March 25, 2025 -- Qunova Computing, a developer of software applications designed with the goal of bringing quantum utility to the chemical, pharmaceutical and industrial engineering sectors, today announces its HI-VQE algorithm is now available to the IBM Quantum Network through IBM’s Qiskit Functions Catalog. This worldwide network is comprised of more than 250 organizations including Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, government labs and startups. These users now have access to a new tool for exploring applications on IBM’s utility-scale quantum computers.

Qunova’s Handover Iteration Variational Quantum Eigensolver, known as HI-VQE, has delivered impressive results on multiple quantum computing architectures, while also providing computational accuracy sufficient to carry out advanced calculations for quantum chemistry. The company’s hybrid classical-quantum approach leverages the strengths of each modality, minimizing resource requirements while significantly enhancing speed and accuracy.

“Qunova’s availability through IBM’s Qiskit Functions Catalog signals an important recognition of the work we have done and the quality of the product we have developed,” said June-Koo Kevin Rhee, CEO and Founder of Qunova Computing. “We have demonstrated that our innovative HI-VQE algorithm is a significant step forward over other VQE algorithms. Now, through the Qiskit Functions Catalog, we will be able to deliver value for a vast set of users all around the globe. We already know that HI-VQE adds value for stakeholders in chemistry, pharmaceuticals and materials science, and we are looking forward to collaborating with those users. We are also excited about potential new use cases which could be found in other industries, through accessing the large pool of users within the IBM Quantum Network.”

Tests have demonstrated that by removing so-called Pauli word measurements from the algorithm and simplifying the overall computations, complex calculations can be performed over 1,000 times more efficiently. In this way, HI-VQE can address various limitations that may plague traditional VQEs. The company will soon demonstrate additional use cases for a range of industries including applications in quantum chemistry. This includes a different approach to modeling very large molecules like Iron Porphyrin by efficiently sampling the subspace with a quantum circuit. This is an extremely challenging undertaking due to the electronic complexity of these molecules, their size and structure, along with their multiple possible spin states and oxidation states.

Qunova anticipates that it may draw users from the more than 250 organizations in the IBM Quantum Network, which includes members in automotive, aerospace, finance and other industries that require innovative solutions for advanced optimization problems. This represents unprecedented market access for the company. Increased access to this technology may also accelerate the development of meaningful quantum-based use cases by this diverse group of users, and the identification of solutions to certain industrial problems.

“At IBM, we believe that quantum advantage on near-term devices is possible within the next two years—based in part on growing number of sophisticated algorithms becoming available through our Qiskit Functions Catalog. Adding Qunova Computing’s HI-VQE to the catalog gives our ecosystem of partners a powerful tool for those not only developing chemistry applications in the pharmaceutical and industrial engineering industries, but those exploring how quantum computing could help optimize solutions across a number of other industries,” said Jay Gambetta, Vice President, IBM Quantum.

The Qiskit SDK developed by IBM is the world's most popular and performant open-source quantum software that allows developers to more easily build complex quantum circuits with stability, accuracy, and speed. The open-source Qiskit SDK enables lean libraries, reduced transpilation time, and a streamlined workflow to help efficiently compose utility-scale solutions for domain-specific use cases. It also offers tools for mapping problems to quantum circuits and preparing them for execution, and premium services to optimize, orchestrate, and run quantum workloads, like HI-VQE in the Qiskit Functions Catalog.

Access to the HI-VQE algorithm is available now in the IBM Qiskit Functions Catalog and will be offered free of charge for the IBM Quantum Network for a limited time.