One Silicon Chip Photonics (OSCP)
Developing photonic gyroscopes and IMUs for navigation in GNSS/GPS-denied environments.
Website: https://www.oscp.com/
Cover Block
From the public record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | One Silicon Chip Photonics (OSCP) |
| Tagline | Developing photonic gyroscopes and IMUs for navigation in GNSS/GPS-denied environments. [BetaKit, October 2026] |
| Headquarters | Montréal, Canada [Crunchbase] |
| Founded | 2015 [Crunchbase] |
| Stage | Series A [BetaKit, October 2026] |
| Business Model | Hardware + Software |
| Industry | Deeptech |
| Technology Type | Hardware |
| Geography | North America |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Solo Founder |
| Funding Label | Series A |
| Total Disclosed Funding | ~$11,400,000, consisting of a $1,200,000 seed round, $4,200,000 in grants, and a $6,000,000 Series A [PR Newswire, 2024] [BetaKit, October 2026] |
Links
From the public record
- Website: https://www.oscp.com
- LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/one-silicon-chip-photonics
- GitHub: https://docs.oscp.com
The Short Version
PUBLIC OSCP is building photonic gyroscopes and inertial measurement units for vehicles and autonomous systems that need to keep navigating when GNSS or GPS signals are jammed, spoofed, degraded, or unavailable, and it merits attention now because it has moved from technical promise into a financed commercialization phase with a $6 million Series A announced in October 2026 [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026]. Founded in 2015 in Montréal, the company has spent years working on chip-scale inertial sensing, a long development arc that reads as typical for deeptech hardware rather than a late pivot into defense-adjacent autonomy markets [Crunchbase] [BetaKit, October 2026].
The product stack appears to span a tactical-grade MEMS IMU called MK2M2, a hybrid IMU called MK2E2 that replaces the heading-axis MEMS gyroscope with a photonic gyroscope, and a navigation-grade prototype called MK2Z, with NavigationGate serving as the processing layer that fuses inertial data with GNSS and other aiding sensors [oscp.com/products/mk2m2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2e2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2z, 2026] [newswire.ca, 2026]. The technical differentiation, according to company materials and investor coverage, is not generic sensor packaging but the use of photonic integrated circuitry to improve navigation continuity in contested or degraded signal environments while staying relatively compact for drones, robotics, rail, and other autonomous platforms [oscp.com/technology, 2026] [New Science Ventures, 2026] [Investing.com, October 2026].
Founder and CEO Kazem Zandi is one of the cleaner founder-market fits in the file: BetaKit reports that he holds a PhD in engineering physics from Polytechnique Montréal, holds 15 patents in advanced microsystems and integrated photonics, and previously worked at Defence R&D Canada and C2MI in senior engineering roles [BetaKit, October 2026]. Public sources primarily identify him as the founder and chief executive, with limited confirmed visibility into a broader executive bench, although external coverage has also referenced Larry Coldren as a co-founder or advisor [One Silicon Chip Photonics (OSCP), June 2023] [Cignal AI, July 2026].
On financing, disclosed capital totals about $11.4 million across a $1.2 million seed round, $4.2 million in grants, and the recent $6 million Series A, with backing from 7percent Ventures, 2050 Capital, New Science Ventures, Emerging Ventures, and public funding support including SDTC [PR Newswire, 2024] [BetaKit, October 2026]. The business model is best read as hardware plus software, since OSCP sells inertial sensing units while also supporting integration through NavigationGate, an ArduPilot driver, ROS 2 tooling, and software documentation for customer deployment workflows [Investing.com, October 2026] [aijourn.com, 2026].
Over the next 12 to 18 months, the key question is whether OSCP can convert technical validation into repeatable production and named commercial adoption: public evidence points to hiring across photonics, embedded systems, applications software, and GNSS/INS sensor fusion, plus qualification for the Canadian Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace and at least one disclosed prototype test with Thales [oscp.com/careers] [Investing.com, October 2026] [ventureLAB, 2026]. If that hiring and production expansion translate into referenceable deployments, the company could begin to look less like a research-heavy sensor developer and more like a defensible navigation supplier.
Single-source, plausible -- Uses multiple public sources, but several material product and deployment details rely on company or company-distributed sources rather than independent verification.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Series A |
| Business Model | Hardware + Software |
| Industry / Vertical | Deeptech |
| Technology Type | Hardware |
| Geography | North America |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Solo Founder |
| Funding | Total disclosed approximately $11.4 million [PR Newswire, 2024] [BetaKit, October 2026] |
The Company in Brief
PUBLIC
One Silicon Chip Photonics, commonly presented as OSCP, is a Montréal-based company founded in 2015 and focused on photonic gyroscopes and inertial measurement technology for navigation when satellite signals cannot be relied on [Crunchbase]. Its public company materials describe the business as designing and producing integrated optical motion sensors, including gyroscopes and related inertial systems, with operations centered in Montréal [OSCP, 2026].
