NovAtel
NovAtel, a Hexagon division founded in 1978 in Calgary, designs high-precision GNSS receivers, antennas, anti-jam systems, and correction services for defense, automotive, agriculture, marine, survey, and unmanned-systems customers worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1978
- HeadquartersCalgary, Canada
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What NovAtel does
NovAtel Inc., founded in 1978 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, designs, manufactures, and sells high-precision GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technology as a wholly-owned division of Hexagon AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: HEXAB). Its product portfolio centers on the proprietary OEM7 receiver platform — multi-constellation, multi-frequency boards and enclosed systems such as the PwrPak7 and MarinePak7 — combined with SMART and VEXXIS antennas, SPAN GNSS+INS tightly coupled inertial navigation, the GAJT family of anti-jam antennas (up to 65 dB interference suppression), and the GRIT firmware suite for spoofing detection, interference mitigation, and RF environment characterization. The company monetizes hardware sales alongside recurring revenue from TerraStar PPP, Oceanix, and HxGN SmartNet RTK correction services, plus firmware feature unlocks and automotive engineering and integration services.
The business serves defense and aerospace, automotive (ADAS and autonomy), agriculture, marine, survey and mapping, mobile mapping, precision timing, and unmanned systems customers, with the first three verticals flagged as primary. Distribution runs through direct enterprise sales, an authorized global dealer network, and an e-commerce storefront. Within Hexagon, NovAtel is paired with the recently acquired Septentrio and Inertial Sense franchises and Antcom antennas, forming an integrated PNT stack that competes in the high-precision OEM and assured-PNT segments.
NovAtel firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NovAtel
- Legal name
- NovAtel Inc.
- Website
- https://novatel.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1978
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- NovAtel, a Hexagon division founded in 1978 in Calgary, designs high-precision GNSS receivers, antennas, anti-jam systems, and correction services for defense, automotive, agriculture, marine, survey, and unmanned-systems customers worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NovAtel industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Precision GNSS Positioning Technology
- NAICS
- Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)
- SIC
- Measuring & Controlling Devices, Nec (3829), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)
- akta.pro primary industry
- GNSS/GPS Navigation & Augmentation Systems (IMABAFAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Marine Navigation Systems (ECDIS, Radar, GNSS, AIS) (IMAJAJAE), Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Electronics for Weapons (IMABAGAH)
Keywords
Where NovAtel is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Calgary
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
NovAtel business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- GNSS Hardware Products: Sale of GNSS receivers, antennas, and integrated systems including OEM7 boards, enclosures, SMART antennas, and combined GNSS+INS systems
- Correction Services Subscriptions: Subscription-based precise point positioning (PPP) and RTK correction services including TerraStar-L, TerraStar-C PRO, TerraStar-X, Oceanix, and SmartNet offerings with various accuracy levels and convergence times
- Firmware and Software Options: Proprietary firmware programs, software licenses, and feature upgrades for receiver customization and performance optimization
- Professional Services: Engineering and integration services for automotive and autonomy applications, training, and technical support
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
NovAtel product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NovAtel designs, manufactures, and sells high-precision OEM GNSS receiver boards (OEM7500, OEM7600), enclosed receiver systems (PwrPak7, MarinePak7), GNSS+INS combined systems (SPAN), SMART antennas, and GNSS antennas (VEXXIS). The company also provides GNSS anti-jam antenna systems (GAJT family), resilience firmware (GRIT), post-processing software (Waypoint), and global correction services (TerraStar, Hexagon SmartNet, Oceanix) for centimeter-level positioning.
Product overview
NovAtel offers a comprehensive portfolio of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) products organized around several core categories: compact OEM receiver boards (OEM7500, OEM7600) for embedded integration; enclosed receiver systems (PwrPak7, MarinePak7) for standalone applications; SPAN technology combining GNSS with inertial navigation for continuous positioning; SMART antennas and GNSS antennas for signal reception; anti-jam protection via the GAJT family; and GRIT technology for signal resilience. The portfolio includes software solutions (Waypoint post-processing, NovAtel Application Suite), correction services (TerraStar, Hexagon SmartNet, Oceanix), and automotive solutions. The company positions itself as a precision positioning technology provider serving survey, mapping, marine, automotive, and robotics applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- TerraStar: Global precise point positioning (PPP) correction services delivered via satellite or internet for centimeter-level accuracy
- SPAN
- GRIT
- GAJT
- VEXXIS
- SMART Antennas
- OEM7
- Waypoint
- Oceanix
- HxGN SmartNet
- RoDAR
- SmartNet PRO
- SmartNet+
Products and services
- OEM7500 Compact OEM GNSS receiver board providing high-precision positioning for integration into original equipment manufacturer products.
