Bengaluru-based deeptech startup secures funding led by Chiratae Ventures, with Pi Ventures and Rainmatter by Zerodha joining, to integrate chips, electronics and software into one system, targeting early processors by 2027.
Quanfluence, a Bengaluru-based deep technology company developing photonic quantum computers, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Chiratae Ventures. Pi Ventures, which headed the startup's 2024 seed round, returned as a co-investor, and Rainmatter by Zerodha also participated.
The company will use the money to build a full-stack photonic quantum computer that combines indigenously designed photonic chips, control electronics and software in a single machine. Its roadmap points to early processors by 2027 and larger, scalable systems by 2029.
Progress since the last round
Since its previous funding, Quanfluence says it has developed several core technologies needed for its architecture. It has designed and fabricated multiple photonic integrated circuits and electronic integrated circuits, created low-loss designs for coupling chips to optical fibre, and demonstrated the generation of quantum light states. The firm also reports significant progress on photonic chips meant for light-matter interactions.
Parts of its technology have already left the laboratory. Its photonic Ising machine has been turned into a product, and several quantum devices it built are now sold commercially.
Co-founder and CEO Sujoy Chakravarty said the aim has always been a useful quantum computer rather than a better experiment. He explained that photonics was chosen because it offers a route to scale, and that the funding will let the team assemble the pieces it has built, including the circuits, electronics, optics and algorithms, into a complete system.
Founders and investor views
Quanfluence was founded in 2021 by Chakravarty, Ravi Mehta, Biman Chattopadhyay, Aditi Vaidya, Prof. Anil Prabhakar of IIT Madras and Prof. Sandeep Goyal of IISER Mohali. It is incubated at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell. Three of the founders earlier built Silicon and Beyond, a semiconductor IP company later acquired by Synopsys, and the team combines that chip-design background with quantum optics expertise to develop its technology in-house.
Venkatesh Peddi of Chiratae Ventures said the fund wants to back homegrown deeptech led by strong founders. He described photonics as among the most credible routes to a quantum machine that can scale beyond the lab, and pointed to the team's earlier semiconductor exit as a rare strength.
Shubham Sandeep of Pi Ventures said the team has made meaningful progress in turning a complex vision into a credible path towards commercially relevant quantum computing. He said the follow-on investment reflects growing conviction in the opportunity to build a globally significant quantum company from India.
Abhinav Singh Negi of Rainmatter by Zerodha said India has long been a consumer of deep technology built elsewhere and is now shifting towards creating it. He praised the startup's pragmatism in offsetting long-term hardware risk with near-term revenue, calling it a hardware-first, patent-backed bet that supports India's sovereign quantum capability.
