Friday, July 25, 2008

CrossRate navigates $750K funding

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

Commercial navigation technology developer CrossRate Technology LLC has brought in $750,000 in funding from new and existing angel investors.

While the Standish, Maine-based company adds the $750,000 to $1.5 million in grants and awards it has raised since its 2004 inception, officials said they will leave the round open to possible future investment up to $2 million total.

The six-person company, founded by former Coast Guard officer Zachariah Conover, is developing a positioning and navigation receiver that uses both satellite-based GPS and its terrestrial predecessor, Loran. The device is intended to eliminate the failings of GPS and act as a backup navigation system in mission-critical applications.

The company has attracted attention from government agencies as an accurate backup to GPS, and hopes to present that case to commercial applications, such as in the ground and sea transportation, fishing and aviation industries. But a mandate to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to implement enhanced Loran (eLoran) — an updated version of the technology — as a backup system that was included in the 2009 federal budget has the company looking at even larger opportunities.

“That removed the last long-term barrier to the adoption of eLoran,” said Conover.

CrossRate’s technology focuses on the handling of both GPS and eLoran signals — more complicated than just including receivers for each in a single unit, said David Rubenstein an aerospace consultant with Maine Aerospace Consulting in Falmouth, Maine, who has worked with the company. Rubenstein said CrossRate’s platform, which includes chips and software, combines the best elements of both and allows them to work together.

According to Conover, CrossRate has been testing its first product with a handful of beta customers and expects a full commercial launch this fall.