ANELLO Photonics has secured an additional $25 million in a Series B-2 financing round to expand the production of its silicon photonics-based navigation solutions.
The oversubscribed funding round was led by MESH, with new participation from Washington Harbour Partners. Existing investors, including Lockheed Martin Ventures, Catapult Ventures, New Legacy Ventures, One Madison Group, IronGate Capital, and Mana Ventures, also participated in the round. This capital injection is intended to accelerate the company’s expansion and drive the deployment of resilient navigation systems for autonomous platforms navigating land, air, and sea in GPS-denied or contested environments.
Modern infrastructure across defense and commercial sectors relies heavily on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), yet these systems face increasing risks from jamming and spoofing. Such disruptions are estimated to cost billions globally, impacting both mission-critical defense operations and standard commercial activities.
To address these vulnerabilities, ANELLO has developed a silicon photonics-based inertial navigation solution that delivers continuous, high-precision positioning independent of external signals. At the core of this approach is its Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope (SiPhOG™) platform, which brings fiber-optic gyro-class performance into a compact, manufacturable format. This provides a cost-effective alternative to legacy systems while enabling reliable autonomy across land, air and sea in GPS-denied environments.
Tony Fai, Partner at MESH, commented, “MESH is excited to invest in ANELLO because they have built a truly differentiated, defensible navigation platform for a world where GPS cannot be assumed. By delivering fiber‑gyro class performance in a chip‑scale, manufacturable form factor – and pairing it with real traction in mission‑critical defense and dual‑use markets – ANELLO has the potential to become foundational infrastructure for the next generation of autonomous systems. We believe this is a rare combination of breakthrough technology, execution, and timing.”
As electronic warfare grows more sophisticated, the capacity to navigate without GPS is transitioning from a technical advantage to an operational necessity. ANELLO’s approach focuses on Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C) efficiency, delivering fiber-optic-class performance through a compact, chip-scale integrated system.
Dr. Mario Paniccia, Co-Founder and CEO of ANELLO Photonics, added, “Reliable navigation is fundamental to autonomy, safety, and mission assurance and we are excited to have MESH and Washington Harbour Partners as new investors in ANELLO. This additional $25 million in funding will enable us to scale production, accelerate innovation, and deliver resilient navigation capabilities to meet the rising global demand. In addition, it will allow us to deliver more products to more customers operating in increasingly contested and GPS-denied environments.”
