ZaiNar Raises $100 Million to Turn Existing Wireless Networks Into a Sensing Platform for Physical AI

• ZaiNar raised more than $100 million at a valuation exceeding $1 billion as it launched a platform for Physical AI that turns existing wireless networks into a location sensing system.
• Its technology time-synchronizes wireless signals at the sub-nanosecond level, enabling sub-meter positioning using deployed 5G and WiFi infrastructure without added hardware.

ZaiNar announced it has raised more than $100 million at a valuation exceeding $1 billion as it publicly launches after nine years in stealth with a platform for Physical AI. The company says its technology converts existing wireless networks into a sensing system that continuously determines location without satellites, cameras, or added device power or compute. Investors include Steve Jurvetson, Jerry Yang, Tom Gruber, Jaan Tallinn, and Nicholas Pritzker, with Andreas Weigend serving as an advisor.

"Physical AI needs a live, continuous feed of where everything is, and that dataset simply did not exist," said Daniel Jacker, CEO and Co-Founder of ZaiNar, in a press release. "By solving time synchronization at the sub-nanosecond level, we've turned existing infrastructure into the foundation layer for Physical AI. This funding accelerates deployment with carrier and enterprise partners globally."

ZaiNar says its system works with deployed 5G and WiFi infrastructure, using the radio waves already broadcast by connected devices to create a sensing layer. The system aligns wireless signals at sub-nanosecond precision, about a thousand times beyond standard network time sync. This level of timing matters. Radio waves cover roughly 30 centimeters in a nanosecond, so tighter coordination translates directly into finer positioning, even inside buildings or crowded areas. The company compares its approach to GPS, cameras, and ultra-wideband systems, which it says face tradeoffs such as indoor limitations, line-of-sight requirements, or dedicated hardware deployments.

ZaiNar reports it is deployed in healthcare, construction, smart city, and industrial environments across multiple continents. The company has filed more than 100 patents and has been issued 90 with zero rejections, covering phase-based time synchronization and network-computed positioning.

🌀 Tom’s Take:

If existing 5G and WiFi networks can become location sensing systems without new hardware, that flips wireless infrastructure from connectivity pipes into spatial infrastructure. Turning sunk network costs into a real-time positioning layer is a structural shift.

Source: PR Newswire / ZaiNar