Diffraqtion

Diffraqtion is a Somerville, Massachusetts-based startup founded in 2025 that builds quantum-imaging cameras for space, airborne and industrial applications. Its technology pairs passive optical components with AI-based decoding software to capture structural information in light that conventional camera sensors discard, which the company says lets objects be spotted from greater distances, or resolved more clearly through smaller, lighter lenses, while cutting downstream image-processing time and cost. Target applications include space domain awareness, airborne intelligence gathering, geospatial analysis and industrial inspection.

The company was co-founded by CEO Johannes Galatsanos along with Dr. Saikat Guha and Christine Wang, and has since added Peter Kazlas as head of engineering. Diffraqtion has raised more than $10 million to date: an initial $4.2 million pre-seed round in January 2026, followed by a further $5 million-plus extension announced in August 2026. Early backers include Ground State Ventures, milemark-capital, Aether VC and ADIN, with the August round bringing in new strategic investors Lockheed Martin Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation's Presidio Ventures, the SBI US Gateway Fund (with Plug and Play), Collaborative Fund and TekVentures.

Beyond venture funding, Diffraqtion holds a $1.5 million DARPA SBIR Direct-to-Phase-II contract and a NASA SBIR Phase I award, and won NASA's Space to Soil Challenge, a $100,000 prize competition. As of its August 2026 funding announcement the company had not yet flown hardware in orbit, but had plans to fly a hosted payload on a yet-unnamed spacecraft to demonstrate its quantum-imaging cameras on orbit.