QNu Labs raises Rs 200 Cr as demand for quantum-safe cybersecurity grows
The quantum-safe cybersecurity company will use the fresh capital to expand research, sales and technology capabilities as India advances its quantum agenda.
Quantum cybersecurity company QNu Labs has raised Rs 200 crore in a Series A1 round led by the National Quantum Mission and deep-tech venture capital firm Speciale Invest.
Sony Innovation Fund, which invests in technology businesses with strategic relevance to Sony and global potential, Gaja Capital, which backs India-focused mid-market businesses, and Artha Ventures, which supports early-stage Indian startups, also participated.
The Bengaluru-based company said the round takes its total capital raised to Rs 375 crore.
QNu plans to use the new capital to increase research and development, expand sales and go-to-market operations in India and overseas, and broaden its technology stack into quantum sensing and artificial intelligence.
Part of the funding will also go towards the company’s contribution to an approved Research, Development and Innovation project aimed at building the technology backbone for India’s Quantum Secure and Sensing Networks.
Gupta said the National Quantum Mission had helped establish the foundations for the sector, with quantum-safe technology now “shifting from policy to commercial deployment”.
The company develops quantum-safe cybersecurity products intended to protect communications and digital infrastructure from threats posed by increasingly capable quantum computers. Its technologies include quantum key distribution (QKD), which uses principles of quantum physics to help secure the exchange of encryption keys, alongside other security technologies designed for migration towards quantum-resistant systems.
QNu Labs was incubated at IIT Madras in 2016 and was founded by Srinivasa Rao Aluri and Sunil Gupta. The company said its products are already deployed in government, critical infrastructure and banking, financial services and insurance. It has a team of 160 engineers, physicists and mathematicians.
The new funding comes as governments are treating quantum security as a longer-term infrastructure issue rather than a purely research concern. A Department of Science and Technology report published in May 2026 sets a target for quantum resilience across India’s critical information infrastructure by 2029 and wider enterprise adoption of post-quantum cryptography by 2033.
Post-quantum cryptography refers to encryption methods designed to remain secure against future quantum computers.
India’s National Quantum Mission, approved with an outlay of Rs 6,003.65 crore for eight years, covers quantum computing, communications, sensing and metrology, and quantum materials and devices. By 2026, four thematic hubs had been established, with 152 researchers across 43 institutions, while government-backed startup support had expanded to 17 companies.
QNu has already become part of that effort. In April, the government said an indigenous 1,000-km quantum communication network had been demonstrated under the mission using technology developed by QNu Labs, marking progress towards the mission’s longer-term 2,000-km target.
Gupta said investment in indigenous capabilities could help India “secure its expanding digital infrastructure with sovereign technology” while developing products capable of competing in global markets.
Speciale Invest first backed QNu Labs five years ago, and Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner said the firm is now seeing the adoption it anticipated, with governments and enterprises preparing for the quantum era. The latest investment represents its continued backing of QNu as the company seeks to expand internationally.