{"id":410876,"date":"2026-04-22T00:19:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/410876\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:19:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:19:44","slug":"canadian-tech-startup-sbquantum-expands-into-u-s-as-demand-for-its-sensors-grows-in-defence-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/410876\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian tech startup SBQuantum expands into U.S. as demand for its sensors grows in defence sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

SBQuantum CEO David Roy-Guay with the company’s diamond magnetometer. The sensor can help replace or improve existing navigation systems in contested or degraded environments using the Earth\u2019s magnetic field.ALEXIS AUBIN\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

A Canadian quantum technology startup is expanding to the United States as major defence contractors and governments seek out its sensors to help them navigate when GPS systems suffer interference \u2013 something that\u2019s quickly become the norm in modern conflicts.<\/p>\n

Sherbrooke-based SBQuantum is opening its American entity, Zero Drift Technologies, in Cambridge, Mass., to help commercialize its technology for the U.S. market. <\/p>\n

The Canadian company makes quantum diamond magnetometers, which are sensors that can help replace or improve existing navigation systems in contested or degraded environments using the Earth\u2019s magnetic field. In Ukraine<\/a>, the Middle East<\/a> and other areas of conflict, jamming or spoofing of navigation systems has become common practice to interfere with the movement of devices on the battlefield, such as drones or other autonomous systems being used for surveillance and strikes.<\/p>\n

Quebec-based startup SBQuantum reaches orbit with diamond-based quantum sensors<\/a><\/p>\n

Jamming refers to using radio signals to deliberately interfere with a system\u2019s ability to receive data. Spoofing is when a navigation system is thrown off by fake radio signals. In Ukraine, these practices have forced its military to develop new fibre-optic drones, which fly with a long spool of cable attached, providing a wired connection meant to make them immune to jamming.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople talk about nests that birds make with these optical fibres that lay all around the place now,\u201d said SBQuantum founder David Roy-Guay, who has been having discussions with Ukrainian border services to help gain real-world insight into mission requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if there was a way to navigate without GPS, in an autonomous fashion, that would be a very big advantage to the troops.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where SBQuantum\u2019s technology could come in handy. The company is developing an unjammable, unspoofable navigation method that doesn\u2019t require fibre-optic cables. Rather, it relies upon the Earth\u2019s magnetic field, which is very hard to interfere with, said Mr. Roy-Guay, who is also chief technical officer at both SBQuantum and Zero Drift.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would need a giant magnet or a giant electromagnetic coil that is as powerful as the magnetic effect at the core of the Earth, which is unthinkable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The technology requires an accurate model of the Earth\u2019s magnetic field, which shifts and changes over time.<\/p>\n

Canada had \u2013 and lost \u2013 its lead in AI. Can it avoid making the same mistake in the next emerging global technology race?<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, in March, SBQuantum launched a satellite carrying two of its quantum sensors made of diamond into space to test its approach to magnetic detection. Currently, the Earth\u2019s magnetic field is tracked by a group of three European satellites called Swarm that were launched in 2013. SBQuantum\u2019s sensors were designed to improve upon this aging technology, collecting data in real time, as opposed to the snapshots of the field transmitted from Swarm that scientists must stitch together. <\/p>\n

The company plans to use the data collected by its satellite to create a reference point for other vessels, such as drones or planes, that will carry its sensors closer to the ground for mapping and navigation without GPS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe satellite coverage will allow us to level everything together so that then we can have reliable operation for drone navigation near the ground,\u201d Mr. Roy-Guay said.<\/p>\n

Ottawa plans to support drone development, quantum tech with $900-million for defence strategy<\/a><\/p>\n

This coverage will also prove extremely useful for mapping and navigation in the Arctic, where Mr. Roy-Guay said the magnetic North Pole moves faster and maps require frequent updates.<\/p>\n

The launch of SBQuantum\u2019s satellite was part of a larger initiative called the MagQuest Challenge, sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Defence.<\/p>\n

Eric Giroux, chief executive officer of SBQuantum and Zero Drift, said the Canadian company\u2019s expansion was a strategic one in terms of working with the U.S. government and taking advantage of research and development funding there. For example, he said, Zero Drift could be well positioned to participate in a challenge posed by Washington\u2019s Defence Innovation Unit to collect magnetic field data using aerial systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll start mapping fairly quick here in the U.S., and we think Canada will do the same shortly. It\u2019s just a matter of the government organizing the new procurement office that they\u2019re building around the Defence Industrial Strategy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SBQuantum also announced the closing of a US$4-million seed round on Thursday, which will help fund its U.S. expansion and product development.<\/p>\n

Back in Canada, Mr. Roy-Guay said the company is positioning itself to take advantage of the country\u2019s growing defence budget, through avenues such as National Research Council programs and other contractual opportunities.<\/p>\n

The government is sending all the right signals, he said, they just need to translate into action.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is saying, \u2018Hey, we want to work closer with industry. We want pilots, we want demos.\u2019 So, now we just need to bridge that gap and get the demos running.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: SBQuantum CEO David Roy-Guay with the company’s diamond magnetometer. The sensor can help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[72,191,61,60,28557],"class_list":{"0":"post-410876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-ne-i"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}