The public record is thin on the early company formation arc, but the chronology that can be supported is straightforward. Crunchbase lists the company as founded in 2015 in Montréal [Crunchbase]. By June 2023, an industry profile identified Kazem Zandi as Founder and CEO, which helps anchor leadership continuity ahead of the company's 2024 financing activity and subsequent product commercialization push [EPIC Photonics, June 2023].
The more visible operating milestones arrive later. OSCP's website in 2026 shows an active product portfolio and a Montréal hiring footprint across photonics, embedded systems, applications software, and GNSS/INS sensor fusion, indicating a company moving from R&D into broader commercialization and team build-out [OSCP, 2026]. That public picture is consistent with a deeptech company that spent a long period in development before appearing more regularly in market-facing materials.
Single-source, plausible -- Confirmed primarily by Crunchbase and the company website, with partial corroboration from EPIC Photonics.
What They Have Built
Mixed sourcing
OSCP is building inertial sensors for the cases where satellite navigation cannot be trusted, which is the right place to start because the company is not selling a generic autonomy component so much as continuity of positioning when GNSS or GPS is jammed, spoofed, degraded, or absent [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026]. Public materials describe a tiered product family rather than a single sensor: the MK2M2 is a tactical-grade MEMS IMU for smaller platforms such as drones, robotics, trains, and mapping systems [oscp.com/products/mk2m2, 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026]; the MK2E2 swaps the heading-axis MEMS gyroscope for a photonic gyroscope while retaining MEMS accelerometers, magnetometers, and inclinometers [oscp.com/products/mk2e2, 2026] [newscienceventures.com, 2026]; and the MK2Z is presented as a navigation-grade photonic prototype [oscp.com/products/mk2z, 2026] [oscp.com/technology, 2026]. The hardware details that are public are unusually specific for a startup at this stage, including published dimensions, weight, and power draw for the MK2M2 and MK2E2, which suggests the company is far enough along to support integration work rather than only lab evaluation [PR Newswire, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2e2, 2026].
The software layer appears to matter almost as much as the sensor itself. OSCP says its NavigationGate processing unit fuses inertial data with dual-antenna, RTK-compatible GNSS and customer-provided aiding sensors to output position, velocity, and attitude [newswire.ca, 2026] [devcuration.com]. That framing is consistent with the company's recent developer-facing moves, including support for ArduPilot and an open-source ROS 2 driver for the MK2 IMU family, with documentation, a C SDK, and Python examples cited in press coverage [Investing.com, October 2026] [AI Journal, 2026]. The hiring profile also points to where engineering effort is concentrated, though this remains an inference rather than a disclosed architecture: current Montréal roles span photonics, embedded systems, applications software, and GNSS/INS sensor fusion [PUBLIC][oscp.com/careers], which indicates an integrated hardware-software stack rather than a component-only business model (inferred from job postings).
Single-source, plausible -- Product scope is corroborated across company pages and independent coverage, but several technical specifications and software claims rely on company materials or single-source trade coverage.
Market Size and Demand
PUBLIC
The market matters now because navigation resilience has moved from a defense edge case to a broader infrastructure and autonomy requirement as jamming, spoofing, and signal degradation become harder to treat as rare failures [PR Newswire, October 2026].
OSCP sits inside a real problem category, but the available public record does not support a clean TAM, SAM, or SOM build for the company itself. No named third-party market report was provided for photonic gyroscopes, inertial navigation, or GPS-denied autonomy in the source set. What the evidence does show is that OSCP is positioning for applications where satellite navigation cannot be assumed, including defense, aerospace, robotics, heavy industry, space, maritime, subsea, rail, and autonomous ground systems [OSCP, 2026] [Investing.com, October 2026]. That is a wide opportunity surface, though it should be read as category adjacency rather than verified demand in each vertical.
The demand signal is clearest in environments where continuity matters more than absolute cost. OSCP and its investors consistently frame the product around operation when GNSS or GPS is jammed, spoofed, degraded, or unavailable [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026]. That framing aligns with public-sector and industrial buying logic: defense users need assured navigation in contested settings, while airports, shipping lanes, drones, rail, and robotic systems increasingly face reliability requirements even outside traditional military use cases, according to company-backed coverage and management commentary cited by named publishers [PR Newswire, October 2026] [Investing.com, October 2026].
