Auspion, Inc. – now GuRu Wireless, Inc. – today announced it received $15 million in Series A funding from Kairos Ventures and BOLD Capital Partners. As the first company to offer room-scale, multi-watt, multi-device, safe wireless power-at-a-distance using millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology, the start-up will use the funds to complete commercialization, obtain FCC approval of its first products and add new management and engineering talent. The company's new website can be found at http://www.guru.inc.
"GuRu's superior technology and its globally respected founders put GuRu far ahead of any other company in this category and made for an easy decision to lead this investment," said board member Jim Demetriades, CEO and founder of Kairos Ventures. "The big difference is that GuRu's technology actually works; they can actually charge from afar."
GuRu's technology is rooted in the lab of Professor Ali Hajimiri at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). During the past decade, Hajimiri and his co-founders Florian Bohn and Behrooz Abiri developed radio-frequency systems capable of sending energy over distance, including collecting solar power in space and transmitting the energy wirelessly to Earth. Along the way, and with support from Kairos Ventures, Caltech sources, and other funding sources, the team developed multiple generations of their novel radio frequency (RF) systems, each of them more integrated and more powerful than its predecessor. Since its founding in 2017, the company has transformed its core technology into commercially viable solutions while operating in stealth mode.
"People should be free to use any electric device without ever having to think about charging," said BOLD Capital Partners Managing Partner Teymour Boutros-Ghali. "I have absolutely no doubt that GuRu has everything it needs to set the global standard for wireless power."
Today, many phones, smartwatches, hearing aids, and other devices come with inductive charging coils, which let them charge wirelessly through resonant inductive coupling. But this method requires direct contact between the device and a charging pad, which is a far cry from the totally untethered, over-the-air charging GuRu is developing. GuRu's technology will free many additional devices including IoT devices, remote controls, gaming platforms, robots, smart-home devices, and others that are currently held captive by batteries that run out of power.
"We envision a world in which we are free from thinking about power for the machines we depend on because it's always available," said GuRu co-founder and CEO Florian Bohn. "Our mission at GuRu is to invent that wireless future and make it ubiquitous."
About Kairos Ventures Kairos Ventures invests early, often during the formative stages of a company, and works closely with the world's leading scientists to commercialize their technologies. Depending on the stage of development and the capital requirements of each venture, they make investments between $150,000 and $20 Million. While Kairos Ventures is hands-on, they also recognize that it is the entrepreneurs' sweat, hard work, and perseverance that will drive the growth of their companies. They strive to ensure that the founding teams, who make the early sacrifices in pursuit of their venture, retain the majority of the ownership in their companies. In addition to providing early-stage capital, Kairos Ventures leverages their expertise and an extensive network of professionals specializing in all disciplines required to build a successful company, including legal, finance, marketing, operations, business development, and HR. They provide these services to early-stage companies in their portfolio to allow the entrepreneurs to focus their energy on continuing to innovate and pushing the envelope in their respective fields. For more information, go to www.kariosventures.com.
About BOLD Capital Partners
BOLD Capital Partners manages a family of funds targeting investments in early-stage and growth technology companies. BOLD seeks to back and partner with unique entrepreneurs who leverage exponential technologies to transform the world and create innovative solutions for humanities' grand challenges. BOLD offers these entrepreneurs deep startup and operating experience and access to its exponential ecosystem that combines the networks of its general partners, which includes Dr. Peter Diamandis and Singularity University, a global learning and innovation community with one of the world's leading faculties and influential alumni base. BOLD headquarters are in Santa Monica, Calif., with an office in Silicon Valley. For more information on BOLD, please visit www.boldcapitalpartners.com.
About GuRu
GuRu is a millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology company developing products for business and people who want to stop running wires, changing batteries, or plugging things in. GuRu's first products will deliver electric power through the air. Founded by a team of Caltech electrical engineers, applied physicists, and integrated circuit and phased array experts, GuRu is based in Pasadena, Calif., and funded by Kairos Ventures and Bold Capital Partners. For more information, please visit www.guru.inc.
