Zero Point Motion, a Bristolian sensor tech startup has emerged from stealth with £4m in pre-Series A funding.
The company intends to scale up its team rapidly with the new funds as it attempts to build its positioning and navigation sensors for defence, space exploration and autonomous systems.
Zero Point Motion’s sensor technology is based on the fusion of silicon photonics and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), inspired by the Nobel Prize-winning gravitational wave detection principles.
Essentially this means it is using light to accurately measure the movement of small mechanical parts to create sensors with greater accuracy, sensitivity and reliability.
This can be used for positioning and landing spacecrafts and supporting military operations in contested environments.
“Our mission is to harness light to redefine the future of sensing. We’re working with two of the world’s leading foundries to push MEMS performance beyond its limits,” said Dr Lia Li, founder and CEO of Zero Point Motion.
“With top-tier investors and partners behind us, we’re laser-focused on delivering our inertial sensors to customers who demand the highest precision and reliability. We’ve also brought more integration and packaging R&D in-house, cutting iteration times from eight weeks to just one day.”
Before founding Zero Point Motion, Li spent a decade as a researcher across various departments at University College London.
Li said the next milestone for the company will be product qualification and customer deployment.
The funding round came from SCVC, an investor connected with the University of Bristol, as well as Foresight Group, Verve Ventures and u-blox AG.
“By applying cutting-edge quantum approaches to motion sensing, Lia and the team are unlocking massive potential for industries like autonomous vehicles, robotics, and consumer electronics,” said Harry Destecroix, founder of Science Creates and managing partner of its venture capital arm.
Read more: Belfast-based wireless sensor startup Sensoteq raises £3.1m
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