- OEM7600 Compact OEM GNSS receiver board designed for demanding applications requiring reliable, high-accuracy positioning data.
- PwrPak7 Enclosed GNSS receiver system offering robust, high-precision positioning for survey, mapping, and autonomous applications.
- MarinePak7 Enclosed GNSS receiver designed for marine applications with enhanced ruggedization for harsh maritime environments.
- SPAN Technology GNSS+INS technology that combines GNSS positioning with inertial measurement units for continuous, accurate positioning during GNSS outages.
- SMART Antennas Integrated GPS and GNSS antenna solutions combining receiver and antenna into compact form factors for various applications, including SMART2 and SMART7 product lines.
- GNSS Antennas Full line of precision GNSS antennas (VEXXIS series, high precision antennas, compact antennas, CRPA antennas, fixed reference antennas) supporting multi-constellation, multi-frequency reception.
- GAJT Anti-jam Antenna Family Anti-jam protection systems (GAJT-AE3, GAJT-310, GAJT-410ML, GAJT-410MS, GAJT-710ML, GAJT-710MS, GAJT-AE-N) designed to safeguard GNSS receivers from intentional and unintentional jamming and interference.
- GRIT - GNSS Resilience and Integrity Technology Firmware suite providing signal resilience and interference detection for mission-critical applications, including GNSS Spoofing Detection, GNSS Interference Toolkit, and Time-Tagged Digitized Samples.
- Waypoint Post-Processing Software Post-processing software suite (Inertial Explorer, Inertial Explorer Xpress, GrafNav, GrafNav Static, Waypoint SDK) for GNSS and inertial data analysis, enabling high-accuracy positioning results through post-mission data processing.
- NovAtel Application Suite Comprehensive software suite for receiver configuration, monitoring, and data management across the NovAtel product portfolio.
- TerraStar Correction Services Satellite and IP-based precise point positioning (PPP) correction services including TerraStar-L, TerraStar-C PRO, TerraStar-X, and TerraStar Global variants with various accuracy levels and convergence times.
- Hexagon SmartNet RTK Correction Services Network-based RTK correction service providing RTK-quality positioning through a distributed network of reference stations, including SmartNet PRO with RTK ASSIST PRO and SmartNet+ with RTK ASSIST.
- Oceanix Correction Services Maritime-focused precise point positioning correction services supporting high-accuracy positioning for marine and ocean applications.
- Automotive Solutions Ground vehicle positioning solutions including automotive GNSS modules and antennas, positioning engine, and engineering and integration services for autonomous driving, ADAS, and fleet management applications.
- Drivers for ROS Software drivers enabling integration with Robot Operating System (ROS) platforms for robotics and autonomous navigation applications.
- Off-road Autonomy Development Kits Development kits for off-road autonomy applications including GNSS for autonomy and perception sensors for off-road autonomous systems.
- EDIE Software Development Kit Encode/Decode Interface Engine SDK providing developer tools for working with NovAtel receiver data formats and interfaces.
Quantifiable outcome
- 5-7 dB tracking improvement in challenging environments with new OEM7 firmware
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use NovAtel
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
NovAtel technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature8 records
NovAtel partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Inertial SensecoreHexagon completed acquisition of Inertial Sense to add tactical-grade GNSS+INS technology that strengthens the assured PNT portfolio for NovAtel products.
- Milanion GroupcoreStrategic partnership announced at World Defense Show 2026 to enhance autonomous systems with improved ISR, navigation, and mission resilience. Collaborations aim to advance persistent surveillance, secure navigation, and operational effectiveness across land, sea, and air platforms.
- ElistaircoreStrategic partnership announced at World Defense Show 2026 alongside NovAtel partnership to enhance autonomous systems with improved ISR, navigation, and mission resilience capabilities.
- SeptentriocoreHexagon completed acquisition of Septentrio to expand the reach of mission-critical navigation and autonomy applications, complementing NovAtel's GNSS portfolio.
