PiggyGPT

Private companiesCovered

Advanced Navigation

Sydney, Australia · Founded 2012

Advanced Navigation builds fibre-optic gyroscope inertial navigation systems, laser velocity sensors and the software that fuses them, to keep vehicles, ships, aircraft and robots positioned when GPS is jammed, spoofed or unavailable. It sells to defense primes including Kongsberg, Rheinmetall and Hanwha and to mining and space customers, and is expanding manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama.

Profile

What it builds and who buys it

  • ·The Boreas D series (D50, D70 and D90) are fibre-optic gyroscope inertial navigation systems; with the Certus Evo MEMS system they make up an Electronic Protection range, launched in October 2025, built to detect and neutralise GNSS jamming and spoofing.Advanced Navigation (company release), Oct 20, 2025
  • ·The company describes itself as one of few companies globally able to produce strategic-grade fibre-optic gyroscopes and laser velocity sensors at scale.Advanced Navigation (company release), Oct 6, 2026
  • ·A Botany, New South Wales manufacturing facility at UTS Tech Lab, opened in September 2023, scales production of the Boreas digital fibre-optic gyroscope; the company then said it was one of only four in the world able to make strategic-grade fibre-optic gyroscopes.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 26, 2023
  • ·The Australian Department of Defence awarded it a grant in December 2023 to build domestic manufacturing of photonic chips, of which the company planned 45,000 a year.Advanced Navigation (company release), Dec 7, 2023
  • ·In the U.S. Army’s All-Domain Persistent Experiment (APEX), its third year in the program, a Boreas D90 fused with its Laser Velocity Sensor drifted 7.5 m over 65 km under GNSS jamming, a 0.012% error per distance travelled.Advanced Navigation (company release), Feb 5, 2026
  • ·Kongsberg ordered more than 50 Boreas D90 systems for the PROTECTOR RS4 in December 2025, then hundreds of Boreas systems for PROTECTOR counter-drone platforms under a €16 million agreement in September 2026; those platforms are for the Polish Armaments Agency under a NOK 16 billion Kongsberg contract.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 22, 2026
  • ·Rheinmetall Defence Australia signed a multi-million deal in December 2024 for fibre-optic gyroscope systems for the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle, after 200 or more units supplied in 2021 under LAND 400 Phase 2.Advanced Navigation (company release), Dec 13, 2024
  • ·Hanwha Defence Australia signed an AUD $8.7 million deal in September 2024 for 138 Boreas D70 units for the Redback infantry fighting vehicle under LAND 400 Phase 3.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 23, 2024
  • ·BAE Systems chose its Motus MEMS unit for the upgrade of Sweden’s CV90 fleet; the three phases of that program totalled over USD 4.2 million by October 2022.Advanced Navigation (company release), Oct 10, 2022
  • ·Forbes Australia reported that the company had won over $19 million in Australian Department of Defence contracts over the years, by AusTender records.Forbes Australia, Jun 1, 2026
  • ·A Boreas D90 and Chimera laser velocity sensor navigated Europe’s deepest underground mine, at Pyhäjärvi in Finland, to better than 0.1% of distance travelled without GNSS or fixed infrastructure, in August 2025.Advanced Navigation (company release), Aug 12, 2025
  • ·At the Series C the company said it had more than 100,000 systems deployed, more than 80% of revenue from the United States and Europe, and customers including Anduril, NOAA, Hanwha, BHP, Rheinmetall and Intuitive Machines.Advanced Navigation (company release), Mar 18, 2026
  • ·Forbes Australia reported from accounts lodged with ASIC revenue of $57.7 million for the year to June 30, 2025, up from $33.3 million, and a net loss of $14.3 million, down from $31.5 million, with operating cash flow of positive $2.1 million. The figures carry no US-dollar marker and are not recorded as revenue here.Forbes Australia, Jun 1, 2026
  • ·The chief executive told Forbes Australia in March 2026 that the company would do more than US$100 million in revenue that year and hoped to double it year on year. A forecast is not a figure on file.Forbes Australia, Mar 18, 2026
  • ·PNT Centers of Excellence, announced in September 2025 starting with the United Kingdom, are to manufacture, engineer and service its inertial systems in the US and Europe.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 8, 2025
  • ·Advanced Navigation America is expanding manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama, as a PNT Center of Excellence to research, develop and build counter-EW technologies and support classified US Department of War programs, alongside its Australian and UK operations.Advanced Navigation (company release), Oct 6, 2026
  • ·The Australian government’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation said its investment will keep the company’s headquarters, core R&D and high-precision manufacturing in Australia.Advanced Navigation (company release), Mar 18, 2026

