Advanced Navigation
Advanced Navigation makes navigation systems for autonomous vehicles and robotics that work where GPS fails, with $205M in funding and 205 employees. The company has raised Series C funding from investors including Airtree Ventures and the Australian Space Agency.
The growth story
Advanced Navigation grew from 71 to 205 employees between 2020 and 2026, raising $205M along the way, most recently a Series C in March 2026.
About
Advanced Navigation develops hardware and software for precise positioning in environments where GPS signals are unreliable, such as underwater, underground, or in space. Its products combine robotics, AI, and quantum sensing technologies for use in defense, aerospace, and industrial applications.
The company has grown to 205 employees with backing from deep-tech investors, suggesting strong technical validation. Its Series C round indicates maturation beyond early-stage funding, though specific growth rates aren't disclosed.
Founders and leadership
Engineering dominates the organization with 48 staff, reflecting the hardware-software integration at the company's core. Leadership appears technically focused given the deep-tech investor base and product complexity.
The Advanced Navigation org chart
Chris Shaw (Co-Founder & CEO) leads 60 mapped leaders with 5 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 60 (0% YoY), Operations 28 (+17% YoY), Business Development 22 (+47% YoY), Sales 21 (+11% YoY), Information Technology 12 (+50% YoY), Human Resources 7 (0% YoY).
Talent flow
The team draws heavily from defense and medical tech firms like Thales (7 hires) and Resmed (5), with notable recruitment from Australian universities. Alumni frequently move to other defense tech companies like DroneShield (8) and Anduril (4).
Most common previous employers of Advanced Navigation staff: Thales (7), The Australian National University (6), Baraja (5), Resmed (5), Nanosonics (4), Amazon Web Services (AWS) (3). Former Advanced Navigation employees most often moved to DroneShield (8), Ocius (4), Anduril Industries (4), SBG (3), Morse Micro (3), Overwatch Imaging (2).
Alumni worth knowing
The Advanced Navigation mafia
8 alumni have founded companies, including Breaker (25 staff) and Anitron (9), showing entrepreneurial spillover from the firm's deep-tech focus.
8Matthew Buffa, was Robotics Software Engineer until 2021Xavier Orr, was Co-founder and CEO until 2024Daniel Fitzgerald, was Head of UAV Department until 2024Nikki Staltari, was Mechanical Engineer until 2024Joseph Cooper, was Learning & Organisational Development Consultant (Contract role) until 2025
Marty Hauff, was Head of Hardware until 2025
Ahmed T., was Application Engineer until 2022Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 31% direct, 60% search, 0% social, 0% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Advanced Navigation: Leadership (66), Project Management (57), Microsoft Office (56), Management (50), Customer Service (47), Communication (46), Engineering (37), Team Leadership (37).
Where the team actually sits
Advanced Navigation people are concentrated in New South Wales, Australia (51), Greater Sydney Area (25), Australia (14), Western Australia, Australia (12). 6 offices on record.
Search footprint
Advanced Navigation attracts about 12,480 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $38K a month if bought through ads. It gained 1,786 ranking keywords and lost 1,443 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 3.60 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 3.80 / 5
- Senior management
- 3.60 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 3.50 / 5
Frequently asked
Advanced Navigation has 205 employees as of September 2026.
Advanced Navigation has raised $205M in total, most recently a Series C round in March 2026.
Advanced Navigation was founded in 2012 by Chris Shaw.
Chris Shaw (Co-Founder & CEO) sits at the top of Advanced Navigation's reporting structure, with 5 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Advanced Navigation staff are Thales (7 people), The Australian National University (6 people), Baraja (5 people).
Former Advanced Navigation employees most often move to DroneShield (8), Ocius (4), Anduril Industries (4).
At least 8 companies have a founder who previously worked at Advanced Navigation, including Breaker, Anitron, EcpPro.
Advanced Navigation attracts about 12,480 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $38K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Advanced Navigation staff are Leadership, Project Management, Microsoft Office, Management, Customer Service.
Advanced Navigation staff are concentrated in New South Wales, Australia (51), Greater Sydney Area (25), Australia (14).
Advanced Navigation has about 60 people in Engineering, up 0% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Advanced Navigation has about 28 people in Operations, up 17% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 151 current and 238 former Advanced Navigation profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
Build this for any company
Every number on this page came from the Crustdata API. Point the MCP at a company and get the same org chart, alumni list and talent flow in one prompt.