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Zapata Quantum says the quantum industry is shifting from hardware to software and applications and that its hardware-agnostic approach allows companies to pursue use cases without relying on a single quantum platform.
The company highlighted its credentials, including Over 60 patents, Over 40 peer-reviewed articlesand work with organizations like DARPA, BMW, BP and BASF, along with a cancer research project that Kapur described as a validated real-world quantum application.
Zapata also relies on this AI and partnershipsincluding working with NVIDIA on quantum resource estimation as the company nears the end of its restructuring and looks for catalysts such as new contracts, government programs and a possible uplisting on Nasdaq or the NYSE.
Zapata Quantum (OTCMKTS:ZPTA) Chief Executive Officer Sumit Kapur used a presentation at the OTC Markets Global Technology Conference to argue that quantum computing is transitioning from a hardware-focused phase to one in which software and applications will drive much of the sector’s value.
Kapur said the company, which trades on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol ZPTA, is positioned as a “hardware-agnostic” quantum software provider at a time when companies are hesitant to commit to a single quantum hardware platform. He described Zapata as the only U.S.-based publicly traded quantum software company and said it had built its foundation since spinning off the Harvard Quantum Computing Lab in 2017.
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“We continue to drive the value creation and utility of all these exciting technologies,” Kapur said, adding that the sector is shifting from demonstrating quantum benefits to finding quantum benefits through real-world applications.
Software is considered the key to quantum value creation
Kapur justified the company’s strategy with the view that software has historically acquired significant value in major technology cycles, citing as examples operating systems in personal computing, cloud platforms in web infrastructure and software platforms in artificial intelligence. He said quantum computing is currently dominated by hardware and full-stack approaches, citing companies such as IonQ, Quantinuum, D-Wave, Rigetti, Google and IBM as examples of companies taking different hardware approaches.
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This competition, Kapur said, has led to what he calls a “collective action” problem in quantum software, with less progress being made in the applications and algorithms that connect quantum machines to commercial use cases.
He outlined Zapata’s framework as a three-layered model: the “why,” or use cases such as drug discovery, optimization and simulation; the “what” or algorithms used to solve them; and the “how” or hardware. Kapur said Zapata’s hardware-agnostic approach allows companies to work on applications without relying on a specific hardware paradigm.
Company highlights patents, research and partnerships
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Kapur said Zapata owns more than 60 fundamental quantum software patents and more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific papers. He also highlighted the company’s collaborations with public and private sector organizations, including DARPA, BMW, BP and BASF.
Kapur said Zapata led all three phases of DARPA’s quantum benchmarking program, which he said helped lay the foundation for the company’s current work in developing quantum applications. He also pointed to research on the KRAS cancer mutation conducted with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Kapur said the work used a hybrid quantum classical approach on a 16-qubit quantum computer from IBM and produced 15 molecules worth synthesizing, with some of them showing binding activity.
He said the research was recognized Natural biotechnology as one of the top 10 papers of 2025 and described it as a template for future engagements in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
“It’s a validated application,” Kapur said. “We actually went end-to-end and produced new scientific findings based on quantum computer software.”
AI, NVIDIA collaboration and product development
Kapur also discussed Zapata’s collaboration with NVIDIA in applying agentic artificial intelligence to the development of quantum algorithms. He said the companies were working on quantum resource estimation, which he described as a significant bottleneck in developing quantum applications.
Asked what success would look like in the next 12 to 24 months, Kapur said the goal was to compress a process that could currently take one to two years and include graduate student teams in a process that could initially take months and eventually weeks or days with a smaller technical team.
Kapur also described Zapata’s QuantumGraph and QuantumPilot products as tooling layers designed to support the entire lifecycle of quantum applications, from discovery to development to deployment. He said the products build on previous work with companies such as BP, BASF, Mitsubishi Chemical and BMW.
Restructuring, financing and potential catalysts
Kapur said Zapata was at the “very, very final end” of its restructuring, which included moving from Nasdaq to the OTC market. He said the company is now listed on the OTCQB and is currently seeking an upgrade on the Nasdaq or NYSE.
He said the restructuring cleaned up the balance sheet, including restructuring more than $20 million in debt, and that operations had been fully restored while key technical leadership positions remained intact. In response to an investor question, Kapur also pointed to oversubscribed strategic financing of $15 million.
Short-term milestones cited by Kapur included:
Commercial conversions by private and public clients;
applications for government grants and programs;
Continuous product development;
More partnerships similar to the NVIDIA collaboration;
Increased investor awareness and potential exchange uplisting.
Kapur said Zapata applied to the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission program with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and MIT Lincoln Lab as subcontractors and a letter of support from NVIDIA.
During the question-and-answer session, Kapur said the company is seeing interest from regulated and defense-related sectors, which he said could improve revenue visibility as some government-related contracts can have a long duration. He did not provide specific sales forecasts.
Kapur concluded that Zapata is pursuing the next phase of growth in quantum software following its restructuring, saying the company is still in the early stages of identifying key applications for quantum computing.
About Zapata Quantum (OTCMKTS:ZPTA)
Zapata Computing Holdings Inc is an industrial generative artificial intelligence (AI) software company in the United States. The company offers subscription-based solutions that combine software and services to develop generative AI applications, as well as accompanying services to solve complex industrial problems. It also offers Zapata AI Sense, a set of algorithms and complex mathematical models to improve analytics and other data-driven applications. Zapata AI Prose, a set of generative AI solutions based on large language models for generic chatbot applications; and Orquestra, an industrial development platform for generative AI applications that offers sense and prose.
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The article “Zapata Quantum Bets Software, AI Partnerships Will Unlock Quantum Computing Value” was originally published by MarketBeat.
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