Bristol-based sensor expertise startup, Zero Level Movement has efficiently closed a €4.7 million pre-Collection A funding spherical to rework positioning and navigation in Protection, AgriTech, autonomous automobiles, shopper electronics and industrial logistics.
They’re backed by traders SCVC (the official funding arm of Science Creates), Foresight Group and Verve Ventures, with seed spherical investor u-blox AG remaining a key strategic associate and buyer.
“Our mission is to harness gentle to redefine the way forward for sensing,” says Dr Lia Li, Founder and CEO of Zero Level Movement. “We’re working with two of the world’s main foundries to push MEMS efficiency past its limits. With top-tier traders and companions behind us, we’re laser-focused on delivering our inertial sensors to clients who demand the very best precision and reliability.
“We’ve additionally introduced extra integration and packaging R&D in-house, chopping iteration instances from eight weeks to only sooner or later . This agility, mixed with our increasing patent portfolio and a number of newly granted patents—ensures we keep forward of the curve. Our subsequent milestone: product qualification and buyer deployment.”
Based in 2020, Zero Level Movement is pioneering sensor expertise via the mixing of silicon photonics and micro-electro-mechanical techniques (MEMS). They leverage gravitational wave detection rules to develop ultra-sensitive, low-cost, miniaturised accelerometers and gyroscopes.
These sensors might probably remodel industries equivalent to Protection, AgriTech, autonomous automobiles, shopper electronics and industrial logistics.
This funding fuels the corporate’s speedy scale-up and staff growth as the corporate emerges from stealth mode, the place they’ve been engaged on a scalable, volume-manufacturable course of for Zero Level Movement’s next-generation positioning and navigation sensors.
Their gyroscopes are reportedly 100x extra delicate than standard MEMS sensors – delivering “unprecedented efficiency” and resilience in environments the place there isn’t any GPS.
Chris Wiles, Director, Foresight’s Ventures staff, says: “Foresight initially invested in Zero Level Movement in 2021 to assist Lia and the founding staff carry this breakthrough sensing expertise into the general public area. We’re inspired by the progress the staff has made and the rising market want for correct navigation and positioning in difficult environments. We’re delighted to assist the enterprise on this current funding spherical and welcome SCVC onboard.”
As navigation threats intensify, Zero Level Movement believes their expertise will allow navy operations to operate precisely in contested environments – whereas in house exploration, the place each mission is a high-value asset, inertial sensors are essential for positioning and touchdown spacecraft.
Nearer to residence, Zero Level Movement’s sensors unlock autonomy in off-highway automobiles, drones, and industrial functions, permitting improved operation in tunnels, underground networks and different distant areas.
u-blox AG Co-founder and govt director, Andreas Thiel provides: “Whereas satellite tv for pc positioning expertise delivers the very best accuracies in open environments, sensor-based useless reckoning is essential for resilient efficiency in dense and obstructed city eventualities. u-blox is understood for its superior positioning and wi-fi communication applied sciences, and we see vital potential in Zero Level Movement’s progressive sensor expertise.”
Zero Level Movement has additionally secured main authorities and EU funding, together with €1.5 million from the UK’s Centre for Related and AutonomousAutos (CCAV) in 2023, adopted by a €2.4 million grant from the European Innovation Council Accelerator programme.
Harry Destecroix MBE, Founding father of Science Creates, and Co-founder/managing associate of SCVC, says: “We’re thrilled to again Zero Level Movement as they develop a very category-defining expertise. By making use of cutting-edge quantum approaches to movement sensing, Lia and the staff are unlocking large potential for industries like autonomous automobiles, robotics, and shopper electronics.
“Lia is an distinctive founder—her technical brilliance, imaginative and prescient, and management make her precisely the type of entrepreneur we like to assist. That is additionally an amazing match for our associate John Williams, who led the deal and might be working carefully with the corporate. Together with his expertise constructing Kudan, he is aware of first-hand the challenges on this house and the way transformative Zero Level Movement’s expertise could possibly be. We are able to’t wait to see what they obtain.”
