Zero Point Motion raises £4 million for photonic navigation technology
The company is harnessing silicon photonics to build miniaturised, GPS-independent precision motion sensors that could transform applications from defence and space exploration to agritech and autonomous vehicles
Zero Point Motion, a photonic sensor technology start-up, has announced the successful close of a £4 million pre-Series A funding round to transform positioning and navigation. Investors include SCVC (the official funding arms of Science Creates), Foresight Venture Capital and Verve Ventures, with seed round investor u-blox AG remaining a key strategic partner and customer.
The company plans to use this investment to fuel a rapid scale-up and team expansion as it emerges from stealth mode, having been working on a scalable, volume-manufacturable process for its next-generation positioning and navigation sensors.
Zero Point Motion describes the core of its innovation as a radical fusion of silicon photonics and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), inspired by Nobel Prize-winning gravitational wave detection principles. The company says this approach enables low-cost, ultra-low noise, miniaturised accelerometers and gyroscopes that are 100x more sensitive than conventional MEMS sensors, delivering unprecedented performance and, crucially, resilience in environments where there is no GPS.
According to Zero Point Motion, this breakthrough in motion sensing is set to transform defence, space exploration, and autonomous systems where precision and reliability are mission-critical. As navigation threats intensify, this technology would enable military operations to function accurately in contested environments – while in space exploration, where every mission is a high-value asset, inertial sensors are crucial for positioning and landing spacecraft.
Closer to home, Zero Point Motion’s sensors unlock new levels of autonomy in off-highway vehicles, drones, agritech and industrial applications, allowing seamless operation in tunnels, underground networks and other remote locations, the company adds.
“Our mission is to harness light to redefine the future of sensing,” says Lia Li, founder and CEO of Zero Point Motion. “We’re working with two of the world’s leading foundries to push MEMS performance beyond its limits. 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. This agility, combined with our expanding patent portfolio and multiple newly granted patents – ensures we stay ahead of the curve. Our next milestone: product qualification and customer deployment.”
u-blox AG co-founder and executive director, Andreas Thiel adds: “While satellite positioning technology delivers the highest accuracies in open environments, sensor-based dead reckoning is crucial for resilient performance in dense and obstructed urban scenarios. u-blox is known for its advanced positioning and wireless communication technologies, and we see significant potential in Zero Point Motion’s innovative sensor technology. By investing in Zero Point Motion, u-blox can integrate these cutting-edge sensors into our own product offerings, further strengthening our market position and expanding our technological capabilities.”
Recognised as one of Sifted’s ‘16 Bristol-based Startups to Watch’, Zero Point Motion has also secured government and EU funding, including £1.3 million from the UK’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) in 2023, followed by a €2.4 million grant from the European Innovation Council Accelerator programme.
Chris Wiles, director of Foresight Ventures, says: “Foresight initially invested in Zero Point Motion in 2021 to help Lia and the founding team bring this breakthrough sensing technology into the public domain. We are encouraged by the progress the team has made and the growing market need for accurate navigation and positioning in challenging environments. We are delighted to support the business in this recent funding round and welcome SCVC onboard.”
Harry Destecroix MBE, founder of Science Creates, and co-founder and managing partner of SCVC, says: “We’re thrilled to back Zero Point Motion as they develop a truly category-defining technology. 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.
“Lia is an exceptional founder – her technical brilliance, vision, and leadership make her exactly the kind of entrepreneur we love to support. This is also a great fit for our partner John Williams, who led the deal and will be working closely with the company. With his experience building Kudan, he knows first-hand the challenges in this space and how transformative Zero Point Motion’s technology could be. We can’t wait to see what they achieve.”
With this funding and industry validation, Zero Point Motion is now scaling with the goal of setting a new global standard in precision motion sensing – delivering breakthrough performance and accelerating autonomy in a GPS-challenged world.
Image credit: Zero Point Motion