A second tailwind is platform complexity. OSCP is not only selling sensing hardware, it is also describing a stack that includes IMUs at different performance tiers, a processing unit that fuses inertial data with RTK-compatible GNSS and customer-provided aiding sensors, support for ArduPilot, and an open-source ROS 2 driver for the MK2 family [devcuration.com] [Investing.com, October 2026] [AI Journal, 2026]. In practical market terms, that broadens the addressable budget from a single sensor component toward navigation subsystems and developer integration workflows. It does not prove software revenue, but it does suggest the company is pursuing a system-level wedge rather than a standalone part sale.
The nearest adjacent markets are tactical and navigation-grade inertial systems, autonomy software stacks, GNSS augmentation, and broader motion sensing for robotics, aerospace, and industrial vehicles. Substitute approaches include higher-end conventional inertial systems, multi-sensor fusion with GNSS dependence, and application-specific autonomy stacks that tolerate intermittent position loss rather than solving for assured inertial navigation directly. OSCP's market bet is that chip-scale photonics can push performance upward without inheriting the size, weight, and power profile of legacy alternatives, a proposition reflected in its product ladder from MEMS-heavy units to photonic prototypes [OSCP, 2026] [New Science Ventures, 2026] [PR Newswire, 2026].
Regulation and macro conditions also matter here, even if the public evidence is still early. OSCP is a supplier qualified for the Canadian government's Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace, which indicates at least one procurement-adjacent path into public-sector demand [Investing.com, October 2026]. The company has also raised support from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, NGen, and Québec's Technoclimat program, suggesting Canadian industrial and innovation policy is helping subsidize development risk in this category [PR Newswire, 2024]. Those programs do not validate commercial scale, but they do reduce one of the usual hurdles in deeptech hardware, namely the cost and duration of getting from prototype to qualified production.
| Market sizing lens | Public evidence | Implication for OSCP |
|---|---|---|
| Core market, photonic gyroscopes / GPS-denied inertial navigation | No named third-party market-size report provided in source set | Public market sizing remains unverified |
| Application markets | Defense, aerospace, robotics, heavy industry, space, maritime, subsea, rail, and autonomous ground systems cited by company materials and financing coverage [OSCP, 2026] [Investing.com, October 2026] | Opportunity is cross-vertical, but near-term focus likely depends on qualification cycles and integration burden |
| Budget owner shift | NavigationGate, ArduPilot support, ROS 2 driver, and sensor fusion positioning indicate subsystem rather than component selling [devcuration.com] [Investing.com, October 2026] [AI Journal, 2026] | Revenue opportunity could expand if buyers procure integrated navigation capability rather than discrete sensors |
The table makes the current limitation plain: the problem category is visible, but the quantified market case is still thin in public sources. For investors, that shifts emphasis from headline TAM claims toward evidence of design wins, qualification progress, and repeatable entry points by vertical.
Single-source, plausible -- Based primarily on company materials and financing coverage from named publishers, with limited independent third-party market sizing in the provided source set.
Who Else Is Fighting for This
MIXED The competitive set here is less a tidy peer group than a stack of alternatives, incumbent inertial vendors at the high end, commodity MEMS suppliers at the low end, and system integrators in the middle, all competing to keep vehicles oriented when satellite signals fail [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026] [PR Newswire, 2024].
OSCP sits in a narrow but legible lane inside that stack. Its public materials describe a progression from a tactical-grade MEMS IMU, the MK2M2, to the MK2E2, which replaces the heading-axis MEMS gyroscope with a photonic gyroscope, and then to the MK2Z, a navigation-grade photonic prototype [oscp.com/products/mk2m2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2e2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2z, 2026] [oscp.com/technology, 2026]. That suggests the company is not trying to displace every IMU vendor at once. The nearer-term contest is against conventional MEMS-based navigation stacks and external aiding systems such as RTK GNSS, rather than against the most established premium inertial suppliers across every mission profile [newswire.ca, 2026] [Investing.com, October 2026].
The segment map matters because the buyer trade-offs are different. In drones, robotics, and mapping, OSCP appears to be challenging lower-cost MEMS solutions that lose performance when GNSS is jammed or degraded, with a pitch centered on better heading stability and continuity in a compact form factor [PR Newswire, 2024] [oscp.com/products/mk2m2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2e2, 2026]. In defence and aerospace, the substitute set broadens to incumbent inertial systems and platform-level navigation architectures, where qualification history, production consistency, and integration burden can outweigh pure sensor performance [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026]. OSCP's NavigationGate unit, which fuses inertial data with dual-antenna, RTK-compatible GNSS and customer-provided aiding sensors, places the company closer to a navigation subsystem vendor than a standalone component maker, but it also puts OSCP into comparison with integrators that already own those customer relationships [Investing.com, October 2026] [devcuration.com].
