University of Wisconsin-Madison spinout Dirac Labs Inc. has raised $1.8 million USD in pre-seed funding to prototype and field-test its diamond-based quantum positioning sensors. Led by venture firm TitletownTech (a joint initiative of Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers), the round included participation from Automotive Ventures, Riceberg Ventures, quantumEDGE Ventures, gradCapital, and angel investors Balaji Srinivasan and Jude Gomila.

                   [ Dirac Labs Quantum Navigation Architecture ]
                                         │
     ┌───────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┐
     ▼                                   ▼                                   ▼
  Diamond NV-Center Sensors           AI Signal Processing & Fusion       Semiconductor Foundry Integration
  • Sub-Surface Magnetic Mapping.     • Real-Time Signal Filtering.       • Golf-Ball Sized NVD-4 Sensors.
  • Un-Jammable & Un-Spoofable.       • Passive Geomagnetic Lock.          • Plug-and-Play GPS Device Port Units.
  • GPS-Denied Environments.          • Sensor Fusion Models.             • Standard CMOS Fab Scalability.

Geomagnetic Quantum Sensing for GPS-Denied Environments

GPS signals do not penetrate underwater or underground environments and remain vulnerable to radio-frequency jamming and spoofing in contested defense zones. Dirac Labs addresses these limitations through passive geomagnetic navigation:

  • Diamond NV-Center Magnetometry: The startup’s NVD-4 sensor measures local variations in Earth’s magnetic field with extreme sensitivity. Because geomagnetic signatures penetrate rock and water, the system provides accurate positioning data underwater, underground, and across GPS-denied regions.
  • AI Signal Processing Engine: Real-time AI models handle signal processing and sensor fusion, transforming faint geomagnetic inputs into precise location fixes while compensating for environmental noise and platform vibration.
  • Plug-and-Play Form Factor: Designed into a compact form factor, the sensors connect directly into standard GPS device ports on aircraft, submarines, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and industrial mining equipment.
  • CMOS Foundry Compatibility: The hardware uses standard semiconductor fabrication processes, reducing manufacturing costs and enabling high-volume production.

Co-founded by CEO Dr. Sanket Deshpande and COO Aishwarya Das, the company has also secured non-dilutive public grant funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA via gener8tor), the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub.

Review reporting on SiliconANGLE here and CityBiz here, and examine the announcement on LinkedIn here.

August 20, 2026

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