8/20/2018 Zack Fishman
Student startup Optivolt Labs is currently developing and marketing solar technology that will increase drone battery life.
Written by Zack Fishman
Last year, we covered the story of two Illinois students who created their own startup to produce efficient solar-powered phone cases. After a turbulent year of roadblocks and opportunities, they are now moving their business in the direction of improving battery life in drones.
In the summer of 2017, Paul Couston and Rohit Kalyanpur founded Optivolt Labs. Using the funding and lab space provided by iVenture Accelerator, a university-run seed investment program, they developed and released a case that converted both indoor and outdoor light into a longer battery life for cell phones.
But Couston, who has been pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, notes some issues in their initial business strategy. “We were a startup trying to get into an extremely saturated marketplace,” he says. “We had a product that was new and innovative but also significantly more expensive than other phone cases.”
Other challenges soon arose, such as educating customers on how solar power works and handling the various legal troubles of bringing a new product to market. By winter of 2018, the founders hit a low point. “We had no customers and no money remaining in our bank account,” says Couston.
Striving to keep their business alive, the pair applied to 15 accelerator programs and faced rejections from all but the last, Techstars Chicago. After receiving $120,000 in seed funding and joining a vast network of entrepreneurs, Optivolt Labs applied their effective solar-to-battery conversion technology to drones.
“We found out what the problem was in the drone industry: batteries suck,” says Couston. By adding solar panels to drones, he and Kalyanpur have been able to significantly improve their effective flight time while also adding the capability to recharge after landing on a sunny day. They are currently developing technology to push these improvements even further.
Today, Optivolt Labs employs three other engineers full-time and is actively working to find their place in the drone industry. For Couston and Kalyanpur, the youngest-ever founders at Techstars Chicago, that means coordinating the engineering efforts, determining a market strategy, and raising the next round of capital.
Couston credits being forced out of his comfort zone for his personal growth since he and Kalyanpur started their venture. “I don’t quite consider myself a full-on entrepreneur yet, and I don’t know when I will, but I think the premise is that you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” he says. “The moment you're comfortable in life, I think you're not challenging yourself enough. I've been uncomfortable for the last two years, and that's helped me grow my business.”
Both founders will be putting classes on hold in order to further develop Optivolt Labs. Couston, who would have been an incoming senior this fall, says it is important to embrace opportunities when they arise, even when unexpected.
“In the past I would always have a plan — I was going to get this degree, I was going to work here — and now I'm starting to realize that it's naive to have a plan when you're this young because you don't know what the opportunities are going to be,” he says. “You need to have a direction and an objective, but you have to stay flexible in your approach to get there. I always knew I wanted to start a company in the solar space, I just never knew that it would happen now.”
Crediting the ISE curriculum for its applicability and breadth, Couston adds, “I’m still a student; I’m just no longer learning in a classroom. I’m learning in a company, and it happens to be a company that Rohit and I started.”