Where OSCP has a real edge today is technical positioning and founder-market fit, though both remain early. Kazem Zandi's background in engineering physics, defence R&D, and microsystems fabrication is directly tied to the problem the company is solving, and BetaKit reports he holds 15 patents in advanced microsystems and integrated photonics [BetaKit, October 2026]. The product line also shows a practical commercialization path: start with MEMS-based units, add a photonic axis where performance matters most, and package that into workflows developers can actually test through ArduPilot support and an open-source ROS 2 driver [Investing.com, October 2026] [aijourn.com, 2026]. That edge is durable if OSCP can translate photonics know-how into repeatable production in Montréal and into field data that proves reliability under jamming and spoofing conditions. It is perishable if larger inertial vendors or well-capitalized subsystem suppliers can match the same performance tier before OSCP builds a dense installed base [PR Newswire, October 2026] [BetaKit, October 2026].
The exposure is straightforward. OSCP does not appear, from the public record provided here, to control a major distribution channel, own a prime contractor position, or cite named production customers beyond a disclosed prototype test with Thales and qualification for Canada's Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace [ventureLAB, 2026] [Investing.com, October 2026]. That leaves the company vulnerable to two classes of competitor by function, even if they are not named in the current source set: first, entrenched inertial-navigation incumbents that can bundle certified hardware into broader defence and aerospace programs; second, low-cost MEMS suppliers whose economics are hard to beat in less contested operating environments [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, 2024]. Public evidence also does not show OSCP competing yet on a full fleet-management, autonomy-software, or large-scale servicing layer, which limits its ability to defend accounts through software lock-in alone [Investing.com, October 2026] [oscp.com/careers, 2026].
Over the next 18 months, the most plausible competitive scenario is not category dominance but wedge expansion. OSCP is the likely winner if buyers in drones, robotics, and defence-adjacent autonomy increasingly prioritize navigation continuity under spoofing and jamming, and if the company can convert its developer-friendly integrations and recent Series A into repeatable deployments [Investing.com, October 2026] [BetaKit, October 2026]. The more likely loser under that condition is the undifferentiated standalone MEMS IMU category, especially products sold primarily on price without a credible GNSS-denied story [PR Newswire, 2024] [oscp.com/products/mk2m2, 2026]. The reverse is also true: OSCP is the loser if procurement cycles remain dominated by qualification history and incumbent program relationships, or if GNSS-denied demand stays concentrated in niches too small to absorb the cost and integration overhead of a newer photonic approach [PR Newswire, October 2026] [BetaKit, October 2026].
Opportunity
PUBLIC
The prize here is not a better sensor component alone, but a credible path to becoming a control point in navigation systems for vehicles and machines that must keep operating when satellite positioning is degraded or unavailable [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026].
The headline opportunity is straightforward: OSCP could become a meaningful supplier of inertial navigation hardware and sensor-fusion software for autonomy programs where GNSS failure is a mission risk rather than an edge case. That is a large claim, but the public record gives it some footing. The company is not presenting only a lab concept. It has a defined product family that spans a tactical-grade MEMS IMU, a hybrid photonic-MEMS IMU, and a navigation-grade photonic prototype, plus a NavigationGate processing unit that fuses inertial data with GNSS and other aiding sensors [oscp.com/products/mk2m2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2e2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2z, 2026] [newswire.ca, 2026]. The August 2026 Series A, announced in October, was framed around production expansion in Montréal and commercialization rather than pure research, which suggests the company has crossed at least part of the distance from technical promise to go-to-market execution [BetaKit, October 2026] [Investing.com, October 2026].
That opportunity also looks more reachable because OSCP appears to be widening its integration surface, not just polishing a single device. Public materials point to ArduPilot support, an open-source ROS 2 driver for the MK2 family, and documentation plus software examples for integration [Investing.com, October 2026] [AIJourn, 2026]. In industrial and defense-adjacent sensing markets, the supplier that is easiest to integrate often has an advantage disproportionate to its size.