Founders and leadership

  • Chris ShawCo-founder and chief executive

    Co-founded the company in 2012 with Xavier Orr, who stepped down as co-chief executive in July 2024; Shaw is named chief executive and co-founder in the company’s releases since.Startup Daily, Sep 4, 2024

  • Xavier OrrCo-founder and director

    Co-founded the company in 2012 with Chris Shaw, a friend from the University of Western Australia, out of his PhD thesis, which used neural networks to smooth noise in navigation systems working without GPS. Startup Daily reported that he stepped down as co-chief executive in July 2024 to focus on his family’s health and stayed on the board.Forbes Australia, Mar 18, 2026

  • Malcolm TurnbullChairman

    Former Australian prime minister; joined the board in August 2021 and invested in the Series B. The company’s releases name him chairman.Advanced Navigation (company release), Jan 12, 2026

  • Mike CohenPresident, Advanced Navigation America

    Quoted as president of the US arm at the Huntsville manufacturing announcement in October 2026.Advanced Navigation (company release), Oct 6, 2026

  • Pawel MichalakChief technology officer

    Appointed in February 2026 from Fugro, where he led digital transformation; holds a PhD in satellite geodesy.Advanced Navigation (company release), Feb 2, 2026

Prospects, after the Series C and the Huntsville expansion

Prepared by PiggyGPT, as of Oct 15, 2026

  • ·Defense demand on file is component supply into prime contractors’ vehicles and weapons: Kongsberg’s PROTECTOR, at €16 million in the latest order, Rheinmetall’s Boxer, Hanwha’s Redback and BAE Systems’ CV90. Each is a supply deal into a prime’s program, not a program award to the company.
  • ·No revenue figure is on file in US dollars. Forbes Australia’s figures from ASIC filings show revenue of $57.7 million for the year to June 2025 and a narrowing loss, and the chief executive forecast more than US$100 million for the current year; a forecast is not a figure, so no valuation-to-revenue multiple can be read off the page.Forbes Australia, Jun 1, 2026
  • ·The only mark is the Series C, reported over $1 billion in Australian dollars, with the company declining to state it. Caplight shows two estimates that disagree with each other, and no other venue checked lists the company, so there is no secondary price to read.
  • ·The capital plan is expansion and buying: centres of excellence in the UK and Huntsville, and acquisitions in robotics, photonics, vision, AI and quantum sensing. Advanced Navigation has acquired once on file, Vai Photonics in 2022.Advanced Navigation (company release), Oct 6, 2026
  • ·For the acquisition read, the ties are commercial: Kongsberg and Hanwha buy its systems, and Hanwha Aerospace and MBDA co-develop with it under memoranda. None holds equity on file, and its investors are venture, private equity, In-Q-Tel and an Australian sovereign fund. Nothing has been reported. The posture is watch.

A summary of what the figures on this page add up to, prepared by PiggyGPT from the record on file and its cited sources. Not the Street's view, and not advice.

Funding

Last valuation

No citable valuation

Last round or tender

$110Mraised

Series CAdvanced Navigation (company release), Mar 18, 2026

Led by Airtree Ventures, with Quadrant Private Equity and Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, which put in $50 million in preferred equity; the release names Main Sequence, KKR, In-Q-Tel, Alpha Intelligence Capital, Malcolm Turnbull and Our Innovation Fund as existing backers. The company stated no valuation. Australian press reported the round as $158 million at a valuation over $1 billion, Australian-dollar figures not converted to US dollars and so carried here rather than as a valuation; DealStreetAsia put it at $103 million and called the company a unicorn. The chief executive told Forbes Australia the valuation had doubled since the last round and declined to give it. A June 2026 company release called it an £83 million raise.

Latest revenue figure

—

Valuation to revenue

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Post-money valuation by round

Fewer than two dated figures on file to plot; the table carries what there is.

DateRoundRaisedPost-money
Mar 18, 2026Series CLed by Airtree Ventures, with Quadrant Private Equity and Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, which put in $50 million in preferred equity; the release names Main Sequence, KKR, In-Q-Tel, Alpha Intelligence Capital, Malcolm Turnbull and Our Innovation Fund as existing backers. The company stated no valuation. Australian press reported the round as $158 million at a valuation over $1 billion, Australian-dollar figures not converted to US dollars and so carried here rather than as a valuation; DealStreetAsia put it at $103 million and called the company a unicorn. The chief executive told Forbes Australia the valuation had doubled since the last round and declined to give it. A June 2026 company release called it an £83 million raise.$110M—
Nov 17, 2022Series BUSD 68 million (AUD 108 million) led by KKR, with Alpha Intelligence Capital new and Main Sequence, Malcolm Turnbull, In-Q-Tel and Our Innovation Fund returning; the release put total raised at more than US$85 million. No valuation was stated. Forbes Australia wrote in March 2026 that the company was reportedly close to billion-dollar status at this round.$68M—
Nov 26, 2019Series A$20 million, a currency the release does not state, so not carried as US dollars. Led by Main Sequence Ventures’ CSIRO Innovation Fund, with Brick & Mortar Ventures and In-Q-Tel, following an earlier investment by Our Innovation Fund. No valuation was stated.——

Primary capital across the rounds on file: $178M

Revenue

No citable revenue figure on file.

