD, a tech innovation hub backed by the Department of Science and Technology. 

At AQV, Qbit Force Quantum and its partner, Qubitech, launched India’s first open-access Quantum Reference Facility at SRM University-Andhra Pradesh in April. The facility allows researchers and students to build and experiment directly with quantum hardware. Qbit Force aims to build India’s first homegrown quantum computer with an open-access hardware platform by manufacturing specialised cooling systems and advanced quantum chips at scale. 

“We want to build India’s full-stack quantum capability — develop and integrate processors, cryogenics, control electronics, and software, strengthening a truly Made-in-India quantum ecosystem,” said L Venkata Subramaniam, chief executive officer of Qbit Force. 

“While we built two systems and launched them on April 14, a country with India’s talent requires hundreds more. Our goal is to ensure that a complete supply chain of all components is built right here in India that builds all the major quantum components for the world,” he said. 

Breakthrough innovations are also taking shape on the ground. Pune-based Quanfluence, for instance, is developing a photonic quantum computer alongside “quantum-inspired software”. “We are a quantum hardware company and our main product is the quantum computer itself, using a different technology based on photonics. We have a road map to build quantum computers in a couple of years, and also some hardware products,” said Sujoy Chakravarty, founder of Quanfluence.

While the quantum boom is real, industry experts told Business Standard that India must build its own supply chain from scratch. Instead of relying on imports, the country needs to domestically manufacture everything from specialised quantum chips and ultra-powerful cooling systems to the advanced amplifiers used to read quantum data. “These are key components. If a country on which we are dependent comes out with export restrictions in future, it may affect the domestic quantum players,” said an industry source. 

To bridge these gaps, the National Quantum Mission is financially backing 17 of the 100 startups under its wing to build homegrown capabilities. These companies are pioneering technologies ranging from quantum biosensors for disease detection to advanced positioning systems, atomic memory and precision electronics. For India, the goal of this mission is not just domestic self-reliance but global leadership.   

Tech tutorial 

• Quantum computing is a physicsbased tech for solving complex problems vastly quicker than standard computers
• Unlike standard tech’s binary logic (0/1), quantum computers use “qubits” to process multiple states simultaneously
• The property allows quantum systems to solve hyper-complex problems quickly
• Quantum tech is set to transform sectors such as medicine, finance, climate modelling, logistics, materials science