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why its plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense and dual-use control point | OSCP becomes a repeat supplier for drone, autonomous ground system, and related government programs that need resilient navigation when GNSS is jammed or spoofed | Qualification-driven adoption through programs such as the Canadian Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace, followed by system-level embedding in procurement cycles | OSCP is already identified as a qualified supplier for the Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace, and its core pitch is explicitly tied to operation when satellite signals cannot be trusted [Investing.com, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026] |
| Embedded autonomy stack for robotics and drones | The company wins design-ins with OEMs and integrators that need an off-the-shelf IMU plus navigation-processing layer, then expands from one platform to adjacent vehicle classes | ArduPilot support, ROS 2 tooling, and reference integrations reduce switching costs for developers and shorten evaluation cycles | Public evidence shows support for ArduPilot, a ROS 2 driver, and software documentation around the MK2 family, which is the kind of infrastructure that can turn a sensor vendor into part of the standard autonomy stack [Investing.com, October 2026] [AIJourn, 2026] |
| Photonic upgrade path into higher-grade navigation | OSCP uses the MEMS product line as the commercial wedge, then migrates customers toward hybrid and photonic units as performance demands rise | Production expansion after the Series A and field validation of the MK2E2 and MK2Z families | The product ladder is already visible in public materials: MK2M2 at the tactical grade, MK2E2 as a hybrid photonic-MEMS system, and MK2Z as a navigation-grade prototype with materially higher optical-axis performance targets [oscp.com/products/mk2m2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2e2, 2026] [oscp.com/products/mk2z, 2026] [oscp.com/technology, 2026] |
What compounding looks like is less a consumer-style network effect than an engineering lock-in loop. A customer may begin with a discrete IMU evaluation, but the value rises if that device is paired with OSCP's processing layer, tuned into the customer's aiding sensors, and integrated into software environments like ROS 2 or ArduPilot [devcuration.com] [Investing.com, October 2026] [AIJourn, 2026]. Once the vendor is qualified in a safety- or mission-critical system, replacement becomes slower and costlier. The public signs of that loop are early rather than mature, but they exist: OSCP has a multi-product roadmap, public integration tooling, customer-facing documentation, and active hiring across photonics, embedded systems, applications software, and GNSS/INS sensor fusion, all of which are consistent with a company trying to own more of the stack over time [oscp.com/careers] [Investing.com, October 2026].
The size of the win is harder to quantify because the source set here does not include a named TAM study or a clean public-peer benchmark tied directly to photonic inertial navigation. The more disciplined framing is scenario-based. If OSCP were to become a recognized subsystem supplier across defense, aerospace, robotics, and industrial autonomy, with photonic performance as its differentiator and software integration as its wedge, the likely strategic value would be measured against what acquirers pay for hard-to-replicate sensing IP and qualified program positions rather than against generic hardware revenue multiples (scenario, not a forecast). The public evidence supports ambition up to that level because the company has disclosed institutional backing, grant support, a commercialization-stage financing, and a product roadmap aimed at markets where navigation resilience is not optional [PR Newswire, 2024] [BetaKit, October 2026] [PR Newswire, October 2026].
Single-source, plausible -- Based primarily on company materials and named-publisher coverage, with partial corroboration from BetaKit, PR Newswire, Investing.com, and OSCP product pages.
Sources
From the public record
[BetaKit, October 2026] OSCP closes $6-million USD Series A round to power navigation without GPS | https://betakit.com/oscp-closes-6-million-usd-series-a-round-to-power-navigation-without-gps/
[Crunchbase] One Silicon Chip Photonics - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/one-silicon-chip-photonics
[PR Newswire, 2024] Dumb drones set to become smart with a world first in navigation technology | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dumb-drones-set-to-become-smart-with-a-world-first-in-navigation-technology-302162551.html
[PR Newswire, October 2026] OSCP closes Series A financing led by New Science Ventures | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oscp-closes-series-a-financing-led-by-new-science-ventures-302894958.html
[EPIC Photonics, June 2023] One Silicon Chip Photonics (OSCP) | https://epic-photonics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/One-Silicon-Chip-Photonics.pdf
[Investing.com, October 2026] OSCPS Motion Sensing schließt Serie-A-Runde mit New Science Ventures ab | https://de.investing.com/news/global-filings/oscps-motion-sensing-schliest-seriearunde-mit-new-science-ventures-ab-93CH-3686897
[ventureLAB, 2026] How One Silicon Chip Photonics Is Making Autonomous Vehicles Drive Smarter And Safer | https://www.venturelab.ca/news/how-one-silicon-chip-photonics-is-making-autonomous-vehicles-drive-smarter-and-safer
[LinkedIn, 2026] Kazem Zandi - OSCP | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kazem-zandi-51a9a0a0/
Articles about One Silicon Chip Photonics (OSCP)
- One Silicon Chip Photonics Builds a Navigation System for When the Satellites Go Dark — The Montreal deeptech startup has raised $11.4 million to commercialize its photonic gyroscopes, betting that GPS jamming is a permanent threat.