When a US Air Force pilot went down over Iran, an unconfirmed New York Post report said the rescue team found him by detecting his heartbeat from a distance, through its magnetic signature. It is not clear what technology was actually used.
But that kind of sensing is real, and Deteqt, a Sydney startup, builds it.
The product
A quantum magnetometer built from a diamond crystal and a custom semiconductor chip. Most quantum sensors fill a lab bench. This one is small enough to sit on a drone.
The first market
Navigation for drones and defence systems where GPS is jammed, which is now standard on modern battlefields. GPS can be jammed. The planet’s magnetic field cannot.
The founders
Two professors, Jim Rabeau and Omid Kavehei, who spun the company out of the University of Sydney’s Nano Institute in 2024.
The raise
A$5M seed led by Main Sequence, CSIRO’s venture fund, with ATP Fund, BOKA Capital, Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Uniseed and the University of Sydney.
My read
GPS was the last generation’s superpower. Reading the planet’s magnetic field might be the next one, and one of the smallest versions of that technology is being built in Sydney.