Quantum cyber security firm QNu Labs, which is IIT-Madras-based, has raised Rs60 crore ($7 million) in a Series A round, led by the National Quantum Mission (NQM), a government initiative under the Department of Science and Technology, which put in Rs25 crore. Other investors who joined the round are Lucky Investment, Speciale Invest, Tenacity Ventures, and Singularity AMC. With this, QNu Labs has raised a total of $20 million till date.

The money will be spent in growing the product lines of QNu Labs and furthering the development of its quantum-safe technology. The firm seeks to protect data from future threats that come with the growth in quantum computing, which has the ability to crack existing encryption systems.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, QNu Labs asserts to have established post-quantum cryptography (PQC) solutions and quantum key distribution (QKD) infrastructures for secure protection of sensitive communications in industries like critical infrastructure, finance, and defense. Indian rivals in the quantum-safe cybersecurity market are QuLabs, Scytale Alpha, and Qpi.

In other news, Stimuler, a platform that teaches spoken English with AI, last raised $3.75 million in pre-Series A funding led by Lightspeed and SWC Global, joined by Operators Studio, Rebright, Force Ventures, GradCapital, and M Venture Partners. The company plans to use the funds to scale its technical team, develop better AI infrastructure, and strengthen its presence in international markets, with a focus on Latin America and Southeast Asia. Stimuler plans to triple its revenue in the next 12 to 18 months and is currently sitting on more than 45,000 paying users and over four million installs on Android and iOS.