Zero Point Motion launches with £4 million funding targeting motion sensing

20 Mar 2025

Based on silicon photonics and MEMS tech, startup’s Sensors are “inspired by gravitational wave detection principles.”

Optical sensor technology startup Zero Point Motion, based in Bristol, UK, has announced the closure of a £4million ($5.2 million) pre-Series A funding round to develop its positioning and navigation technology. The company is backed by investors SCVC, the funding arm of Bristol-based technology developer Science Creates, Foresight Group, and Verve Ventures, with seed round investor u-blox AG remaining a key strategic partner and customer.

The investment is expected to drive Zero Point Motion’s scale-up and team expansion as the company emerges from “stealth mode”, where it has been developing a scalable, volume-manufacturable process for positioning and navigation sensors.

The technology is described as “a fusion of silicon photonics and micro-electro-mechanical systems, inspired by Nobel Prize-winning gravitational wave detection principles.” This approach is said to enable low-cost, ultra-low noise, miniaturized accelerometers and gyroscopes 100 times more sensitive than conventional MEMS sensors. “This approach enables unprecedented performance and resilience in environments where there is no GPS,” the company’s website states.

Pushing MEMs performance

“Our mission is to harness light to redefine the future of sensing,” commented Dr Lia Li, the company’s founder and CEO. “We’re working with two of the world’s leading foundries to push MEMS performance beyond its limits. With top-tier investors and partners behind us, we’re laser-focused on delivering our inertial sensors to customers who demand the highest precision and reliability.

“We’ve also brought more integration and packaging R&D in-house, cutting iteration times from eight weeks to just one day. This agility, combined with our expanding patent portfolio and multiple newly granted patents—ensures we stay ahead of the curve. Our next milestone: product qualification and customer deployment,” said Dr. Li.

u-blox cofounder and executive director, Andreas Thiel added: “While satellite positioning technology delivers the highest accuracies in open environments, sensor-based dead reckoning is crucial for resilient performance in dense and obstructed urban scenarios.

Thiel said, “u-blox develops positioning and wireless communication technologies, and we see significant potential in Zero Point Motion’s innovative sensor technology. By investing in Zero Point Motion, u-blox can integrate these cutting-edge sensors into our own product offerings, further strengthening our market position and expanding our technological capabilities.”

Zero Point Motion has also secured major government and EU funding, including £1.3 million from the UK’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) in 2023, followed by a €2.4 million grant from the European Innovation Council Accelerator program.

Chris Wiles, Director, Foresight’s Ventures team, said, “Foresight initially invested in Zero Point Motion in 2021 to help Lia and the founding team bring this breakthrough sensing technology into the public domain. We are encouraged by the progress the team has made and the growing market need for accurate navigation and positioning in challenging environments.”

Harry Destecroix MBE, founder of Science Creates, and managing partner of SCVC, said, “By applying cutting-edge quantum approaches to motion sensing, Lia and the team are unlocking massive potential for industries like autonomous vehicles, robotics, and consumer electronics. This is also a great fit for our partner John Williams, who led the deal and will be working closely with the company.”