Quantum magnetometers were thrust into the spotlight last week when news broke of the top-secret CIA device used to find a downed US pilot in Iran. Aussie company Deteqt was already on the case.
Key Takeaways
- Deep-tech start-up Deteqt has raised AU$5 million to develop its chip-scale “quantum magnetometer” [sensor] that is small enough to steer a drone.
- The seed round was led Main Sequence, with backing from ATP Fund, BOKA Capital, Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Uniseed, and the University of Sydney.
- The New York Post reported last week that a similar quantum magnetometry device – the top-secret and never-before used Ghost Murmur – found a downed US pilot in Iran.
- Deteqt’s initial focus for its micro device is navigation in environments where GPS has been blocked or jammed.
Key background
Deteqt was spun out of the University of Sydney’s Nano Institute by CEO and co-founder Dr Jim Rabeau and Professor Omid Kavehei, announcing seed funding of $750,000 in March 2025.
Deteqt explains in its release that its device makes the electromagnetic signals that run through the earth and through human bodies “machine-readable and actionable”.
“Magnetic fields permeate everything around us – every object, every geological formation, every living body,” Dr Rabeau said. “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 formally took the reins of Deteqt in 2024, stepping down as President of the Australian node of US quantum technology company Infleqtion to lead Deteqt full time. The team has since grown to 11 people.
Rabeau completed his PhD growing synthetic diamond and spent years as a quantum technology researcher developing early quantum sensors using diamond. When he met Omid, a CMOS chip design expert, in 2020, they saw immediately that combining quantum sensing with semiconductor integration could unlock something genuinely new. Deteqt is the result.
Deteqt’s breakthrough is that it uses standard CMOS chips with diamond quantum sensors to make a device sensitive enough and small enough to be used in drones, autonomous vehicles or robots. They have talked about portable medical MRI machines.
The funding will be used to advance Deteqt’s next-generation field-ready product, scale diamond chip manufacturing, and grow the team.
Whether or not a quantum sensing device did find the downed pilot last week, it has put quantum magnetometry on the map for political and military leaders.
Interest in defence-related investments is on the rise, with Deteqt backer Beaten Zone Ventures last week reporting a surge of interest in its defence-focussed fund.
Deteqt was tackling one of the hardest problems in quantum technology, Main Sequence Investment manager Alejandra Romero said.
“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.”
Deteqt’s lead application is GPS-denied navigation for defence platforms, where jamming in contested environments has created urgent, immediate demand for alternative positioning technology.
“The demand signal for GPS-independent navigation is no longer theoretical; it’s operational and urgent,” said Erik Thoresen, Partner at BOKA Capital, an AUKUS-aligned venture firm focused on dual-use and defence technology. “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.”
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