When Santosh Talaghatti saw his mother fight cancer, the experience left him with a question that would eventually shape his next venture. Why, at a time when technology can make information available almost instantly, does detecting serious illness still depend on processes that can be slow, complex and difficult to access?
“I must create certain technology which will detect the cancer much earlier,” Talaghatti says.
The idea did not emerge in isolation. Talaghatti had spent years working on digital transformation projects involving government, education and public services. He also describes his work with initiatives associated with former President A P J Abdul Kalam as an important influence on his approach to technology, particularly the idea that complex advances should be understandable and useful to ordinary people.
Instead of building quantum hardware, Bengaluru-based Quantum World Ventures (QWV) is applying quantum computing, artificial intelligence and related technologies to medical technology, education, public safety, and fintech.
The immediate focus
QWV began its quantum work with healthcare. Talaghatti says its research includes AI-assisted medical imaging and edge AI, where some processing takes place close to the device instead of being sent to a remote cloud server.
One project is a diagnostic imaging system intended to work with equipment such as endoscopes, CT and MRI systems. QWV’s website describes research into quantum-assisted imaging, sensing and hybrid quantum-classical AI models. It currently places its MedTech work at Technology Readiness Level 4 to 5. TRL is a scale used to indicate how close a technology is to real-world deployment. Talaghatti places the endoscopy work at TRL 3 to 4.
It is important to understand this because a laboratory prototype is still some distance from a certified medical product. QWV says its development path includes testing, validation, regulatory work and manufacturing readiness.
Talaghatti has also described an adaptive hearing aid that could connect with a mobile phone and use brain-computer interface technology. A BCI is a system that interprets signals from the brain or nervous system to interact with a device. He said the proposed device would combine hearing assistance with noise reduction and links to family members’ phones for monitoring and safety.
There is a wider scientific question around the use of quantum computing in healthcare. A 2025 systematic review in npj Digital Medicine found no consistent evidence that quantum machine-learning methods currently outperform classical approaches in digital health. Of the studies assessed as sufficiently rigorous, only 16 involved realistic quantum hardware or noisy simulations. The evidence points to a field that remains largely experimental rather than one with established clinical advantage.
Market shaped by imports
The commercial opportunity QWV sees is linked partly to the structure of India’s medical-device market. The Competition Commission of India found in a 2024 study that around 80% of medical devices were imported in 2022 and described the diagnostic medical imaging equipment industry as largely import driven.
The same study found a high degree of concentration in parts of the market. Five original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) accounted for about 98% of the CT scanner market and more than 91% of the MRI market. An OEM is the company that designs and manufactures the original equipment.
For QWV, the proposed approach is therefore less about building a quantum computer and more about developing software and device integrations that could work with existing medical systems. Talaghatti notes that much of the commercial opportunity will sit in the application layer, although his estimate that hardware represents 10% and applications 90% is a company view, not an established industry measure.
Education is the second strand
Education became part of the venture because Talaghatti sees a shortage of practical understanding around quantum technology and AI. He describes work involving about 18 universities, including Bengaluru City University and Tumkur University, and Centres of Excellence using existing campus infrastructure.
The courses discussed include quantum computing, quantum mechanics, qubits, circuit design, quantum communication, quantum machine learning and quantum cryptography. A qubit is the basic unit of quantum information. Quantum cryptography is the method of protecting communications using principles of quantum physics.
This emphasis on education also predates QWV. Talaghatti’s earlier work included the Global Classroom initiative, which sought to connect rural students and teachers with wider networks of experts and institutions. He has also described work on a smart village model in Maharashtra. These earlier projects explain why learning and workforce development sit alongside the company’s technology work.
The limits of the promise
QWV has also spoken about using AI and quantum technologies in policing, forensics and public safety. Talaghatti said the company was exploring quantum-based pattern recognition for evidence analysis. Its current website describes research around quantum-safe cryptography, AI-assisted investigation and public-safety analytics.
Talaghatti’s claims contain very large estimates about how quickly quantum systems could recognise patterns in criminal evidence, but it does not provide independent test results to substantiate them. The same caution applies to claims about major reductions in diagnostic time. Talaghatti himself acknowledges that AI outputs in the medical setting would still require human validation.
Funding the transition
Talaghatti said QWV had started with about Rs 1 crore of bootstrap capital and was seeking around $10 million to move its medical technology towards productisation. Those were fundraising targets rather than completed financing. The company’s current website now describes a Rs 100 crore fundraising effort.
The funding question is central because moving from research to a commercial medical device requires engineering, testing, clinical validation, regulatory approval, manufacturing and distribution.
What comes next
India’s National Quantum Mission, approved in April 2023 with an outlay of Rs 6,003.65 crore through 2030-31, is intended to support research, industrial development and applications in quantum computing, communication and sensing.
For QWV, the next test is turning prototypes into reliable, regulated products that can demonstrate a measurable advantage over existing tools. That is particularly important in medical technology, where new systems have to clear technical, clinical and regulatory hurdles before they can reach patients.
“It is not only a technology revolution, it has to be a human revolution,” says Talaghatti, explaining the company’s ambition.
