Advanced Navigation Secures US$110M Series C to Catalyze the Next Era of Autonomous Systems
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Navigating in Extremes: Precise. Adaptable. Resilient. Ready
March 18, 2026 – Advanced Navigation, a global leader in navigation and autonomous systems, today announced it has successfully raised US $110million in a Series C funding round. The raise marks a definitive shift in the global autonomy race as national demand for alternative Positioning, Navigation, Timing (PNT) technologies reaches an all time high.
The round was led by Airtree Ventures, with strategic participation from Quadrant Private Equity and the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC). These investors join a cohort of existing backers including Main Sequence, KKR, In-Q-Tel, Alpha Intelligence Capital, The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull AC and Our Innovation Fund.
“As autonomous vehicles scale into contested and high-stakes frontiers, the world’s reliance on any single navigation technology has evolved from a technical limitation into a systemic vulnerability. To power the next generation of autonomous systems, Advanced Navigation is combining deep learning software with high-precision hardware to help systems conquer the extremes across sea, land, air and space.”
said Chris Shaw, CEO and Co-founder at Advanced Navigation.
This “Hard Tech” approach to navigation has made the company a trusted partner to the world’s largest defense and technology giants, including Anduril, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hanwha, BHP, Rheinmetall and Intuitive Machines. Following a year of triple-digit growth, the company is accelerating its global expansion, significantly scaling its deep tech operational and engineering presence across the U.S. and European markets.
The Harsh Truth: No Single Technology Delivers True Resilience
In today’s landscape, GPS is no longer a reliable single source of truth. Challenges once considered “edge cases” – electronic warfare threats, GPS spoofing, and infrastructure-denied regions – are now a daily reality.
Advanced Navigation exposes the world’s overreliance on GPS
“The era of relying on a single silver bullet for navigation is over. Across defense, energy transition, humanitarian response, and autonomous missions, certainty is required where GPS can no longer be trusted.”
“The future belongs to intelligent systems that can sense, adapt, and navigate independently. At Advanced Navigation, we are building the resilient foundation by fusing high-precision inertial hardware with onboard intelligence, ensuring autonomous systems behave predictably in unpredictable environments.”
“Joined by new world-class investors, we are accelerating this capability to set the global benchmark for assured PNT. As autonomy becomes the new reality, we are not just participating in the market. We are defining it.”
continued Shaw.
Chris Shaw, CEO and co-founder of Advanced Navigation with miniaturized inertial system
Software-Defined Navigation for an Unpredictable World
Leveraging a deep heritage in robotics, AI, and high-precision sensing, Advanced Navigation is deploying a layered, multi-sensor architecture designed to operate with total autonomy, even when GPS signals are degraded or lost.
At the core of this architecture is AdNav Intelligence (AI), the company’s software fusion engine. It continuously combines and cross checks data from multiple sensors in real time, while adapting to each mission’s requirements. This ensures autonomous vehicles, aircraft, ships and robots understand exactly where they are and keep moving with confidence, no matter the environment.
Global Expansion: Building PNT Centers of Excellence
With more than 100,000 systems deployed across global nations, Advanced Navigation’s market presence has reached critical mass, with over 80% of revenue generated in the United States and Europe.
This investment will accelerate the establishment of PNT Centers of Excellence across these priority markets, anchoring the company’s next phase of global growth. The centers will embed highly specialized engineering teams directly within key regions, building trusted, on-the-ground capability that strengthens national resilience, secures supply chains, and reinforces long term technical leadership.
Advanced Navigation High-end PNT Manufacturing and Product Facility
In parallel, the centers will enable targeted technology acquisitions, expanding Advanced Navigation’s sensor stack across robotics, photonics, vision, artificial intelligence and quantum sensing.
“Advanced Navigation has built the leading solution in the positioning field and their rapid expansion into the U.S. and Europe marks a definitive shift for mission-critical industries as global demand converges around the precise use case they solve. We are excited to partner with Chris and the team as they scale into the next chapter.”
