Bengaluru-based founders Sunil Gupta and Srinivasa Rao Aluri spent nearly a decade preparing for a quantum computing threat most people hadn’t yet considered — now their technology protects the Indian Army, Navy, and critical infrastructure
When Sunil Gupta and Srinivasa Rao Aluri founded QNu Labs in 2016, quantum computing existed almost entirely in research labs, and few saw any urgency in securing against it. The two believed otherwise, reasoning that as India’s digital economy grew, so would its exposure to future quantum-powered attacks capable of breaking today’s encryption. “People told us we were working on tomorrow’s problem,” Aluri recalls. “Security has to be built before the threat becomes real.”
How the Technology Works
The main product of QNu Labs is Armos, which uses Quantum Key Distribution to create encryption keys, whose transfer is not necessary as they are formed right on the receiver’s side, making interception impossible and, thus, hacking significantly harder. The sibling product to Armos is Tropos, which uses quantum mechanics to produce random numbers for additional security measures, making brute-force attacks impossible. These products, along with post-quantum cryptography, comprise QShield, a unified platform that works alongside the user’s tools, not limiting their production or use.
From Leh to the Battlefield
The company’s first major proof of concept came in Leh, where it generated quantum-safe keys across a 300-kilometre fibre network under extreme conditions. That success led the Indian Army to place its first procurement order in August 2022, followed by a landmark Indian Navy order for 28 quantum encryption systems the following year — among the country’s largest quantum security defence procurements.
Scaling to 1,000 Kilometres
Following up on the trial run of 500 kilometres with the Army’s Southern Command in Rajasthan, QNu Labs has, as of April 2026, created India’s first quantum key distribution network that has stretched to 1,000 kilometres and has demonstrated an impressive 99.3 percent uptime over a 15-day period, independently verified by government agencies and VIAVI Solutions.
Beyond Defence
The company is now looking to expand beyond defence to banks, payment systems, and other critical infrastructure to protect them from “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, with 12 patents granted so far and its QNu Academy nurturing quantum expertise to grow India’s home-grown ecosystem.
