Lighting the Future — pi Ventures Invests in The Next-Gen Computing Platform by Quanfluence

Insider Brief

• pi Ventures is investing in Quanfluence, which is pioneering a new approach to high-performance computing with Time-Multiplexed Optical Coherent Ising Machines (CIMs), offering a faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient way to solve complex optimization problems that overwhelm traditional and quantum systems.
• Leveraging light waves and photonic circuits, Quanfluence’s Optical Ising machine can process millions of permutations to tackle NP-hard optimization challenges in industries like finance, logistics, and healthcare, with a next-gen system set to handle up to 25 million permutations launching soon.
• Founded by seasoned DeepTech entrepreneurs, Quanfluence showcases India’s quantum innovation, collaborating with IIT Madras and IISER Mohali, while advancing toward a room-temperature photonic quantum computer poised to revolutionize computational power globally.

PRESS RELEASE — What if the hardest problems in the world like predicting stock markets, optimizing delivery routes, efficient scheduling of factory workers or nurses, or even designing new drugs could be solved in seconds? Today, these tasks push the limits of modern computing, requiring enormous resources and time. Traditional algorithms struggle as these problems grow exponentially complex, while quantum computing still faces significant technical barriers. But what if there was an innovative solution that combines the best of both worlds?

This is where Quanfluence steps in. We are thrilled to announce our investment in this pioneering startup, which is redefining high-performance computing with Time-Multiplexed Optical Coherent Ising Machines (CIMs). Their revolutionary approach leverages the physics of light to solve optimization problems 100x faster, cheaper and more efficiently than classical or today’s quantum computers, unlocking unprecedented possibilities across industries like finance, logistics, and healthcare.

As businesses increasingly rely on data-driven decision-making, the need for efficient optimization tools has skyrocketed. Optimization problems demand enormous processing power to sift through billions of possibilities and find the best solution. While quantum computing has dominated the future-of-computing conversation, existing systems face hardware instability, noise, and scaling challenges. Meanwhile, classical computers fall short in solving complex, high-dimensional problems efficiently. Quanfluence’s approach combining optics and analog bypasses these issues entirely, making it a highly scalable and energy-efficient solution.

At the heart of Quanfluence’s technology is its Optical Ising machine, which uses light waves as computational units. By manipulating these waves through advanced photonic circuits and pairing them with high-speed field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), Quanfluence’s system can process hundreds of interconnected variables simultaneously. This capability allows it to tackle NP-hard optimization problems that would overwhelm even today’s best supercomputers. Their current system with 128 interconnected variables (~10k permutations) has already been piloted with a few customers and is capable of solving small scale problems. They are currently testing the advanced version with 10-25M permutations which will be available next quarter to solve complex real world optimization problems. Quanfluence simultaneously is also working towards developing a room-temperature photonic quantum computer that could reshape the future of high-performance computing entirely.

Behind Quanfluence is a world-class team with deep expertise in photonics, semiconductors, and advanced computing which is an extremely rare combination. Sujoy, Ravi and Biman have known and worked alongside each other for 20+ years initially at Texas Instruments and then launched a semiconductor IP services company a decade back which they exited to Synopsys in 2018. Subsequently they launched Quanfluence in 2021 as they wanted to showcase India’s DeepTech capabilities and build a global world class quantum-first product out of India. They have established deep partnerships with IIT Madras & IISER Mohali to help them with the research side around photonics and quantum. As they expand the product capabilities, Quanfluence is poised to lead in enterprise-ready solutions for optimization-heavy sectors such as financial services, logistics, and pharmaceuticals.

At pi Ventures, we are committed to backing transformative technologies that redefine entire industries. Our investment in Quanfluence reflects our belief in their ability to bridge the gap between classical and quantum computing, offering real-world solutions to some of today’s most complex computational challenges.

We’re excited to support Quanfluence on its journey to push the boundaries of computational power, redefine what’s possible in high-performance computing, and unlock new frontiers in business and scientific innovation. This is just the beginning of a technological revolution powered by light.