i-Blades, Inc., innovator of technology to make smartphones smarter, today announced a strategic investment and development agreement with In-Q-Tel, Inc. (IQT), the strategic investor that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the U.S. intelligence and defense communities. The IQT partnership will enable i-Blades to speed up the development of its smartphone technology for new public, private, and command solutions.

With i-Blades cutting-edge technology, users can take off-the-shelf or Bring your own Phone (BYOP) smartphones and transform them into adaptive and secure devices that are easily deployed in a variety of environments, industries, and special sectors. The result is a powerful mobile device that provides a breadth of new capabilities to smartphones, while eliminating the need to regenerate or customize form factor."

We provide the innovative ability for users to slap on a multifunctional "Blade" with distinct capabilities—restricted or unrestricted—tailored to user specifications," says Jorge M. Fernandes, CEO, i-Blades. "Our partnership with IQT underscores the strength of our technology and the new capabilities we bring to the table to aid national security."

"The ability to take off-the-shelf smartphones and add additional functionality is critical for U.S. government customers," says Eileen Tanghal, Partner, Investments at IQT. "We see i-Blades as a key strategic partner in providing solutions that enhance government efforts to speed up time-to-market, lower costs, and simplify user learning."

‍About i-BLADES

‍A Silicon Valley start-up, i-BLADES's technology turns ordinary smartphones into extraordinary mobile solutions for public, private and command solutions. i-BLADES created the world's first "Smartcase," a next-generation mobile phone case with award winning technology inside. It's a snap-on/snap-off universal modular expansion platform combining Smartcases with Blades providing more battery, more memory, more radios, more sensors, better audio, and many more. CEO and founder Jorge Fernandes is a serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur whose many innovations include the global standard behind contactless payments such as Apple Pay.