BOULDER -Siva Therapeutics Inc. received a $350,000 grant from San Francisco-based Thiel Foundation through its innovation program Breakout Labs.

Siva Therapeutics will use the funds for cancer and rheumatoid-arthritis research. In particular, the Boulder-based company will work on improving gold nanorods that can be inserted into a cancer patient's body and heated to kill tumors, according to a press statement.

In addition, Siva will use the funds to develop a portable infrared light in partnership with NanoRods LLC, a nanotechnology company in Germantown, Maryland, that makes and sells the gold nanorods used in Siva's photothermal-therapy research, the company said in the press statement.

"This is not only important funding for Siva at this critical stage in our growth, but also important recognition by a pioneering and innovative foundation," Len Pagliaro, chief executive of Siva, said in the press statement.

The company is expected to spend an estimated $25 million over seven years to get its SivaRod technology approved for sale in the United States, Pagliaro has said in the past. Siva has three employees and is looking for office space after receiving the funding, Pagliaro said Monday.