An Irvine startup launched by two siblings who are University of California-Irvine graduates has launched an iOS app that culls information within seconds on locations, attractions and landmarks with the snap of a photo.
PHIND cross references a user’s location and analyzes the photo against a database of 100 million images to determine the exact location, as well as facts related to the point of interest and nearby restaurants, retailers and other highly searched places.
The user can also make e-commerce purchases or order an Uber ride.
The app aims to ring in revenue from local advertisers from nearby search areas rather than pop-up banner ads that often have no connection to the task at hand.
“Our whole focus is relevancy,” said PHIND Chief Executive Rishi Jhunjhnuwala, who launched the company under the app’s name with his sister Reneta Jain.
Jhunjhnuwala came up with the idea while traveling through Europe, where he encountered plenty of monuments and landmarks but knew nothing about them. Google searches proved too cumbersome and time-consuming.
“We said let’s go a step further and provide you with more information so it becomes a necessity rather than a cool factor,” he said.
The company has raised $800,000 from family and friends and is seeking to raise $1.5 million to $2 million in a seed round.
Nuclear Cleanup Contract
Irvine-based Kurion Inc. has been awarded another robotics contract related to ongoing cleanup efforts at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Under the 18-month contract from Tokyo-based IHI Corp., Kurion is developing an advanced robotic arm that will grant workers unprecedented access to the plant’s Unit 2 Reactor to open holes, clear debris and obstacles, and plug cracks from the safety of a remote operating station.
The value of the contract wasn’t disclosed but is considered small compared to Kurion’s prior contracts and grants to remove radioactive substances unleashed in the nuclear crisis after a massive earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan in March 2011.
Kurion was initially hired by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to build the first-ever external water-cooling system for a nuclear reactor. The work to remove cesium from Fukushima will last at least a decade and is a big reason the company expects revenue to double annually in the coming years.
The Tepco contract is valued at tens of millions of dollars, and by the end of next year Kurion will be generating annual revenue well into the nine figures, according to Chief Executive Bill Gallo.
Kurion is six months into the design process of the Fukushima Repair Manipulator that’s expected to be deployed next year.
The latest contract is the second phase of containment leak discovery and repair efforts. Kurion assisted in the first phase last summer when its robotic system deployed three remote-operated vehicles to identify cracks in the reactor building.
Plant workers are expected to have access to remove damaged fuel and debris from the reactor once the leaks are patched, decreasing the output of contaminated water used to cool the core.
Zadara Expands Storage
Irvine-based startup Zadara Storage Inc. has expanded its virtual private storage service to Frankfurt, Germany, through Amazon Web Services and Redwood City-based Equinix Inc., billed as the world’s largest International Business Exchange data center and collocation provider.
The storage device maker, which splits its operation between OC and Israel, has raised $10 million since its 2011 inception.
