Sherbrooke, Québec’s SBQuantum has closed $4 million USD ($5.5 million CAD) in seed funding, installed a new leader, and established an American sister entity as the deep technology startup prepares to expand to the United States (US).
These three moves, which the company announced this morning, come shortly after SBQuantum deployed its quantum sensors in space as part of the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)-led MagQuest Challenge, kicking off its quest to help the world navigate in a post-GPS era.
“The device has been thoroughly vetted by NASA and others, and deemed ready for use in space.”
David Roy-Guay, SBQuantum
SBQuantum develops quantum diamond magnetometers—sensors designed to replace or augment existing navigation systems in contested or degraded environments using the Earth’s magnetic field. This includes locations where GPS systems suffer interference due to targeted jamming or spoofing, as well as places where they simply malfunction or become weak above certain latitudes due to a lack of satellites passing overhead.
“It takes seconds to jam or spoof GPS,” SBQuantum co-founder and CTO David Roy-Guay told BetaKit over email, adding that this is already happening in Ukraine and the Baltic states. “We know that GPS is not reliable in a conflict zone. We also know that magnetic navigation cannot be jammed or distorted, so it’s a legitimate solution for real challenges in the field. It’s also useful for navigating the Arctic, as well as undersea navigation where GPS does not provide the entire picture.”
SBQuantum’s all-equity, all-primary capital seed round closed earlier this month. The financing was co-led by quantum-focused, Paris-based Quantonation and Sherbrooke’s Quantacet with support from Investissment Québec. It marks the nearly 10-year-old company’s first private capital to date.
Roy-Guay said that after years of bootstrapping, funding its operations through a combination of research and development (R&D) contracts, grants, and revenue, the startup’s quantum tech has now “reached the right level of maturity” for venture capital. He declined to share SBQuantum’s valuation.
“We have a great product, a great team, and a number of patents,” Roy-Guay said. “The device has been thoroughly vetted by NASA and others, and deemed ready for use in space.”
He said that SBQuantum is working with the US NGA, the European Space Agency, and some Canadian government agencies, and that he doesn’t believe other quantum sensing companies can say the same.
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The 20-person company plans to use this seed funding to grow its team and accelerate its growth in both Canada and the US. Roy-Guay said SBQuantum has already begun producing portable units containing its magnetic intelligence tech for public security, and intends to scale sales as it makes its quantum sensors even smaller.
Two of SBQuantum’s magnetometers are currently in space and beginning to map the Earth’s magnetic field. Over time, Roy-Guay said the startup plans to mount these quantum sensors on aircraft and ships, including submarines, to read their positioning and direction.
SBQuantum CPO Eric Giroux, who has spent more than a decade working in the security and defence sectors, including as CEO of RaySecur, is taking over as the startup’s CEO, as predecessor Roy-Guay transitions to the role of CTO.
Giroux, who has past experience commercializing sensor tech, said in the release that he thinks SBQuantum is “uniquely positioned to become a global leader in this space.”
To date, SBQuantum has secured over $15 million in R&D contracts with the Canadian Department of National Defense, European Space Agency, and others. Roy-Guay said SBQuantum’s seed investors offer another important validation of its tech, and expects their experience to help the company scale.
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Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, newly-formed Zero Drift Technologies is dedicated to commercializing SBQuantum’s tech in the US. Roy-Guay said this structure keeps all of SBQuantum’s IP and know-how in Canada while also allowing the company to access certain types of contracts with US defence contractors and government agencies. Going forward, the two entities will operate in parallel, with Giroux as CEO and Roy-Guay as CTO of both.
According to SBQuantum, its quantum sensors could be used for a range of applications, from boosting security screening near schools, sports venues, and government buildings, to serving as a stand-in for GPS in war zones. For its part, the Government of Canada recently recognized quantum sensors as a key sovereign capability under its Defence Industrial Strategy.
“For Quantacet, the time was ripe for investing in this Canadian leader with a field-tested technology now ready to go to market just as we see great appetite for such solutions especially from the public safety and defence markets,” Quantacet partner Chloé Archambault said in the release.
UPDATE (04/17/26): This story has been updated to include additional information and commentary shared by SBQuantum co-founder and CTO David Roy-Guay.
Feature image courtesy SBQuantum.