From first check to Exit: What Skyloom means for Draper Cygnus

There are moments in the life of a fund that do more than close a chapter. They illuminate the entire journey that led there and hint at everything still ahead. The acquisition of Skyloom Corporation by IONQ (NASDAQ: IONQ) is one of those moments. Yet for us, the significance of this milestone reaches far beyond any number. It confirms a vision we have defended since before we even raised our first fund. Latin America can build deep tech at the highest level, and supporting these projects from their most vulnerable stages can reshape the technological future of an entire region.

For a venture fund, generating a large DPI event is a structural proof point. It validates underwriting discipline, portfolio construction logic and, most importantly, the ability to stay close to founders almost a decade-long arc.

When we first met Marcos Franceschini and Santiago Tempone, Skyloom was far from the global company it is today. What existed us was a technically demanding, ambitious idea, one that many viewed with deep uncertainty: developing a network of optical satellites capable of transmitting data from orbit at speeds that brushed up against the edge of what was considered possible. Ideas like that tend to divide people. Some see risk. Others see the future. We saw the future. We saw a founder with a profound understanding of physics, an unshakable conviction and a determination that showed up even in the most difficult moments.

From that first conversation, it was clear that we wanted to walk that road with him. And the word “accompany” is not rhetoric for us. From the fund’s perspective, this is what early-stage conviction looks like in practice. Writing a first check before consensus forms. Supporting scientific risk before commercial clarity exists. Staying involved through leadership transitions, geographic expansion and strategic inflection points. Generating a large DPI event is not the result of a single milestone, but of sustained alignment over years.

Over time, we watched Skyloom evolve from an idea that was difficult to explain into a tangible platform. We were there as the company expanded to the United States, as it built a growing international team, as early partnerships with DoD prime contractors began opening doors, and as optical prototypes transitioned into orbital demonstrations. We were also there when CEO Marc Isenberg’s leadership brought a new level of maturity that positioned the company to join a global player like IONQ. Each milestone was shared. Each strategic decision was discussed. Our relationship with Marcos, Santiago and the team was never circumstantial. It was a sustained commitment.

This is why this exit feels different. It is not only a financial achievement, although it certainly is. It is the validation of a model we have stood by since the beginning: invest early in founders working in deep science, support them intensely and build relationships that outlast the investment itself.

For our LPs, this exit represents the materialization of a long-duration thesis: that Latin American scientific talent, paired with disciplined capital and sustained involvement, can generate globally competitive outcomes. Skyloom is not an exception. It is an example of the type of company our model is designed to identify and support: technically rigorous, globally ambitious and built on long scientific cycles.

Skyloom matters to us, but it also matters to the ecosystem. For founders across the region, it proves that Latin American deep tech does not need to adapt to global standards. It can set them. For investors, it is a reminder that the most transformative bets are made in stages where data is not yet conclusive but vision already is. And for anyone still wondering whether Latin America can compete in the arenas where civilization-defining technologies are built, Skyloom offers a resounding answer.

As Skyloom enters a new chapter with IONQ, a recognized leader in quantum computing, we continue expanding our own mission. Today, Draper Cygnus III is actively investing in founders developing technologies at the intersection of AI, energy, synthetic biology, robotics and advanced computation. It is the same DNA that led us to back Skyloom when its proposal still seemed ahead of its time for the regional context. And it is the same DNA that runs through other companies that are already part of our story, including Stämm, Splight, Ayuvant, Falcomm, Eywa and Novospace, each contributing to the contours of the future.

This milestone is, in addition to being a liquidity event, the confirmation that the model works: early scientific conviction, deep involvement, long horizons and disciplined portfolio construction. That is how generational funds are built.