Aira, a Chandler-based startup that builds cordless charging technology, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $12 million in seed funding that will help the company get its tech into new end markets.
Aira Inc. is the maker of FreePower, a charging surface for portable electronics like cell phones, wireless earphones or laptops. The company previously appeared on ABC’s "Shark Tank" in late 2019, raising $500,000 in the process.
Aira CEO and co-founder Jake Slatnick said the company had been busy with the behind-the-scenes “secret work” of research and development during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now they can move into broader commercialization with the help of the seed funding.
Aira works with partners to get its FreePower technology into the hands — or under the phones — of people who need to charge up. Last September Aira’s tech hit the market for the first time as part of Nomad’s Base Station Pro, a portable charging station built with FreePower inside. A single Base Station costs about $200.
Targeting automakers
Aira also has future visions of integrating its charging surfaces into desks, nightstands or countertops, but its first target is working with automakers. Slatnick said it's easy to get carried away thinking about the future and all the possibilities for Aira, but in these early days staying focused is key.
“Especially in a startup, focus is everything,” he said. “Over time, as the company gets larger and gets more resources and more capabilities, that's when we'll start to integrate into these other verticals like furniture and enterprise.”
Wireless charging tech already exists, but Slatnick said current offerings are fussy and typically only work if items are laid down precisely in the right place. He said Aira is targeting the automotive market first because the existing, finicky charging tech just doesn’t work in cars whipping around corners or otherwise jostling phones off their precise charging connection.
Slatnick says their first in-vehicle wireless charger will hit the market next year, though he did not say in which car the tech would appear.
Last year Aira announced a strategic partnership with Motherson Innovations, a global technology outfit, that would see the company’s FreePower tech integrated into cars in the future.
Motherson Innovations is part of India-based Motherson Group, one of the largest global auto part suppliers. The Motherson partnership also came with a financial investment, which is part of this seed round.
The majority of the seed round, Slatnick said, came from local tech entrepreneurs and executives, most of whom are choosing to remain anonymous. Axon CFO Jawad Ahsan is one of these local investors and he is joining the Aira board of directors following his participation in the seed round.
The next big hurdle for Slatnick, fellow co-founder Eric Goodchild and the 20-person staff at Aira is hiring. Slatnick said the company hopes to add 30 to 50 people in the coming year and he doesn’t think people in other parts of the country appreciate the talent pool in Arizona.
“I don't know if they realize how deep the engineering talent is in Phoenix. Some of the greatest tech companies, like the deep tech companies, are out here,” he said. “We plan to stay here, grow here and continue to hire locally and build the business.”
The Valley has attracted thousands of new residents recently, as well as several companies that have relocated their head offices, but Aira co-founders Slatnick and Goodchild aren’t new in town; Both are graduates of Arizona State University.