Secondary venues

  • Caplightpublic page seen Oct 15, 2026

    No price on the public page.

    No public MarketPrice: the page says no recent secondary market data is available and puts historical pricing behind a login. It shows the March 2026 Series C and two estimated valuations, $194.4 million and $660 million, an aggregator’s figures that disagree with each other.

A venue is listed when its public page named the company on the date shown. A price is the figure that page showed, under the venue’s own name for it and dated as the venue dated it; it is a level the venue publishes, not a trade. Nothing is recorded from behind a login.

Reads

Acquisition: Watch

A cited tie to a plausible buyer: a strategic partner, an investor stake, a tender offer, a stated appetite. Nothing reported.

Prepared by PiggyGPT, as of Oct 15, 2026

Signals

  • Nov 26, 2019Advanced Navigation raised $20 million in a Series A led by Main Sequence Ventures’ CSIRO Innovation Fund, with Brick & Mortar Ventures and In-Q-Tel.Advanced Navigation (company release), Nov 26, 2019
  • May 5, 2022Advanced Navigation acquired Vai Photonics, an Australian National University spin-out developing photonic sensors for navigation, on undisclosed terms.Advanced Navigation (company release), May 5, 2022
  • Nov 17, 2022KKR led a USD 68 million Series B; two KKR executives joined the board and General David Petraeus of KKR was named to chair a new international advisory board. The release said the company would assess inorganic growth opportunities.Advanced Navigation (company release), Nov 17, 2022
  • Aug 21, 2024The chief executive told Capital Brief the company would be considered profitable, and that it was hunting for acquisition opportunities.Capital Brief, Aug 21, 2024
  • Sep 11, 2024Advanced Navigation signed a memorandum with Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Defence Australia to co-develop strategic-grade navigation systems, to be integrated into Hanwha Aerospace’s global supply chain.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 11, 2024
  • Sep 23, 2024Hanwha Defence Australia ordered 138 Boreas D70 units for the Redback infantry fighting vehicle under LAND 400 Phase 3, in an AUD $8.7 million deal.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 23, 2024
  • Nov 21, 2024Advanced Navigation and MBDA signed a memorandum to co-develop a resilient airborne navigation system integrating MBDA’s NILEQ terrain-matching technology.Advanced Navigation (company release), Nov 21, 2024
  • Dec 4, 2025Kongsberg ordered more than 50 Boreas D90 systems for its PROTECTOR RS4 remote weapon station, in a deal the company called multi-million.Advanced Navigation (company release), Dec 4, 2025
  • Mar 18, 2026Advanced Navigation raised its Series C led by Airtree Ventures, with the raise to be used in an aggressive mergers and acquisitions plan; the chief executive told Forbes Australia it was looking to merge with or acquire companies with complementary technology in the next 12 to 18 months.Forbes Australia, Mar 18, 2026
  • Sep 22, 2026Kongsberg signed a €16 million agreement for hundreds of Boreas systems for PROTECTOR counter-drone platforms, a follow-on to the RS4 deal.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 22, 2026
  • Oct 6, 2026Advanced Navigation America said it is expanding manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama, backed by the Series C, and that the site will also accelerate US mergers and acquisitions.Advanced Navigation (company release), Oct 6, 2026

Named counterparties

  • KongsbergIntegrates Boreas systems into its PROTECTOR RS4 and PROTECTOR counter-drone platforms under two supply agreements, the second worth €16 million. No interest in a deal has been reported.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 22, 2026
  • Hanwha AerospaceSigned a memorandum to co-develop navigation systems for its global supply chain, and its Australian arm buys Boreas units for the Redback vehicle. No interest in a deal has been reported.Advanced Navigation (company release), Sep 11, 2024
  • MBDACo-develops a resilient airborne navigation system with it under a 2024 memorandum. No interest in a deal has been reported.Advanced Navigation (company release), Nov 21, 2024

Counterparties are named for a cited reason: a partnership, an investment, or a stated appetite. Naming is not a forecast.

A summary of what the figures on this page add up to, prepared by PiggyGPT from the record on file and its cited sources. Not the Street's view, and not advice.

Sources

Researched Oct 15, 2026