COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 11, 2015

Today, Nikola Labs was awarded a $100,000 grant from Ohio Third Frontier’s Technology Validation and Start-up Fund to further develop a self- harvesting cellphone case, which can keep the phone charged up to 30 percent more throughout the day.

Nikola Labs received the grant from the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-Up Fund, which provides grants to move technology developed by Ohio institutions of higher education and other nonprofit research institutions into the marketplace. The institutions receive funding to demonstrate that a technology is commercially viable through activities such as testing and prototyping. The ultimate goal is to license the technology to start-up and early- stage companies.

Nikola Labs, located in Columbus, was awarded $100,000 to commercialize a protective cell phone case that will also keep the phone charged longer. The technology extends battery life by harvesting energy from radio waves coming from the cell phone itself and from Wi-Fi signals from the environment.

About Nikola Labs
Founded in October 2014, Nikola Labs is a partnership of The Ohio State University, Ikove Venture Partners, and Ohio State professors. Nikola Labs specializes in wireless power solutions and radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting for mobile devices. The company's energy harvesting system converts ambient RF signals – such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and LTE — into usable DC power suitable for sensors and devices. nikola.tech

About Ohio Third Frontier
Ohio Third Frontier, an unprecedented and bipartisan commitment to create new technology- based products, companies, industries, and jobs, has attracted more than $6.6 billion in other investments to Ohio, and has a nearly 9:1 return on investment since its inception. The Ohio Third Frontier has also assisted in the creation and retention of more than 79,000 direct and indirect jobs for Ohioans.