Quantum navigation startup Dirac Labs Inc. has the money it needs to start building prototypes of its ultra-accurate quantum positioning sensor devices and test them in the field after closing on $1.8 million in pre-seed funding.

Today’s round was led by TitletownTech, a venture capital firm run by Microsoft Corp. and the Green Bay Packers football team. Other participants in the round included Automotive Ventures, Riceberg Ventures, quantumEDGE Ventures, Jude Gomila and Balaji Srinivasan.

Quantum sensing is a global positioning technology that’s not only believed to be more accurate than traditional GPS, but also more resilient, because it works in parts of the world where standard GPS signals cannot reach. The technology works by taking extremely precise measurements of features of the Earth’s magnetic field, similar to how some migrating birds navigate as they fly across the world.

Dirac’s sensors also come with artificial intelligence models that handle the real-time signal processing and sensor fusion, which transforms the faint signals they pick up into a precise position, even when external conditions change. Because there’s no way for anyone to interfere with the Earth’s magnetic field, it means that quantum sensors cannot be jammed or spoofed or simply switched off in the same way that GPS sensors can.

Dirac co-founder and Chief Executive Sanket Desphande said GPS is global and has had an immense positive impact on the world, but the problem is that it’s not universal. “The signals have never reached underground or underwater, where a growing share of exploration, mining and defense work happens,” he explained. “Earth’s magnetic field is already in those places, and it only gets stronger the closer you get to the rock.”

The startup’s golf ball-sized NVD-4 sensors are as practical as they are accurate. They’re designed to be plugged directly into the GPS device ports found on airplanes, submarines and other vehicles, so there’s no need to re-engineer those platforms first.

Moreover, the sensors have been designed in such a way that they can be manufactured with existing semiconductor foundry infrastructure, which means they’ll be immediately scalable and relatively cheap to make. That’s critical, because cost has been one of the main barriers that has so far prevented the broader adoption of quantum sensing.

TitletownTech Managing Partner Jill Enos agreed that there’s an urgent need for navigation and positioning capabilities underwater and underground. “Dirac Labs is combining quantum sensing, AI and semiconductor-compatible manufacturing to build a scalable navigation solution for the places where GPS cannot be relied upon,” she said.

Deshpande founded Dirac Labs alongside his friend Aishwarya Das, who serves as the company’s chief operating officer. The startup was spun out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison shortly after Deshpande defended his Ph.D. paper, which discussed how to build quantum sensors that are robust enough to function in any environment.

“Early traction with major defense and industrial partners has validated the near-term demand for quantum sensing, and once these platforms can navigate the subsurface with confidence, missions that are impossible today become routine,” Das said.

Images: Dirac Labs