- AntcomminorAntcom (part of Hexagon) specializes in communication and navigation antennas, providing custom antenna designs for NovAtel products including CRPA arrays for GAJT systems.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
NovAtel competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SBG Systems: French manufacturer of inertial navigation systems tightly coupled with GNSS (GNSS+INS) for survey, marine, autonomous vehicles and defense, comparable to NovAtel's SPAN product line.
- Trimble: Global leader in high-precision GNSS positioning for agriculture, construction, survey, mapping and autonomy. Directly comparable to NovAtel in OEM GNSS receivers, correction services and integrated PNT offerings across the same verticals.
- ComNav Technology: Chinese OEM GNSS board and receiver maker serving survey, mapping, agriculture and GIS — directly comparable to NovAtel's OEM7 product family and a relevant competitor in low-cost high-precision GNSS.
- Hemisphere GNSS: Designs and manufactures high-precision GNSS OEM boards, receivers and antennas for surveying, agriculture, marine and machine control. Direct product-level overlap with NovAtel's OEM7 boards and correction services.
- Topcon Positioning Systems: Major provider of high-precision GNSS receivers, OEM boards and correction services for agriculture, construction and survey. Competes head-to-head with NovAtel in OEM GNSS hardware and integrated positioning solutions.
- Septentrio (Hexagon): High-precision GNSS OEM receiver and OEM board maker serving surveying, defense, marine and industrial automation; acquired by Hexagon in March 2025, now a sister entity to NovAtel within the same positioning division and a direct commercial peer historically.
- Tallysman Wireless: Specialist in GNSS and Iridium antennas including reference and CRPA antennas; complements/tangentially competes with NovAtel's VEXXIS antenna family and GAJT CRPA-based anti-jam arrays.
- u-blox: Swiss fabless designer of GNSS chipsets and modules serving automotive, industrial and consumer markets. Overlaps NovAtel in OEM GNSS positioning modules, particularly for automotive and high-precision industrial applications.
Broad incumbents
- Leica Geosystems (Hexagon): Hexagon-owned surveying and measurement brand using NovAtel GNSS components inside broader survey hardware; incumbent in surveying/mapping with overlapping product capabilities and shared correction-service infrastructure via SmartNet.
Emerging players
- Swift Navigation: US-based provider of precise GNSS positioning solutions (Skylark corrections, Piksi receivers, Starling autonomy stack) targeted at automotive, robotics and logistics — overlaps NovAtel on automotive-grade PNT and on the correction-services model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
NovAtel social profiles
Digital presenceNovAtel compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
NovAtel financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NovAtel leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
NovAtel funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NovAtel M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments2 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NovAtel
What does NovAtel do?
NovAtel designs, manufactures, and sells high-precision OEM GNSS receiver boards (OEM7500, OEM7600), enclosed receiver systems (PwrPak7, MarinePak7), GNSS+INS combined systems (SPAN), SMART antennas, and GNSS antennas (VEXXIS). The company also provides GNSS anti-jam antenna systems (GAJT family), resilience firmware (GRIT), post-processing software (Waypoint), and global correction services (TerraStar, Hexagon SmartNet, Oceanix) for centimeter-level positioning.
Is NovAtel a public or private company?
NovAtel is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was NovAtel founded?
NovAtel was founded in 1978. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is NovAtel based?
NovAtel is headquartered in Calgary, Canada, in the North America region.
How does NovAtel make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. GNSS Hardware Products are the primary driver. The others are correction Services Subscriptions, firmware and Software Options and professional Services.
Who are NovAtel's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SBG Systems, Trimble, ComNav Technology, Hemisphere GNSS, Topcon Positioning Systems, Septentrio (Hexagon), Tallysman Wireless and u-blox. Leica Geosystems (Hexagon) is listed as a broad incumbent. Swift Navigation is listed as an emerging player.
Does NovAtel have an API?
No public API is recorded for NovAtel.
What industry is NovAtel in?
NovAtel's product category is Precision GNSS Positioning Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMABAFAC, GNSS/GPS Navigation & Augmentation Systems, with a secondary code of IMAJAJAE, Marine Navigation Systems (ECDIS, Radar, GNSS, AIS). Its NAICS code is 334511 and its SIC code is 3829.