#StartupsEverywhere Profile: Dr. Ahmad Glover, Founder, WiGL Inc
This profile is part of #StartupsEverywhere, an ongoing series highlighting startup leaders in ecosystems across the country. This interview has been edited for length, content, and clarity.
Providing Touchless Wireless Electric Power Through the Air
100 percent-disabled veteran Dr. Ahmad Glover had a goal of developing touchless wireless power networking technologies that would recharge devices and provide power the same way that we get WiFi: over the air. We spoke with Dr. Glover about his unique experience with the U.S. innovation ecosystem, the importance of telecom and power in rural areas, and how policymakers should think about spectrum selloff.
Tell us about your background. What led you to creating WiGL?
I am a retired Air Force acquisitions officer. For 23 years, I worked on programs that helped special operators do everything from classified sensors to flying drones on the other side of the planet. During my time there, we experienced recurring durability issues with the dead or dying batteries we were using for the sensors, handhelds or drones, and I promised myself that one day, I was going to solve that dead battery problem. After I retired, I got called back into DoD service to help my former classified program with 5G, but as expected, they were still having battery issues. The difference was that this time, I wasn’t in uniform—I was acting as a contractor with the voice to address this critical mission gap.
What does WiGL do?
We’re recharging devices using “Wireless-electric Grids of Local Air Networks”, or WiGL (pronounced “wiggle”), on a mission to beat China to the battlefield. Our technologies are able to convert wall outlets, vehicle chargers, and power sources into smart electric power networks of routers/antennae. We also have saltwater generators that create potentially unlimited power simply using saltwater. China is about 3-years ahead of WiGL, but we are gaining ground.
What role does unlicensed spectrum play in your work, and how can policymakers broaden their understanding to support innovation?
I work in the world of unlicensed U.S. bands, like Wi-Fi. But there's all kinds of capabilities that we could access if we weren’t restricted to those bands. I’ve worked in the 5G space before, and I know of plenty of other spectrum out there that I could operate in to provide wireless power. But because of my background working on spectrum management in the U.S. Department of Defense, I know that the approval and maintenance processes are a pain. It’s likely that a big company already owns those other spectrum bands, so I’d have to pay them to use it, and at that point it’s not even worth pursuing. Unlicensed spectrum should be made available to small USA businesses. It’s unrealistic to think that companies like ours can compete against giant wireless carriers for licenses that cost millions of dollars.
Ultimately, we have to focus on managing the spectrum that we have. Right now, everybody’s vacating 2.4 GHz to try to go to 5 GHz, but we’re going to have a problem because we don’t always have the power 5 GHz transmitters need to make sure those higher-frequency airwaves reach far enough. And we also need to make sure we have power to get networks in hard-to-reach places, like rural areas. The solar grid, though championed as the solution, is not viable 24/7. It lasts only as long as the life of its batteries. Ideally, we’d have the ability to get people power along with a signal, but that’s only possible if we have more high frequency spectrum.
What was your experience building a startup as a veteran?
Starting out, I didn’t know anything about how to properly fundraise for a company. I was instructed to go to venture capitalists and use the “many” financial resources, both private and public, that were at my disposal. Sadly, not a single one worked for me. What did work was building my network. To be fair, we launched WiGL in the heart of the pandemic, during a time of major uncertainty for a lot of people. But as a 100 percent-disabled African-American veteran operating out of a HUBZone, all of the resources I thought I had access to didn't actually work for me.
Are there any local, state, or federal startup issues that you think should receive more attention from policymakers?
Contrary to China, our government should make it easier—and less risky—for American startups to participate in the government procurement process. We approached the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with our products, and they didn’t believe what we said was possible with networks until we did some demonstrations. DARPA then opened up a request for proposals centered around our patented technologies’ capabilities. Suddenly bigger companies showed up using our ideas and technologies, and I don’t have the resources to fight them in court.
And that’s after we spent the time and resources navigating the U.S. patent system. We were advised early on that we needed a patent “moat”, where we have to have multiple patents around a single technology if we wanted to be able to protect our intellectual property. For each patent, it costs about $4,000 to get an attorney to write the initial patent and $1,500 to file it, but then you can spend tens of thousands of dollars going back and forth with the Patent Office to refine what the patent covers. To get our “moat” around our one technology, we ended up with eight patents, which quickly became very difficult, expensive, and time consuming. It’s not a system that works well for small companies with limited resources.
What are your goals for WiGL moving forward?
We’re focused on licensing out our wireless power technology. If someone wants to go backpacking, or maybe they’re stuck in a storm somewhere, we want to get them infinite power through our saltwater generator. Also, for the short term, we’re expanding to wireless Christmas trees. Customers will have the ability to plug transmitters into their house and simply move the tree and lights wherever they want. Lastly, we'll be doing some acquisitions. There are a number of companies that we think are innovating in the wireless power space, and we want to include them in our spin off company, WiGL eNERGY.
All of the information in this profile was accurate at the date and time of publication.
Engine works to ensure that policymakers look for insight from the startup ecosystem when they are considering programs and legislation that affect entrepreneurs. Together, our voice is louder and more effective. Many of our lawmakers do not have first-hand experience with the country's thriving startup ecosystem, so it’s our job to amplify that perspective. To nominate a person, company, or organization to be featured in our #StartupsEverywhere series, email advocacy@engine.is.
