qBraid

In 2019, cofounders and quantum information and quantum simulation researchers Andrea Coladangelo and Kanav Setia were frustrated that they were spending 50-60% of their time managing software that had nothing to do with their research. Setia realized that “a managed platform for quantum software could reduce the inefficiencies of the quantum software engineer’s workflow” and soon after qBraid was born.

The backbone of the qBraid ecosystem consists of two platforms: qBraid Lab and qBraid Learn.

“This approach facilitates quantum theorists to better utilize state-of-the-art software development and software developers to better develop their quantum background,” said Kanav. “It also allows for the crucial un-siloing of skill sets needed to realize the full potential of quantum computing such as state-of-the-art software development and advanced quantum computing theory.”

qBraid Lab provides a cloud-based integrated development environment (IDE) for quantum software developers. “Unlike other in-browser development platforms, qBraid’s ecosystem specifically optimizes for quantum computing by providing development environments with all common quantum computing packages pre-installed,” added Setia. “The dedication to quantum computing promises a streamlined development workflow for quantum software development, including a seamless process for accessing all major quantum computing frameworks and hardware providers, such as those from IBM, Google, Rigetti, and Cambridge Quantum Computing.”

In the coming months, qBraid’s native libraries and libraries tailored to specific applications to accelerate development in areas like chemistry and cryptography will also be made available through qBraid-Lab. With the customizable features, multiple hardware providers, and quantum-specific technology, qBraid Lab allows for even the most demanding users, such as quantum theorists, to better utilize state-of-the-art software development.

“qBraid Learn is the team’s own educational content provider, which is ready to host any courses developed by the quantum computing ecosystem,” said Setia. The qBraid-Learn platform was developed to address another main challenge facing the field of quantum computing: a skilled quantum workforce. By lowering the barrier of entry for first-time learners and providing a platform for professors to make their content readily available, qBraid-Learn provides a frictionless interface to learn quantum computing. For first-time learners, qBraid’s free QuBes (Quantum Beginners) course brings students up to speed on all the background knowledge necessary to then introduce quantum computing. After completing qBraid’s QuBes course they are confident that, as future courses are released, anyone will be able to learn quantum computing on qBraid.

Additionally, to further facilitate the exchange of ideas and build the quantum workforce of tomorrow, qBraid also provides a series of community engagement features. This includes a news page on the company’s website, which follows recent happenings in the field, a papers page for all recent academic papers, and an events tab for upcoming conferences and workshops.

“Finally, qBraid provides a blog to which all users can contribute. Unlike most blogs which limit users to writing text, qBraid enables blog readers to experiment with the code in the post as they read along,” noted Setia. “All these features aim to further jumpstart the growing community of quantum software developers.”

Since creating an intuitive platform and robust infrastructure, qBraid has catered to the largest quantum hackathons in the world, namely iQuHack and qchack. Since then, they have gained close to 3,000 registered users from top universities, national labs, and government organizations from the US and Canada. From researchers to students, qBraid is loved as an easy one-stop platform to learn and build quantum algorithms. As they gather further momentum in their new office in Chicago, qBraid seeks to be the go-to quantum computing platform to learn and build quantum computing solutions.