Nikola Labs gets US $2 million funding

Nikola Labs, a pioneer in wireless power, recently closed a US $2 million investment round which brings the total investment to date to over $4 million. The funds, said the company in a statement, “will catapult the early stage company from technology development into initial commercial sales, as well as help it grow its talent base.”

OSU spinout and Ikove Startup Nursery graduate Nikola Labs is commercialising an energy harvesting and wireless power technology developed by Dr. Chi-Chih Chen, an Associated Research Professor at OSU’s ElectroScience Laboratory. The technology, which converts radio frequency energy into usable direct current power, has wide applicability, including providing reliable power to Internet of Things (IoT) devices–like security sensors and fitness trackers–allowing them to operate perpetually and completely free of wired connections.

A second milestone the company will achieve with this funding round is the transition of Dr.
Chen from his OSU professorship into the role of Nikola Labs’ Chief Technology Officer.
Since January 2017, Nikola Labs’ staff has doubled and is expected to double again over the
next 12 months.

Along with the transition of Dr. Chen, this growth will come from hiring more engineers to support customer development work gained through business development efforts, plus will serve to increase sales pipeline building. This includes identifying more opportunities for wireless power and advancing existing customers through proof-of-concept projects and on to commercial deployment of wirelessly powered products, the statement added.

This latest investment comes from an early stage investment group in Europe and was sourced and organized by Ikove Venture Partners. They join an elite group of early stage investors, which include Ikove’s Startup Nursery Fund, Proton Enterprises, LOUD Capital and several high profile individual investors.

“More than 100 years ago, Nikola Tesla envisioned a world with wireless power and we are
intent on making his dormant dream a reality. This new investment helps us do that faster—
enabling us to leverage the momentum we’ve already built and go beyond to become a serious competitor in wireless power,” said Will Zell, CEO, Nikola Labs.

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