QNu Labs: Solving complex problems with quantum computing

Sunil Gupta, co-founder and CEO, QNu Labs Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India

Sunil Gupta points out that online transactions have exploded in India in the last five years. And, in the coming five years, he anticipates a convergence of multiple technologies, including 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, robotics, connected vehicles and blockchain.

“In this hyperconnected digital world, trust will be critical,” he says.

That’s the problem that QNu Labs, co-founded by Gupta, Mark Mathias, Anil Prabhakar and Srinivasa Rao Aluri in 2016, set out to solve. They work in the area of quantum computing, which involves “qubits” that, unlike the classical computing bits, can have values of either zero or one, can have those values simultaneously or even values in between, in the realms of quantum physics.

Scientists expect quantum computers to make child’s play out of some very complex problems that even the most powerful classical computers can’t solve.

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QNu Labs’ products include a random number generator—where the numbers can be used to create encryption keys—a quantum key distribution, the company’s flagship, and a post quantum cryptography software.

The products have cybersecurity applications in areas, including finance, health care, data centres, and defence and critical infrastructure. Among its projects for customers, QNu set up a quantum computing lab for the Indian Army.

They are now working on applications that might bring them customers with large user bases and in different industries. For example, “imagine a quantum-secure WhatsApp”, Gupta says.