Diffraqtion Raises More Than $10M for Quantum Camera Development

Insider Brief

• Diffraqtion has secured strategic investments from Lockheed Martin Ventures and Presidio Ventures, bringing its total funding to more than $10 million.
• The MIT and University of Maryland spinout has advanced its quantum camera technology through on-sky demonstrations, a DARPA SBIR program and NASA projects.
• Diffraqtion plans to use the new funding to develop its first fielded camera, with a hosted payload on a partner spacecraft planned to provide flight heritage.

PRESS RELEASE – Diffraqtion, an MIT and University of Maryland spinout building quantum camera platforms for defense and space sensing, today announced strategic investments from Lockheed Martin Ventures and Presidio Ventures, the venture arm of Sumitomo Corporation, bringing total funding to over $10M.

Following strong investor interest, Diffraqtion elected to cap its pre-seed, which also includes SBI US Gateway Fund with Plug and Play, Collaborative Fund, and TekVentures, with follow-on participation from existing investors Aether VC, milemark•capital, and ADIN.

The investment follows seven months of rapid progress since the round’s first close led by Ground State Ventures, announced in January 2026. The company completed on-sky demonstrations at a partner observatory, distinguishing closely spaced objects. Its DARPA Direct-to-Phase-II SBIR advanced into its second option period, and NASA has since selected Diffraqtion for an SBIR Phase I in orbital debris tracking and named the company winner of its $100,000 Space to Soil Challenge for adaptive sensing and onboard processing.