Deteqt has raised AUD $5 million in a seed round led by Main Sequence.
Other investors in the round were ATP Fund, BOKA Capital, Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Uniseed and the University of Sydney.
The Sydney quantum sensing company will use the funding to develop its field-ready product, expand diamond chip manufacturing and hire staff.
Deteqt is developing a chip-scale quantum magnetometer, a sensor that detects magnetic fields using diamond crystal and a custom semiconductor chip. The smaller format could allow the technology to be used in drones, autonomous vehicles and robots.
The company is targeting defence navigation as its first market, particularly systems that can operate when GPS signals are unavailable or disrupted. Investors in the round pointed to growing interest in alternatives to satellite-based positioning in contested environments.
The fundraising comes amid broader attention on quantum sensing in defence and security. Recent reports in the United States said a quantum magnetometry device may have been used in a military rescue operation to detect a human heartbeat at a distance through its magnetic signature.
Defence focus
Deteqt says its technology is designed to make magnetic field data easier for machines to process and use. Potential applications extend beyond defence to geological surveying and medical imaging, where magnetic measurements already play an established role.
"Magnetic fields permeate everything around us - every object, every geological formation, every living body," said Dr Jim Rabeau, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Deteqt.
"When we have been able to access these signals at all, the results have been profound - MRI, mineral exploration, brain imaging. But these are isolated breakthroughs built on systems too large and expensive to deploy beyond a handful of controlled environments. Our chip-scale integration changes that entirely. We are bringing that same sensitivity into completely new environments and form factors, and when you can do that at scale, you unlock an entire layer of intelligence about the physical world - not just measuring it, but making it usable for machines to navigate, interpret and act on in real time," Rabeau said.
Main Sequence, which led the round, said Deteqt had made early progress in both product development and commercial engagement. It described miniaturisation and manufacturability as central challenges in quantum sensing.
"Deteqt is tackling one of the hardest problems in quantum technology: building sensors that are simultaneously sensitive enough to be useful and small enough to deploy at scale," said Alejandra Romero, Investment Manager at Main Sequence.
"What sets Deteqt apart is the combination of a chip-scale manufacturing path and the commercial traction they've built in less than eighteen months. The partner pipeline and the speed of execution are exceptional for a company at this stage," Romero said.
Investor interest
BOKA Capital, one of the participating investors, linked the company's appeal to demand for navigation systems that do not rely on GPS. The firm focuses on dual-use and defence technology tied to the AUKUS security partnership.
"The demand signal for GPS-independent navigation is no longer theoretical; it's operational and urgent," said Erik Thoresen, Partner at BOKA Capital.
"What drew us to Deteqt is that this isn't a single-application company. The same chip-scale platform that solves positioning for defence opens entirely new categories across industries. Genuine dual-use technology with a credible manufacturing path is rare, and Deteqt has it," Thoresen said.
The round also adds to recent activity among Australian investors in defence-related technology. Beaten Zone Venture Partners, which joined the financing, recently said it had reached AUD $17 million in committed capital as investor interest in sovereign defence technology increased.
Deteqt is led by Dr Rabeau, Chief Operating Officer Rupal Ismin and Co-Founder Professor Omid Kavehei. Its backers now include specialist defence, university and deep technology investors as the company works towards the first commercial deployments of its quantum magnetometer.