Said Kelland Reilly, Partner at Airtree.
The Time to Build Resilience is Now
This future will not be won by a single breakthrough, but by the bridge between classical physics and next generation intelligence. Advanced Navigation is engineering that bridge through resilient systems that improve lives, deliver positioning in hazardous environments, and protect communities. Beneath the ocean, its technologies are advancing undersea surveillance. Beyond Earth, its technology is proving performance where failure is not an option.
Advanced Navigation is catalyzing the autonomy revolution. As the world evolves, navigation must evolve with it. The time to build resilience is now.
“Advanced Navigation is at the forefront of autonomous systems for resilient navigation, pioneering solutions that redefine precision and reliability in defense and commercial applications. We are thrilled to partner with Chris and the team to support their accelerated global expansion.”
Said Louis Casey, Partner at Quadrant.
“Advanced Navigation’s inertial navigation systems (INS) technology was originally developed in Australia, and we are proud to be investing in a company that commercializes Australian research while creating highly skilled STEM and manufacturing jobs.”
“Advanced Navigation’s technology is precise, secure, reliable, and efficient, and its products are already being used in the mining, marine, and defense industries. The NRFC’s investment will help Advanced Navigation to bring its Australian-developed technology to international markets.”
“NRFC investment in Advanced Navigation will keep the company’s headquarters, core R&D, and high-precision manufacturing capabilities here in Australia, building our sovereign and defensive capabilities and paving the way for the navigational tools of the future.”
Said David Gall, CEO at National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC).
Barrenjoey acted as strategic financial advisor to Advanced Navigation on the transaction.
About Advanced Navigation
Advanced Navigation is a global leader in navigation and autonomous systems. By leveraging capabilities in software-enhanced hardware, every solution delivers unrivaled capabilities and exceptional performance across land, air, sea and space applications where GPS is unreliable. Made possible with extensive research, testing and vertically integrated manufacturing, the company has progressed into deep technology fields, including robotics, inertial, photonic and quantum sensing, artificial intelligence, underwater acoustics, and GPS antennas and receivers. Customers choose Advanced Navigation for rapid product delivery and unmatched technical field expertise. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with research and production facilities nationwide and offices globally. Advanced Navigation is an Australian manufacturer exporting worldwide. #JoinTheAutonomyRevolution
About Airtree Ventures
Airtree is a venture capital firm backing Aussie and Kiwi founders, building the iconic technology companies of tomorrow. We’re powered by our network, dedicating extraordinary resources to help founders shortcut company-building firsts and accelerate their journey from idea to global household name.
As one of the largest and most active early-stage investors in Australia and New Zealand with $2 billion funds under management, Airtree’s 130+ portfolio features the region’s breakout tech companies, including Canva, Go1, Employment Hero, Eucalyptus, AirwaIlex, Immutable, SafetyCulture and Linktree.
About Quadrant
Quadrant is a leading Australian private equity firm with a 29-year track record and an investment team that embodies ambition and collaboration. Quadrant have raised more than $10 billion in commitments across 15 funds, made over 104 investments, and achieved more than 70 successful exits, as the first Australian private equity fund ranked top 10 globally. The partnership with Advanced Navigation comes from Quadrant’s Strategic Equity Fund, which specialises in partnering with high-growth companies through minority stakes. The Strategic Equity Fund has deployed more than $1 billion across other investments including Canva, APM, EMM Consulting, Endgame Analytics and AS Colour.
About National Reconstruction Fund Corporation
The NRFC is Australia’s sovereign investor in manufacturing capability. It has $15 billion to invest through direct loans, equity investments and loan guarantees across seven priority areas: renewables and low emissions technologies; enabling capabilities; defence capability; transport; value-add in resources; value-add in agriculture, forestry and fisheries; and medical science.
The NRFC’s role is to invest in Australian businesses and projects that design, refine and make to transform capability, grow jobs and a skilled workforce, and diversify our economy. The NRFC is a corporate Commonwealth entity, established by the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Act 2023 (NRFC Act) in September 2023.