India-based QpiAI Secures $6.5 Million in Pre-Series A Funding

Insider Brief

• QpiAI has closed its first external investment round, securing $6.5 million in pre-series A funding.
• Yournest and SIDBI Venture Capital Limited (SVCL) led the round, with participation from a range of other investors.
• QpiAI plans to use funding build a full-stack 25-qubit quantum computer scalable to 1,000 physical superconducting qubits.

QpiAI, a leader in quantum computing and generative AI based in India, has closed its first external investment round, securing $6.5 million in pre-series A funding, according to a story in Outlook India. The round was led by Yournest and SIDBI Venture Capital Limited (SVCL), with participation from a range of other investors.

Participants in the funding round include WFC, an angel group; Ramesh Radhakrishnan, a successful serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist; Ramaswamy Prabhakar, a technologist and angel investor from Silicon Valley; Quick Heal Security founders Kailash Katkar and Sanjay Katkar; Lakshmeenarayanan, former Chairman and CEO of Cognizant; Bhupinder Singh, former CPO of Bentley; Pratap Reddy, a Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur and angel investor; Sahasra Capital, and other angel investors.

With this funding, QpiAI plans to develop a full-stack 25-qubit quantum computer scalable to 1,000 physical superconducting qubits using the same infrastructure. The company also aims to boost revenues from its seven software platforms, including QpiAI-pro, QpiAI-explorer, QpiAI-opt, QpiAI-pharma, QpiAI-ML, QpiAI-logistics, and QpiAI-matter, all of which leverage quantum computing and generative AI technologies.

“Pre-series A round of QpiAI will be remembered as a landmark funding round in Indian deeptech,” said Dr. Nagendra Nagaraja, CEO and Founder of QpiAI, as reported in Outlook India . “This round should allow us to lay the foundation of intelligence modeling and intelligence compute via quantum computers and generative AI. Funding will enable us to achieve breakthrough innovation in vertical integration of generative AI and quantum computing in enterprise and industrial applications.”

QpiAI, already a revenue-generating enterprise-focused technology startup, counts Fortune 500 companies in pharmaceuticals, materials, chemicals, cosmetics, automotive, financials and manufacturing among its customers, according to the news magazine.

As part of the funding agreement, Debraj Banerjee from SIDBI Ventures will join the QpiAI board as a nominee of SIDBI Venture Capital. Ramesh Radhakrishnan, the first external investor in QpiAI, will join the board as a nominee director of Qpi Technology, the holding company of QpiAI.

“Building scalable quantum computers that can solve real-world problems and bolster our industry verticals is a key technology development,” said Dr. Manjunath R.V., Vice President for Quantum Computers at QpiAI. “At QpiAI, we are very excited to have our own quantum computers to further build quantum and AI data centers. Our team is thrilled to advance our roadmap to scale quantum computers from 25 qubits to 1,000 qubits.”

The funding will also support the development of 25-qubit quantum computers at QpiAI’s Bangalore headquarters by Q4 2024 or Q1 2025. The integration of high-performance computing (HPC) with quantum capabilities will help pave the way for innovation in QpiAI’s generative AI and quantum software products. The company plans to offer Quantum Compute as a Service (QCaaS) and provide comprehensive Quantum-HPC solutions to its customers.

“By investing in QpiAI, we’re helping to propel India to the leading edge of quantum computing,” said Sunil Goyal, MD of Yournest. “This technology has the potential to revolutionize fields like materials science, drug discovery, automotive, and manufacturing. QpiAI’s innovative approach makes them a key player in unlocking this potential, and we’re thrilled to join Dr. Nagendra and the QpiAI team on this exciting journey.”

Sachin Kumar, Lakshya Priyadarshi, and Aswanth Krishnan, who lead QpiAI’s software products and solutions in generative AI and quantum software, noted, “In the last four years, we were able to commercialize our software platforms and achieve traction across large blue-chip enterprise customers. With this funding, and with all our seven software products ready to scale, we envision scaling our software platforms globally.”

QpiAI, headquartered in Bangalore, India, with subsidiaries in the US and Finland, plans to expand its presence in global markets, including the US, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

“Quantum computers and AI are the future for all applied technologies in many different market segments,” said Ramesh Radhakrishnan. “Integrating application software with quantum system software and hardware to make AI and quantum computing work together is a fundamental innovation whose significance is going to be enormous.”