Quantum computers have the potential to model new molecules and weather patterns better than any computer today. They may also one day accelerate artificial intelligence algorithms at a much lower energy footprint. But anyone interested in using quantum computers faces a steep learning curve that starts with getting access to quantum devices and then figuring out one of the many quantum software programs on the market.
Now qBraid, founded by Kanav Setia and Jason Necaise ’20, is providing a gateway to quantum computing with a platform that gives users access to the leading quantum devices and software. Users can log on to qBraid’s cloud-based interface and connect with quantum devices and other computing resources from leading companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, and IBM. In a few clicks, they can start coding or deploy cutting-edge software that works across devices.
“The mission is to take you from not knowing anything about quantum computing to running your first program on these amazing machines in less than 10 minutes,” Setia says. “We’re a one-stop platform that gives access to everything the quantum ecosystem has to offer. Our goal is to enable anyone — whether they’re enterprise customers, academics, or individual users — to build and ultimately deploy applications.”
Since its founding in June of 2020, qBraid has helped more than 20,000 people in more than 120 countries deploy code on quantum devices. That traction is ultimately helping to drive innovation in a nascent industry that’s expected to play a key role in our future.
“This lowers the barrier to entry for a lot of newcomers,” Setia says. “They can be up and running in a few minutes instead of a few weeks. That’s why we’ve gotten so much adoption around the world. We’re one of the most popular platforms for accessing quantum software and hardware.”
A quantum “software sandbox”
Setia met Necaise while the two interned at IBM. At the time, Necaise was an undergraduate at MIT majoring in physics, while Setia was at Dartmouth College. The two enjoyed working together, and Necaise said if Setia ever started a company, he’d be interested in joining.
A few months later, Setia decided to take him up on the offer. At Dartmouth, Setia had taken one of the first applied quantum computing classes, but students spent weeks struggling to install all the necessary software programs before they could even start coding.
“We hadn’t even gotten close to developing any useful algorithms,” Seita said. “The idea for qBraid was, ‘Why don’t we build a software sandbox in the cloud and give people an easy programming setup out of the box?’ Connection with the hardware would already be done.”
The founders received early support from the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund and took part in the delta v summer startup accelerator run by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship.
“Both programs provided us with very strong mentorship,” Setia says. “They give you frameworks on what a startup should look like, and they bring in some of the smartest people in the world to mentor you — people you’d never have access to otherwise.”
Necaise left the company in 2021. Setia, meanwhile, continued to find problems with quantum software outside of the classroom.
“This is a massive bottleneck,” Setia says. “I’d worked on several quantum software programs that pushed out updates or changes, and suddenly all hell broke loose on my codebase. I’d spend two to four weeks jostling with these updates that had almost nothing to do with the quantum algorithms I was working on.”
QBraid started as a platform with pre-installed software that let developers start writing code immediately. The company also added support for version-controlled quantum software so developers could build applications on top without worrying about changes. Over time, qBraid added connections to quantum computers and tools that lets quantum programs run across different devices.
“The pitch was you don’t need to manage a bunch of software or a whole bunch of cloud accounts,” Setia says. “We’re a single platform: the quantum cloud.”
QBraid also launched qBook, a learning platform that offers interactive courses in quantum computing.
“If you see a piece of code you like, you just click play and the code runs,” Setia says. “You can run a whole bunch of code, modify it on the fly, and you can understand how it works. It runs on laptops, iPads, and phones. A significant portion of our users are from developing countries, and they’re developing applications from their phones.”
Democratizing quantum computing
Today qBraid’s 20,000 users come from over 400 universities and 100 companies around the world. As qBraid’s user base has grown, the company went from integrating quantum computers onto their platform from the outside to creating a quantum operating system, qBraid-OS, that is currently being used by four leading quantum companies.
“We are productizing these quantum computers,” Setia explains. “Many quantum companies are realizing they want to focus their energy completely on the hardware, with us productizing their infrastructure. We’re like the operating system for quantum computers.”
People are using qBraid to build quantum applications in AI and machine learning, to discover new molecules or develop new drugs, and to develop applications in finance and cybersecurity. With every new use case, Setia says qBraid is democratizing quantum computing to create the quantum workforce that will continue to advance the field.
“[In 2018], an article in The New York Times said there were possibly less than 1,000 people in the world that could be called experts in quantum programming,” Setia says. “A lot of people want to access these cutting-edge machines, but they don’t have the right software backgrounds. They are just getting started and want to play with algorithms. QBraid gives those people an easy programming setup out of the box.”
