By removing the steep learning curve of quantum programming, its platform lets anyone—from students to software engineers—run quantum code in minutes, not months.
Boston-based startup qBraid, launched in June 2020 by Kanav Setia and Jason Necaise (MIT ’20), is offering what it calls a “non-technical gateway” to the world of quantum programming. In simple terms: if quantum computing once felt like a VIP party where you need an invite, a suit and a PhD, qBraid aims to widen the guest list.
Why this matters: Quantum computers can model complex molecules, simulate weather patterns and promise breakthroughs in AI with far lower energy footprints than conventional machines. But up till now, the barrier to entry has been steep — accessing hardware, installing specialised software stacks and mastering arcane algorithms. That is, until now. qBraid’s cloud-based platform simply lets anyone log in, connect to quantum devices from big players like IBM, Microsoft and Nvidia, and in a few clicks begin coding.
“From knowing nothing about quantum computing to running your first program on these amazing machines in less than 10 minutes,” Setia says. And that’s the pitch—less queueing, more doing. So far, qBraid counts usage by over 20,000 users across more than 120 countries. The platform started as a pre-configured cloud sandbox—no installation fuss, just login and deploy. Over time it’s matured into a full quantum “operating system” (dubbed qBraid-OS) that even quantum hardware companies incorporate into their stacks.
The hope is not merely to open the door, but to expand the room. From academic labs to enterprise teams, qBraid is positioned to become the quantum-software backbone while hardware designers focus on building the machines. The big picture? A quantum-ready workforce and an ecosystem no longer gated by technical overhead. As Setia notes: “there were possibly less than 1,000 people in the world who could even be called experts in quantum programming” just a few years ago.
