SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Quantum computers, the next-age machines that one day will make current laptops feel like outdated abacuses, are still experimental.
But Abhishek Chopra isn’t waiting for the future.
Instead, his Syracuse-based company, BQP, creates software that mimics the computing power of a quantum computer.
“Quantum computers are incredibly powerful tools capable of unraveling complex problems in a fraction of the time it takes today,” Chopra said. To do that, he says, “you don’t need the quantum hardware immediately.”
BQP’s software using quantum math to analyze data 10 times faster than today’s high-powered computers, Chopra said.
That can mean faster analysis of medical trials, better fuel efficiency in jets and military aircraft, even speedier manufacturing lines with far fewer quality concerns, he said.
In other words, BQP aims to supersize the power of a more traditional computer system.
“The math that goes behind these tools are outdated and haven’t changed in the past 40 years,” Chopra told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.
Chopra said that while quantum computers are still in the “experimental stage,” the transition has begun.
“We will soon see ‘hybrid’ data centers where standard high-performance computers handle the day-to-day heavy lifting, while quantum computers sit alongside them to unlock the hardest scientific puzzles,” Chopra said.
BQP’s work is getting notice from private investors and the U.S. military. Since Chopra founded the company four years ago, it’s raised nearly $7 million, including about $5 million last year from a mix of venture firms, including Syracuse-based Armory Square Ventures. The company also got $250,000 in state taxpayer money from Empire State Development’s investment arm, New York Ventures.
BQP, formerly called BosonQ Psi, won recognition as Upstate Capital’s venture deal of the year in 2025.
Two years ago, the company won a $100,000 grant from the HUSTLE Defense Accelerator, run by the Griffiss Institute with the Air Force Research Lab in Rome, to explore how quantum computing could improve the military’s simulations.
Chopra runs BQP, which has grown to 40 workers, from CenterState CEO’s tech business accelerator INSPYRE Innovation Hub in downtown. A core group of cofounders and leaders work out of the downtown office, while others work across the U.S., Chopra said.
Today’s computers rely on binary systems, basically a long string of commands that force the machine to decide “yes” or “no” to perform tasks. Quantum systems operate more like a multiple-choice test on steroids. The machine can cipher through several directions while exploring various answers and options, all at the same time.
“The goal is, how can we accelerate these tools of modeling and simulation for engineers and scientists to do these things not in years and several months, but in days and minutes,” Chopra said.
Currently, BQP has contracts with some leaders in simulation modeling, including Nvidia, IBM, Intel, and MathWorks, Chopra said.
Chopra, an aerospace engineer and computational scientist, also has his eye on the day when quantum computers are more readily available for industries and consumers. He estimated BQP’s software installed on a quantum computer could run analyses up to 1,000 times faster than today’s best desktops.
He said he believes Syracuse and other cities along the New York Thruway could become a home for quantum industries. Already, the military has designated its lab in Rome as the quantum headquarters for the Air Force.
“One of my big goals is not just to make BQP successful, of course that’s my day-to-day job, but also how to really impact the region,” Chopra said. “We in Upstate New York, I feel like, are aching for the next Kodak movement.”
