Diffraqtion, a quantum sensing start-up based in Somerville, Massachusetts, has raised $4.2 million in a pre-seed funding round to drive development of quantum camera technology that proposes to help satellites and telescopes see farther and process visual data much faster than conventional cameras and processors.
The funding arrives as quantum sensing capabilities have been touted as a gamechanger for a number of space-based applications like Earth observation for climate and environmental monitoring, orbital safety for satellites and spacecraft through situational space domain awareness, military and defense intelligence, and disaster response.
The company, a spinout from MIT and the University of Maryland, is seeking to put its quantum camera technology to work by deploying large constellations of low-cost, high-precision satellites to pursue these applications
The funding round was led by QDNL Participations, a venture capital firm whose team includes Chad Rigetti, the quantum computing sector luminary who founded Rigetti Computing. The Diffraqtion funding announcement comes just a couple of months after QDNL was involved in funding another quantum sensing start-up, Euclid, which is pitching quantum-based, MRI-like technology for detection of defects in semiconductor and battery manufacturing.
“Quantum sensing can bring new capabilities to monitoring and protecting orbital infrastructure,” said Rigetti, Venture Partner at QDNL Participations, in a statement. “Diffraqtion’s team combines deep photonics and quantum expertise with practical defense and space insight - exactly what’s needed to bring quantum imaging into operational reality.”
Diffraqtion’s round also had participation from milemark•capital, Aether VC, ADIN, Offline Ventures, and a non-dilutive DARPA SBIR Direct-to-Phase 2 contract supporting space situational awareness capabilities.
The company was founded by Johannes Galatsanos, Christine Wang, Ph.D., and Prof. Saikat Guha. Also involved as Head of Product is Mark Michael, the co-founder and former CTO of space technology company Kepler Communications.
Diffraqtion is seeking to build on Guha’s past research with NASA and DARPA, and the start-up already is claiming that its quantum camera delivers up to 20 times higher resolution and 1,000 times faster processing than conventional cameras and processors, potentially enabling ultra-high-resolution imaging systems at much lower cost today’s satellites and ground-based telescopes.
The pre-seed funding is not the first acknowledgement Diffraqtion might be on to something. It earned first place at the SLUSH 100 competitive pitching event for early-stage technology companies, having been selected from more than 1,000 startups, and resulting in an $1.1 million equity prize from Cherry Ventures and General Catalyst. Diffraqtion also won TechConnect’s “2025 Best Space Innovation” award, worth $100,000.
Diffraqtion is also part of the U.S. Space Force’s Apollo Accelerator, where the company said it is actively demonstrating and refining its quantum imaging technology with government partners. The company added that in early 2026 it plans to conduct on-sky demonstrations with the University of California Observatories, followed by space-based demonstrations focused on space domain awareness.
“Space-based infrastructure powers our communications, navigation, and defense, and through Earth Imaging, it supports everything from agriculture to disaster response,” said Galatsanos, who is CEO of the young firm. “Yet despite the boom in low-cost launches, we still lack clear, continuous visibility of what’s happening above and below the atmosphere. Our quantum camera changes that: it tracks smaller, faster objects to keep assets in orbit safe, while delivering ultra-high-resolution imaging for critical applications on Earth.”