Discovery to Impact at The University of Texas at Austin has invested $150,000 in Locus Lock through the UT Seed Fund. Locus Lock is a startup affiliated with UT, focusing on positioning solutions for mobility in commercial and defense sectors. This investment will support the piloting of their Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology with commercial clients.
This marks the first investment by the UT Seed Fund in computer science. Locus Lock’s software-defined GNSS technology aims to deliver secure and precise location data for industries such as vehicle, defense, aerospace, and high-tech. The $10 million UT Seed Fund also includes innovations in potassium-ion batteries, robotics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.
Mark Arnold, associate vice president of Discovery to Impact and managing director of the UT Seed Fund, expressed enthusiasm about partnering with Locus Lock. “We are pleased to partner with Locus Lock as they accelerate the development of their low-cost, high-performance navigation solution,” Arnold stated. He emphasized that UT Austin is becoming a leading university for commercializing new inventions and technologies.
Locus Lock CEO Hailey Nichols is spearheading the commercialization of the software-defined GNSS receiver developed at UT’s Radionavigation Lab under Professor Todd Humphreys’ guidance. Nichols highlighted the capability of their GNSS solutions: “Locus Lock delivers high-performance GNSS solutions designed to perform in the most complex and challenging environments.” She acknowledged UT Austin’s support through Discovery to Impact as vital for scaling their operations.
For more information about Locus Lock or Discovery to Impact, interested parties can visit locuslock.com or discoveries.utexas.edu respectively.
