A formal Letter of Intent links Bengaluru-based IISc with Tokyo startup Yaqumo to validate, demonstrate and prepare industrial deployment of scalable quantum computing in India and Japan.
The partnership centers on Yaqumo’s neutral-atom architecture, which uses optical tweezers to arrange thousands of qubits in one vacuum chamber without a matching rise in control-wiring complexity.
Joint work will pair IISc’s labs and cleanrooms with Yaqumo’s hardware pipeline, targeting higher gate fidelities, faster optical control and hardware-aware software for active quantum error-correction decoding.
The deal extends the India-Japan Digital Partnership 2.0 and follows a May 4 bilateral quantum LoI, while aligning with India’s National Quantum Mission and giving Yaqumo a validation path after its $4.4 million seed extension.
Beyond research, what immediate commercial value does this quantum partnership unlock for industries in India and Japan?
Can this India-Japan alliance challenge US and Chinese dominance in the global quantum technology race?
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Japan-based Yaqumo Inc. have launched a strategic partnership, formalized by a Letter of Intent on May 28, 2026. This collaboration marks a pivotal moment for both India and Japan, aiming to accelerate advancements in quantum technologies. The immediate focus is on developing neutral-atom quantum hardware, photonics, quantum systems engineering, and software. By combining their strengths, the partnership is set to drive breakthroughs that will enhance scientific understanding and foster industrial innovation, building on the broader India–Japan Digital Partnership 2.0 and previous bilateral agreements.