Montréal startup One Silicon Chip Photonics (OSCP) has closed a US$6-million Series A round (about $8.6 million Canadian) to build navigation sensors that keep working when GPS signals are jammed or unavailable, according to a BetaKit report published Oct. 2, 2026.
BetaKit reported that the round closed in August and was led by New Science Ventures, with participation from Emerging Ventures and 2050 Capital, a U.K.-based existing backer. The company is led by founder and CEO Kazem Zandi, who holds a PhD in engineering physics from Polytechnique Montréal and, according to BetaKit, 15 patents in integrated photonics and microsystems. The funding figures come from BetaKit’s reporting; the company has not been independently confirmed here, so details should be treated as reported rather than verified.
OSCP makes photonic gyroscopes and inertial measurement units (IMUs), the sensors that track motion and orientation without relying on satellites. The company aims to shrink fibre-optic gyroscope technology onto a single chip, pairing the precision of traditional fibre-optic units with the smaller size and lower cost of MEMS sensors. BetaKit said the hardware is roughly the size of a matchbox. Chief operating officer Alex Lintott told the outlet: “We help people navigate when there’s no GPS, or when GPS is funky.”
The company has 18 employees and plans to reach 30 within 12 months, BetaKit reported. Its target customers are in Canada and Europe, with a U.S. push planned later.
The funding lands as satellite navigation interference moves from a military concern to an everyday aviation and logistics problem. Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR reported in May that large parts of the airspace around Estonia, Finland and Kaliningrad are “red zones” where more than 10 per cent of aircraft detected interference in a 24-hour period. Tallinn University of Technology senior lecturer Ivo Müürsepp told ERR that a network of small jammers, some installed on mobile towers, can each cover a radius of about 25 kilometres. He said aircraft rely on inertial navigation systems that work independently of satellite signals, but specialized anti-jamming equipment remains expensive and was not universally needed until recently.
That cost gap is the opening OSCP is chasing. A cheaper, smaller inertial sensor would let more vehicles, drones and equipment carry a backup that does not depend on a signal from roughly 20,000 kilometres up.
OSCP is not new to Canadian public money. In November 2021, the federal government announced $3.2 million for the company through Sustainable Development Technology Canada, with the sensors then pitched at autonomous vehicles and drones. At the time, OSCP director of operations Richard Williston said the funding would help remove remaining technology barriers. The pitch has since shifted toward resilience when GPS is degraded, the same capability that matters for defence, remote operations and northern navigation.
For Canadian readers and businesses, the story is a reminder that domestic photonics and sensor companies are drawing early-stage capital in a field where supply has mostly come from abroad. Whether OSCP can reach volume manufacturing at a competitive price will decide if that capital pays off. The round is modest by global deep-tech standards, and the company has not publicly disclosed revenue or customer contracts.
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Sources: BetaKit, ERR News, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
